WMI Evaluation Criteria

Topic Last Modified: 2007-11-11

Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM). WBEM provides uniform access to management information. Such management information includes information about the state of system memory, inventories of currently installed client applications, and other information about client status. The Exchange WMI providers supply information about the configuration and state of Exchange servers.

Important

The Exchange 2003 WMI providers do not ship in, and are not supported for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Use the Exchange Management Shell to perform management and monitoring tasks.

Caveats

Be aware that complex queries over the message tracking logs can take a long time to process.

Functional Criteria

Criteria	Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for Exchange
Application Domain	WMI applications that use the Exchange Server 2003 providers are intended for system monitoring and management consoles, administrative migration, analysis, and maintenance scripts. The Exchange 2003 WMI providers do not ship in, and are not supported for Exchange 2007. Use the Exchange Management Shell to perform management and monitoring tasks.
Major Objects	Instances provided by the Exchange 2003 WMI providers include the following: ExchangeClusterResource, ExchangeConnectorState, ExchangeLink, ExchangeQueue, ExchangeServerState, Exchange_DSAccessDC, Exchange_FolderTree, Exchange_Link, Exchange_Logon, Exchange_Mailbox, Exchange_MessageTrackingEntry, Exchange_PublicFolder, Exchange_Queue, Exchange_QueueCacheReloadEvent, Exchange_QueueSMTPVirtualServer, Exchange_QueueVirtualServer, Exchange_QueueX400VirtualServer, Exchange_QueuedMessage, Exchange_QueuedSMTPMessage, Exchange_QueuedX400Message, Exchange_SMTPLink, Exchange_SMTPQueue, Exchange_ScheduleInterval, Exchange_Server, Exchange_X400Link, and Exchange_X400Queue.
Data access model	Mixed. Instances of Exchange 2003 provider objects are represented as hierarchical lists of objects that have properties and methods. In addition, instances can be selected by using the WMI Query Language (WQL), which is similar to SQL in structure.
Threading Models	No specific threading prohibitions. However, applications that use free-threading should never share WMI object instances among asynchronously operating threads. WMI is most frequently used in scripted applications, where threading is not an issue.
Application Architectures	WMI is typically used in command-line or GUI-based administrative scripts. In addition, WMI can be used within ASP pages to form a Web-based Exchange 2003 server health monitor.
Remote Usage	Yes. WMI can be used remotely. The WMI classes verify that the user has the appropriate permissions to access and control the objects.
Transactions	No.
Management Capabilities	WMI is itself a management facility.
Availability	The Exchange 2003 WMI providers are only available on Exchange 2003. The WMI providers do not ship with, and are not supported for Exchange 2007.

Development Criteria

Criteria	Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for Exchange
Languages and Tools	WMI can be used in any COM compatible language. It is most frequently used with scripting languages such as VBScript and Jscript. Using C/C++ to develop applications is considerably more difficult than using scripting languages to develop applications.
Managed Implementation	WMI can be used in a managed-code environment, with any language that provides access to the .NET Framework.
Scriptable	Yes.
Test/Debug Tools	No special tools are required to debug applications that use WMI.
Expert Availability	Finding developers who can effectively program applications that use the Exchange WMI providers should be relatively easy.
Available Information	You can find information about creating applications and scripts that use WMI in Microsoft and third-party books. For more information about WMI, see Windows Management Instrumentation on MSDN.
Developer / Deployment Licensing	No special licenses are required to deploy an application that uses WMI to access Exchange. Refer to your Exchange and MSDN subscription licensing agreements to determine whether additional licenses are required for the Exchange servers that store the data accessed by your WMI-based applications.

Security Criteria

Criteria	Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for Exchange
Design-Time Permissions	Applications that use WMI pass a user security context to the WMI provider. This can either be supplied in the script as a user name and password, or obtained from the user running the script. The Exchange WMI providers allow only Exchange administrators to perform actions that affect the Exchange system. If the development computer requires installation of WMI components, that installation must be performed by a user with local administrator privileges.
Setup Permissions	WMI scripts can typically be copied to the intended computer and run without modification. The client computer must be in the same domain as the target computer. Depending on the type of Setup program used, the user may need local administrator rights to install software.
Run-Time Permissions	Applications that use WMI pass a user security context to the WMI provider. This can either be supplied as a user name and password, or obtained from the user running the script. The Exchange WMI providers allow only Exchange administrators to perform actions that affect the Exchange system.
Built-in Security Features	WMI scripts pass a user security context to the WMI provider. This can either be supplied in the script as a user name and password, or obtained from the user running the script. The Exchange WMI providers allow only Exchange administrators to perform actions that affect the Exchange system.
Security Monitoring Features	Information about this is not yet available.

Deployment Criteria

Criteria	Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for Exchange
Server Platform Requirements	The Exchange 2003 server that is accessed by the WMI-based application must have the appropriate WMI providers installed, and the MOF file compiled. The Exchange 2003 WMI providers do not ship in, and are not supported for Exchange 2007. Use the Exchange Management Shell to perform management and monitoring tasks.
Client Platform Requirements	There are no special client requirements beyond the WMI core components and the WMI application.
Deployment Methods	Applications that use WMI can be deployed to client computers by using standard software distribution technologies. The installer should verify that WMI is installed and configured properly. Scripts can usually be copied to the destination computer.
Deployment Notes	If your WMI application programmatically browses the Exchange 2003 provider class definitions, and the application is running on a computer where Exchange has not been installed, the MOF file for the Exchange providers should be compiled on the client computer by using mofcomp.exe. The Exchange 2003 WMI providers do not ship in, and are not supported for Exchange 2007.