Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

Notes on Script Deployment

Back in 1999, we wrote a book about Windows NT maintenance and configuration using Perl. An entire chapter focused on ways to deploy scripts so that they would run on workstations across a network. With the advent of WMI, that entire discussion has become somewhat less crucial because “deploying” a script across a network is just a matter of running the script on your own workstation and making it connect to the WMI service of remote machines. Sometimes, of course, you will want to distribute scripts, for reasons of security, network reliability, or performance. For the most part, however, the logistical difficulties of ensuring that potentially thousands of machines are all running the latest version of your management ...