Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a Microsoft infrastructure for managing Windows-based systems, providing a standardized way to access and manipulate management information about the operating system, hardware, and applications. It enables administrators and developers to query system data, configure settings, and automate tasks across local or remote Windows machines using scripts or programs. WMI is built on the Common Information Model (CIM) and is integrated into the Windows operating system.
Developers should learn WMI when building tools for system administration, monitoring, or automation on Windows platforms, such as for IT management software, deployment scripts, or performance tracking applications. It is particularly useful for tasks like retrieving hardware details, managing services, monitoring event logs, or configuring network settings programmatically, as it offers a unified interface to interact with diverse Windows components without relying on multiple APIs.