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WMI Win32_NetworkAdapter Class

WMI Class Win32_NetworkAdapter

Win32_NetworkAdapter is one of 7 Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes that provides access to your network card.  PowerShell can not only provide command-line access to the settings, but also show properties such as NetConnectionStatus which are not visible in the Control Panel, or to IpConfig.

Topics for PowerShell and Win32_NetworkAdapter

• PowerShell Command to Display Network Adapter Values
• How to Research Properties for YOUR Computer Configuration
• PowerShell Script To Test Which Network Connections are Active
• Filter the Output for 'Real' Network Cards
• How to Enable or Disable NIC in PowerShell 3.0

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PowerShell Tutorial to List WMI Classes

Pre-requisites:  Visit Microsoft's site and download the correct version of PowerShell for your operating system.

• Launch PowerShell (Preferably the ISE version)
• Copy the lines of code below (into memory)
• Right-click on the PowerShell symbol
• Edit --> Paste
• Press enter to execute the code.

PowerShell Command to Display Network Adapter Values

While you could interrogate Win32_NetworkAdapter with VBScript, it is much easier and quicker to manipulate WMI classes with PowerShell.  A reminder that the master cmdlet is Get-WmiObject, indeed it's worth researching parameters and examples with Get-help Get-WmiObject.

Sample Result

Note 1:  As usual, you can view all a PowerShell cmdlets parameters with Get-Help, for example:
Get-Help Get-WmiObject.

Note 2:  You could use the alias PowerShell gwmi instead of Get-WmiObject

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.

Download your free copy of WMI Monitor

How to Research Properties for YOUR Computer Configuration

I could tell you which properties to script, but it's much better if you learn how to view the master list, then make selections to suit your particular needs or project.

Note 1: Above is a one-line command.  Below is a refinement to filter the properties that you are likely to be interested in.

Note 2:  A reminder that even this command accepts Get-Help, thus you could try:
Get-Help Get-Member -full.  My point is that help will reveal other options, for example -MemberType Method.

Note 1:  Try substituting -MemberType Method for -MemberType Property

Note 2:  Below is an edited example of the output.

More Example Scripts for WMI Win32_NetworkAdapter

PowerShell Script To Test Which Network Connections are Active

Note 1:  The key property is NetEnabled.  In the output we are looking for values of 'True'.  For your information the NetConnectionStatus of active NICs will be 2 and not 7.

Note 2:  PowerShell has no word-wrap, thus we use the backtick ` to tell the command to continue on the next line. 

Trap: With the backtick there should be no space after the `.

Note 3:  Observe PowerShell's trademark the (|) pipe symbol, this means that the output of the main command is pumped into Format-Table.  I chose, NetEnabled, NetConnectionStatus, DeviceId from the  dozens of possible Win32_NetworkAdapter properties of to display.

Filter the Output for 'Real' Network Cards

This example also employs -computerName LocalHost, which you could change to the name, or IP address of a machine on your network.

Note 1:  The filtering is achieved through this clause:
-filter "NetConnectionStatus = 2"  Actually, you could substitute a 'Where' clause thus:
Where-Object {$_.NetConnectionStatus -eq '2'}

Note 2:  PowerShell has no word-wrap, thus the backtick ` means continue on the next line.  Beware, there should be no space after the `.

Challenge: Change -computerName LocalHost to the value of a machine on your network.

Next Step:  To discover the IP address try the sister class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration

Real-life Task - How To Disable a Network Card with PowerShell

Preliminaries - Vital for Success.  Decide which machine you are configuring, this script is set for LocalHost.  Important: Your DeviceId is unlikely to be 17, so please research and amend for your computer.

Note 1:  If the script did not work, then change DeviceId =17.  Also check which machine you wish to disable. -ComputerName ???

Note 2:  To reverse the script the command is $Nic.enable().

Note 3:  I recommend you run this script in conjunction with the above script.

How to List More WMI Network Classes

The additional feature of this script is that refines the search from the broad 'Win32', to the narrower 'Win32_Network'.  The result is a list of network WMI classes.

Learning Points

Note 1:  In practical terms, most of the 7 network classes are disappointing.  However, the class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration has the useful property of DefaultIPGateway and IpAddress.

Guy Recommends: A Free Wake-On-LAN Utility

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. 

Download your free copy of Wake-On-LAN

Summary of WMI Win32_NetworkAdapter Class

The key point is that PowerShell's Get-WmiObject needs is a WMI class.  These Win32_NetworkAdapter examples will help you to research properties for your task such as NetConnectionStatus.  For pure PowerShell research remember this combination: Get-Help and Get-Member.

See More Microsoft PowerShell WMI Examples:

• Home   • PowerShell Get-WmiObject   • PowerShell -Query   • PowerShell Select

• Win32_pingstatus   • WMI Win32_NetworkAdapter   • Win32_NetworkAdapterConfig

• Disable NIC   • PowerShell -Filter   • Windows PowerShell   • PowerShell 3.0 Network

Please email me if you have any example scripts. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.

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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. Download your free copy of WMI Monitor

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