Purpose

Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is the infrastructure for management data and operations on Windows-based operating systems. You can write WMI scripts or applications to automate administrative tasks on remote computers but WMI also supplies management data to other parts of the operating system and products, for example System Center Operations Manager, formerly Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), or Windows Remote Management (WinRM).

Where Applicable

WMI can be used in all Windows-based applications, and is most useful in enterprise applications and administrative scripts.

System administrators can find information about using WMI at the TechNet ScriptCenter, and in various books about WMI. For more information, see Further Information.

Developer Audience

WMI is designed for programmers who use C/C++, the Microsoft Visual Basic application, or a scripting language that has an engine on Windows and handles Microsoft ActiveX objects. While some familiarity with COM programming is helpful, C++ developers who are writing applications can find good examples for getting started at Creating a WMI Application Using C++.

To develop managed code providers or applications in C# or Visual Basic .NET using the .NET Framework, see WMI in .NET Framework.

The WMI Software Developer Kit (SDK) is available as a download that includes documentation at the Download Center. The WMI Redistributable Components version 1.0 file, is required only for Windows 2000 or Windows 98 and is available to download at the same location.

WMI functionality introduced in the Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) operating system is also available to earlier operating systems by downloading the .NET Framework SDK, and the .NET Framework Redistributable. These can be obtained at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx.

Run-Time Requirements

WMI is preinstalled in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Me, and Windows 2000.

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP4 and later:  WMI is available through Add/Remove Windows Components in Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, as WBEM option install. A later, more comprehensive version, WMI CORE 1.5 (Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0), is available as a download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads.Windows 98/95:  WMI CORE 1.5 (Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0) is available as a download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. This download requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later.

For more information about which operating system is required to use a specific API element or WMI class, see the Requirements section of each topic in the WMI documentation.

If an expected component appears to be missing, see Operating System Availability of WMI Components.