From the Field: FIM Q&A - April 9, 2012

Welcome to this edition of FIM Q&A.  This week I am going to focus on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).  WMI is critical for FIM to function from running/stopping run profiles to syncing passwords.  Let's get right to it...

Q1: My WMI is broke!  How did it get this way?

A1: According to some trusted Microsoft support guys, the top cause is not flushing to disk before shutdown (or what we call in the biz, a dirty shutdown).  Next would be 3rd party application causing some problems.

Q2: What can I do to determine the problem?

A2: WMIDiag is a tool we released a few months ago to help determine WMI problems.  The Ask Perf team has a good blog on it here.

Q3: What can I do to prevent the problem?

A3: I like how you think.  There are a few WMI hotfixes out there that will prevent future problems as well as improve performance.  The hotfixes are post Windows 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 7 SP1.  You will not get these fixes through Windows Update and will need to download them manually.  Test in your lab, go through testing and get them on your machines.

Find the list of WMI hotfixes post Windows 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 7 SP1 here.  The list is maintained by one of our PFEs, Yong Rhee.  If you are running a different version you can search his blog for "WMI" and find the list of hotfixes for your OS version.

Q4. Where can I get more information on the WMI in regards to FIM?

A4. The FIM 2010 Developer Reference discusses the FIM WMI classes and how to work with them.

Q5. Can I use PowerShell?

A5. You bet.  Good starting articles are Accessing WMI from PowerShell and PowerShell Scriptomatic

That's all for now.  Have a great week!