Introduction

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This section describes how to use the WMI and PowerShell protocols to define collection objects and create WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications.

NOTE: This section uses the WMI nomenclature with equivalent SQL nomenclature in parentheses. For example, instance (row), property (column), and class (table).

This section provides an overview of the WMI and PowerShell protocols and WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications in SL1. It includes the following topics:

What is WMI?

Windows Management Instrumentation, or WMI, is a Windows Service developed to access management information. WMI is a middle-layer technology that enables standardized management of Windows-based computers. It collects computer management data from a wide variety of sources and makes it accessible by using standard interfaces. WMI's specific query language is similar to SQL. For a comparison of WQL and SQL, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc180454.aspx.

What is PowerShell?

Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language for administration of Windows systems. SL1 can execute PowerShell requests on target Windows devices via WinRM (Windows Remote Management). For an overview of Windows PowerShell, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/overview?view=powershell-7.3.

SL1 supports the following PowerShell versions for monitoring Windows devices:

  • PowerShell 3.0
  • PowerShell 4.0
  • PowerShell 5.1

Prerequisites

This section does not describe how to plan, design, use, or troubleshoot Dynamic Applications for your network. This section assumes that you are already familiar with the common elements and concepts of Dynamic Applications. For general information on planning, designing, using, and troubleshooting Dynamic Applications, see the general section on Dynamic Application Development.

WMI Dynamic Applications use the WMI protocol. PowerShell Dynamic Applications use the PowerShell protocol. This section assumes that you are familiar with either the WMI or PowerShell protocols.

WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications

In SL1, a WMI Dynamic Application is a Dynamic Application that uses WMI to retrieve data from devices. WMI Dynamic Applications use WMI or WBEM requests to populate collection objects. WMI requests use WQL (WMI Query Language) to query WMI classes (tables) to retrieve data.

WBEM objects are populated with values returned by the wbemcli "get instance" command.

In SL1, a PowerShell Dynamic Application is a Dynamic Application that uses PowerShell to retrieve data from devices. PowerShell Dynamic Applications use PowerShell commands to populate collection objects.

WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications have the following elements in common with other Dynamic Applications:

  • Archetypes. Defines what data is being collected and how it will be displayed in SL1. WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications can use either the Performance or Configuration archetypes.
  • Properties. Allows for version control, release notes, collection, and retention settings.
  • Collection Objects. Define the individual data-points that will be retrieved by the Dynamic Application. These data points are called collection objects. Defines the type of data that is being collected (gauge, counter, etc) and how it is grouped. Collection objects for WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications have settings that are different from collection objects in other types of Dynamic Applications. These settings are described in this section.
  • Presentations. For Performance Dynamic Applications, defines how collected values will be displayed by SL1.
  • Thresholds. Can be used to define a threshold value that can be included in alerts. The threshold appears in the Device Thresholds page for each device aligned with the Dynamic Application.
  • Alerts. Triggers events based on the values retrieved by the Dynamic Application. If the collected data meets the conditions defined in the alert, the alert can insert a message into device logs and trigger events.
  • Credentials. Define how authentication should occur for each Dynamic Application on each device. WMI Dynamic Applications use Basic/Snippet credentials; PowerShell Dynamic Applications use PowerShell credentials. There are multiple ways to align a credential with a Dynamic Application (during discovery, as secondary credentials for a device, or manually in the Collections page for a device). For details on how SL1 aligns credentials during discovery and how to manually edit and add new credentials to a device, see the section on Credentials.
  • Relationships. Dynamic Applications can be configured to automatically create relationships between devices. For example, the Dynamic Applications in the VMware vSphere and NetApp PowerPacks are configured to create relationships between VMware Datastore component devices and their associated NetApp Volume component devices. Relationships created by Dynamic Applications are used and visualized by the platform in the same manner as relationships created by topology collection, Dynamic Component Mapping, and manually in the user interface. The settings for configuring the creation of relationships in configuration WMI and PowerShell Dynamic Applications are the same as the relationship settings for other Dynamic Application protocols.