Accessing WMI

There are 3 sets of cmdlets for working with WMI classes – the WMI cmdlets, the WSMAN cmdlets and the CIM cmdlets. The protocols used by these 3 sets are different.

The WMI cmdlets introduced in PowerShell 1 & 2 use DCOM for local and remote access under all circumstances

The WSMAN cmdlets introduced in PowerShell 2 use WSMAN (WinRm)

The CIM cmdlets introduced in PowerShell 3 use:

– DCOM for local access if ComputerName parameter NOT used

– WSMAN for local access IF –ComputerName parameter is used

– WSMAN (WinRM) for remote access

– WSMAN if a default CIM session is used for remote access

– DCOM if a CIM session is created using DCOM as the protocol option

The CIM cmdlets are easier to use than the WSMAN cmdlets and are the recommended way to access WMI classes.