Utilizing Win32 classes remotely

[Mechaflash]

Trying to remotely connect to a machine on my network. Found this resource from microsoft. So I tried to rewrite it and I'm getting an error on line 3

$objSWbemLocator = ObjGet("WbemScripting", "SWbemLocator")
ConsoleWrite(@error & @CR)
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostame", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

C:Documents and SettingsuserDesktopTestScriptsTEST_DONT_SAVE.au3 (3) : ==> Variable must be of type "Object".:

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostame", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator^ ERROR

ConsoleWrite() returns -2147221020

Is my ObjGet() incorrect for my usage?

[BrewManNH]

That page shows it using ObjCreate, not ObjGet.

[water]

Scriptomatic is your friend here too. Run a query and you will see that the resulting AutoIt code has a variable $strHost = "localhost". Replace this with the remote computername e.g. "computerremote"

Edited October 22, 2012 by water

[Mechaflash]

Scriptomatic is your friend here too. Run a query and you will see that the resulting AutoIt code has a variable $strHost = "localhost". Replace this with the remote computername e.g. "computerremote"

Scriptomatic allows you to select a "WMI Source", which is the target hostname to pull from. This returns a 1 in the namespace list (where it's supposed to return a list of namespaces available from the host). If I just select '1' and select the class from the class list, scriptomatic produces an autoit error and exits. I believe it has something to do with the way our network is setup. If I use my previous code for winmgns as I did for my local machine, instead changing the hostname to another host on the network, it errors. I have to use alternative credentials and domains for each host on the network, which is why I have to use OP method.

@BrewmanNH ahh sorry about that. Didn't know there were two different ways to access an object (I'm clueless when it comes to using objects... I'm learning though.)

$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
ConsoleWrite(@error & @CR)
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

Returns

C:Documents and SettingsuserDesktopTestScriptsTEST_DONT_SAVE.au3 (3) : ==> The requested action with this object has failed.:

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")^ ERROR

So then I tried

$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator", "hostname", "domainuser", "password")
ConsoleWrite(@error & @CR)
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

That returns

C:Documents and Settingsacis4DesktopTestScriptsTEST_DONT_SAVE.au3 (3) : ==> Variable must be of type "Object".:

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator^ ERROR

Edited October 22, 2012 by Mechaflash

[BrewManNH]

Are you using this to connect to the same computer this is being run on, or a different computer?

Because the code below works on my system, as long as the hostname doesn't equal my computer's name.

$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
ConsoleWrite(@error & @CR)
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

[Mechaflash]

Are you using this to connect to the same computer this is being run on, or a different computer?

Because the code below works on my system, as long as the hostname doesn't equal my computer's name.

$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
ConsoleWrite(@error & @CR)
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("hostname", "rootcimv2", "domainuser", "password")

Different computer on the same network. It returns "The requested action with this object has failed." when attempting to .ConnectServer.

[water]

Lets say you start Scriptomatic and let it run until it shows "Select a WMI Class" in the WMI Class input field. Select "Win32_BIOS" and click "Run". The following script will be generated:

expandcollapse popup

; Generated by AutoIt Scriptomatic

$wbemFlagReturnImmediately = 0x10
$wbemFlagForwardOnly = 0x20
$colItems = ""
$strComputer = "localhost"

$Output=""
$Output = $Output & "Computer: " & $strComputer & @CRLF
$Output = $Output & "==========================================" & @CRLF
$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:\\" & $strComputer & "\")
$colItems = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_BIOS", "WQL", _
                                         $wbemFlagReturnImmediately + $wbemFlagForwardOnly)

If IsObj($colItems) then
For $objItem In $colItems
     $strBiosCharacteristics = $objItem.BiosCharacteristics(0)
     $Output = $Output & "BiosCharacteristics: " & $strBiosCharacteristics & @CRLF
     $strBIOSVersion = $objItem.BIOSVersion(0)
     $Output = $Output & "BIOSVersion: " & $strBIOSVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "BuildNumber: " & $objItem.BuildNumber & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Caption: " & $objItem.Caption & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "CodeSet: " & $objItem.CodeSet & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "CurrentLanguage: " & $objItem.CurrentLanguage & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Description: " & $objItem.Description & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "IdentificationCode: " & $objItem.IdentificationCode & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "InstallableLanguages: " & $objItem.InstallableLanguages & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "InstallDate: " & WMIDateStringToDate($objItem.InstallDate) & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "LanguageEdition: " & $objItem.LanguageEdition & @CRLF
     $strListOfLanguages = $objItem.ListOfLanguages(0)
     $Output = $Output & "ListOfLanguages: " & $strListOfLanguages & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Manufacturer: " & $objItem.Manufacturer & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Name: " & $objItem.Name & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "OtherTargetOS: " & $objItem.OtherTargetOS & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "PrimaryBIOS: " & $objItem.PrimaryBIOS & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "ReleaseDate: " & WMIDateStringToDate($objItem.ReleaseDate) & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SerialNumber: " & $objItem.SerialNumber & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSBIOSVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSBIOSVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSMajorVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSMajorVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSMinorVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSMinorVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSPresent: " & $objItem.SMBIOSPresent & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SoftwareElementID: " & $objItem.SoftwareElementID & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SoftwareElementState: " & $objItem.SoftwareElementState & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Status: " & $objItem.Status & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "TargetOperatingSystem: " & $objItem.TargetOperatingSystem & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Version: " & $objItem.Version & @CRLF
     if Msgbox(1,"WMI Output",$Output) = 2 then ExitLoop
     $Output=""
Next
Else
Msgbox(0,"WMI Output","No WMI Objects Found for class: " & "Win32_BIOS" )
Endif


Func WMIDateStringToDate($dtmDate)

Return (StringMid($dtmDate, 5, 2) & "/" & _
StringMid($dtmDate, 7, 2) & "/" & StringLeft($dtmDate, 4) _
& " " & StringMid($dtmDate, 9, 2) & ":" & StringMid($dtmDate, 11, 2) & ":" & StringMid($dtmDate,13, 2))
EndFunc

If you copy the script to SciTE and replace

$strComputer = "localhost"

with the name of the remote computer (e.g. "Computer01") you should be able access all WMI classes of the remote computer.

[Mechaflash]

Line 12 returns: 'Variable must be of type "Object"' @ $objWMIService.

[water]

Change

$strComputer = "localhost"

to

$strComputer = @Computername

and give it a try.

If it works then it's either a permission problem (try to run the script with #RequireAdmin) or the WMI service does'nt run on the target computer.

[Mechaflash]

I got it working. I was correct in my assumption that I somehow had to pass additional credentials... and I had the command correct before (I'll repost it using the scriptomatic generator output), however I also needed to allow remote WMI Connections in the firewall of the remote machine via CMD:

netsh firewall set service RemoteAdmin enable

This is the revised code to pass alternative credentials to the remote machine using code generated by AutoIt Scriptomatic

expandcollapse popup

#Region ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
#AutoIt3Wrapper_Outfile=Test.exe
#AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_requestedExecutionLevel=asInvoker
#EndRegion ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
; Generated by AutoIt Scriptomatic

$wbemFlagReturnImmediately = 0x10
$wbemFlagForwardOnly = 0x20
$colItems = ""
$strComputer = "RemoteComputer"
$strUser = "admin" ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
$strPassword = "password" ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

$Output=""
$Output = $Output & "Computer: " & $strComputer & @CRLF
$Output = $Output & "==========================================" & @CRLF
$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator") ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer($strComputer, "rootcimv2", $strUser, $strPassword) ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
;~ $objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:" & $strComputer & "") ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Commented Out
$colItems = $objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_BIOS", "WQL", _
                                         $wbemFlagReturnImmediately + $wbemFlagForwardOnly)

If IsObj($colItems) then
For $objItem In $colItems
     $strBiosCharacteristics = $objItem.BiosCharacteristics(0)
     $Output = $Output & "BiosCharacteristics: " & $strBiosCharacteristics & @CRLF
     $strBIOSVersion = $objItem.BIOSVersion(0)
     $Output = $Output & "BIOSVersion: " & $strBIOSVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "BuildNumber: " & $objItem.BuildNumber & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Caption: " & $objItem.Caption & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "CodeSet: " & $objItem.CodeSet & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "CurrentLanguage: " & $objItem.CurrentLanguage & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Description: " & $objItem.Description & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "IdentificationCode: " & $objItem.IdentificationCode & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "InstallableLanguages: " & $objItem.InstallableLanguages & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "InstallDate: " & WMIDateStringToDate($objItem.InstallDate) & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "LanguageEdition: " & $objItem.LanguageEdition & @CRLF
     $strListOfLanguages = $objItem.ListOfLanguages(0)
     $Output = $Output & "ListOfLanguages: " & $strListOfLanguages & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Manufacturer: " & $objItem.Manufacturer & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Name: " & $objItem.Name & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "OtherTargetOS: " & $objItem.OtherTargetOS & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "PrimaryBIOS: " & $objItem.PrimaryBIOS & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "ReleaseDate: " & WMIDateStringToDate($objItem.ReleaseDate) & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SerialNumber: " & $objItem.SerialNumber & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSBIOSVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSBIOSVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSMajorVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSMajorVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSMinorVersion: " & $objItem.SMBIOSMinorVersion & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SMBIOSPresent: " & $objItem.SMBIOSPresent & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SoftwareElementID: " & $objItem.SoftwareElementID & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "SoftwareElementState: " & $objItem.SoftwareElementState & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Status: " & $objItem.Status & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "TargetOperatingSystem: " & $objItem.TargetOperatingSystem & @CRLF
     $Output = $Output & "Version: " & $objItem.Version & @CRLF
     if Msgbox(1,"WMI Output",$Output) = 2 then ExitLoop
     $Output=""
Next
Else
Msgbox(0,"WMI Output","No WMI Objects Found for class: " & "Win32_BIOS" )
Endif


Func WMIDateStringToDate($dtmDate)

Return (StringMid($dtmDate, 5, 2) & "/" & _
StringMid($dtmDate, 7, 2) & "/" & StringLeft($dtmDate, 4) _
& " " & StringMid($dtmDate, 9, 2) & ":" & StringMid($dtmDate, 11, 2) & ":" & StringMid($dtmDate,13, 2))
EndFunc

[Mechaflash]

Thanks for helping me to figure this out Brew & water. And thanks water for eluding to permissions issues as I searched msdn for security issues related to remote WMI monitoring and found the tidbit on allowing action through the local firewall.

[water]

Glad you got it working (with a little help from BrewManNH and me)

[Mechaflash]

Verified that the above method works remoting FROM XP to XP and Win7

[repdroid2]

This is just what i was looking for, thank you to you all!

There is just one more problem:

If querying the local machine, it only works when leaving user and password blank. I can't even catch the error (pointed to be at the line just above the @error statement; AutoIt will crash silently).

I'd be happy if it'd accept admin credentials on the local machine, as this will be a common condition.

$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer($machine, "rootcimv2", $user, $pwd)
If @error Then
  MsgBox(16, "Error!", "Unable to get properties" & @CRLF & "of machine [ " & $machine & " ]" & @CRLF & "Error code: " & Hex(@error, 8))
  Exit
EndIf

[SandelPerieanu]

try this

$objswbemlocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
$objswbemservices = $objswbemlocator.ConnectServer($ip, "rootcimv2", $struser, $strpassword, "MS_409", "ntlmdomain:" & $strdomain)
$colitems = $objswbemservices.ExecQuery('SELECT * FROM Win32_GroupUser', 'WQL', 0x30)
......
......
......

without firewall on target...

Edited October 29, 2012 by SandelPerieanu

[repdroid2]

This shows almost the same behaviour. Successful connect to a remote machine, connect to the local machine only when neither credentials nor domain are given.

[Mechaflash]

Possible that the ConnectServer method doesn't allow for a loopback connection? Get the WMI service with the following:

;This
$objWMIService = ObjGet("winmgmts:" & $machine & "rootCIMV2")
;Instead of this
;$objSWbemLocator = ObjCreate("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
;$objWMIService = $objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer($machine, "rootcimv2", $user, $pwd)

Edited October 29, 2012 by Mechaflash

[repdroid2]

ConnectServer works locally as well, as long as there aren't any credentials or domain involved (adressing local machine by @ComputerName). I just wanted to be able to elevate rights on a local machine where i probably wasn't admin already. Which for a remote machine is the problem that the three of you solved in here beautifully, but there must be another approach to do this locally...

[Mechaflash]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa394589%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Use the SWbemLocator.ConnectServer method, or IWbemLocator::ConnectServer in C++, and include the appropriate user name and password. You cannot change credentials when connecting to the local computer. For more information, see Creating a WMI Script and Connecting to WMI on a Remote Computer.

EDIT: So in other words, runas admin. Elevate privileges locally to the script in question and run the command.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Mechaflash