PowerShell Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration: More flexible Than Ipconfig
Scripting WMI objects with
PowerShell is a
particularly productive area. On this page I will illustrate PowerShell's capabilities by creating a script which is more flexible than Ipconfig.
On this page our mission is to extract TCP/IP information from a machine's network adapters
using PowerShell. But first a question: 'Is Guy reinventing the wheel? Can Ipconfig, with its numerous switches,
provide the same information?'
To answer this question is easy, all you have to do is compare Ipconfig with my
PowerShell scripts, even better, compare Ipconfig with YOUR scripts. If I could sum up the benefit of
PowerShell over Ipconfig,
in one word, that
word would be flexibility. For example, you can customize which TCP/IP properties to display, and in addition, you can interrogate the network adapters on other machines. Can Ipconfig do that?
I have not found away.
PowerShell Objectives
WMIObject -list (parameter to enumerate
all possible object classes) WMIObject | Get-Member (discover which properties suit our mission)
PowerShell: More flexible than Ipconfig. (Use the 'Where' clause to filter the output) Also remember that you could also run Ipconfig itself from the
PowerShell
command line.
Guy's Advice
Either work
through my learning progression by starting with Objective 1 (recommended), or else if you are in a hurry, cut to the chase, and head for Objective 3
PowerShell: More flexible than Ipconfig.
PowerShell Pre-requisites and Checklist
In the case of Windows 7 and Server
2008, you don't need to download any extra files, just 'Add Feature' Windows PowerShell.
However, for older operating systems, installing can be confusing because
there are different versions of PowerShell for XP, Windows Server 2003 and
Vista. For such legacy systems only, you need to
download PowerShell from Microsoft's site.
Once you have installed PowerShell 2.0, I recommend choosing the
ISE (Integrated Scripting Engine) version, it
will save you buying a text editor.
Here is a cmdlet which identifies all the Network WMI objects.
$colItems = Get-wmiobject -list | where {$_.name -match "network"} $colItems |ft name
Learning Points
Note 1: Because PowerShell is so simple, yet so efficient, we need fewer commands than for a corresponding VBScript. Indeed, the bare minimum to get
started, and display all the WMI objects is these 8 letters with a dash in the middle: gwmi -list # gwmi is an alias for Get-wmiobject
Note 2: Observe the (|) pipe. You will use this
symbol hundreds of times in PowerShell, what
happens is the output of the wmiobject list is pumped into the 'where' clause, which pulls out all the entries that contain the word "network". My thinking was
Get-wmiobject -list produces too many objects.
Note 3: I deliberately don't use many aliases in my
scripts, but I make an exception for ft
(format-Table) because it's so useful for controlling the display of
PowerShell's output. Do try the above script with, and without, the last word,
'name'.
Guy
Recommends: WMI Monitor and It's Free!
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is one of the hidden
treasures of Microsoft operating systems. Fortunately, Solarwinds
have created a
Free WMI Monitor so that you can discover these gems of performance
information, and thus improve your PowerShell scripts. Take the guess work out of which WMI counters to use when scripting the
operating system, Active Directory or Exchange Server.
This script identifies the properties available for the object: Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration. Here below is a classic example of the Get-Member construction.
Note 1: Observe how -class homes in on the object that we are interested in, namely: Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration.
Note 2: If you wished to manipulate the
TCP/IP settings, you could investigate which methods are available by substituting 'Method' for the last word, 'Property'. Alternatively, you could omit the
'-Membertype Property' phrase altogether.
Note 1: The properties that I have chosen are not important. This is just an example to get you started; it would make my day if you substituted properties that you researched from Example 2: Get-Member, for example, .DefaultGateway or .IPSubnet instead of .MacAddress.
Note 2: My old friend 'Barking' Eddie thought that my printer needed cleaning when he saw ` in my script.
Actually this character (`), found at the top left of the keyboard, is called a backtick. What the backtick does is tell
PowerShell - 'This command continues on the next line'. Just to be clear, this character corresponds to ASCII 096, and is not a
misplaced comma!
Note 3: To loop though all the network adapters, I chose the ForEach construction. In
PowerShell in general, and ForEach in particular, the type of bracket is highly significant; (ellipses for the
condition) and {curly for the block command}.
Note 4: Most of my scripts employ the
'Where' clause to filter the output. In this case I wanted to discard
data concerning any virtual network cards.
Note 5: I almost forgot, $strComputer controls which computer you are analysing. Again, it would make my day if altered "." to the hostname of another machine on your network.
Encouraging computers to sleep when not in use is a great idea -
until you are away from your desk and need a file on that remote sleeping machine!
Wake-On-LAN really will save you that long walk to awaken a hibernating
machine; however my reason for encouraging you to download this utility is
just because it's so much fun sending those 'Magic Packets'. As Wake-On-LAN (WOL) is free, see
if I am right, and you get a kick from arousing those sleeping machines.
WOL also has business uses for example, wakening machines so that they can have
their patches applied.
Summary of
PowerShell: More flexible than Ipconfig
The aim of this script is to show you that
PowerShell can not only mimic Ipconfig, but also exceed its capabilities. In particular, I wanted to show how
PowerShell could customise
list of TCP/IP properties in its output. It would also be useful to create a script which can display TCP/IP information from other machines on the network.
If you like this page then please share it with your friends
If you see an error of any kind, do let me know. Please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to not only to correct the fault, but also to give you credit.
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Guy Recommends: WMI Monitor and It's Free!
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is one of the hidden
treasures of Microsoft operating systems.
Fortunately, Solarwinds
have created the
Free WMI Monitor so that you can actually see and understand these gems of
performance information. Take the guess work out of which
WMI counters to use for applications like Microsoft Active Directory,
SQL or Exchange Server.
