<\/A>\nDetermining the Grace Period Using Windows PowerShell<\/H2>\n
We can\u2019t promise to do this every day, but whenever possible we\u2019ll try to provide a Windows PowerShell solution along with the VBScript solutions typically used in the Hey, Scripting Guy!<\/I> column. Here\u2019s a sample solution from PowerShell pro June Blender.<\/P>\n
I knew that I this task could be done easily in Windows PowerShell, because PowerShell can access any WMI class. (There are a few caveats, but I don’t think this one qualifies.) And the Scripting Guy did all of the heavy lifting: he determined which WMI class to use and found interesting properties to display.<\/P>\n
Here’s a simple Windows PowerShell command that displays the grace period for Windows Vista license:<\/P>
get-wmiobject -class SoftwareLicensingProduct | format-List -property Name, Description, ‘GracePeriodRemaining, LicenseStatus\n<\/PRE>\nHere’s a more complex version that calculates the grace period in days, instead of minutes, and translates the LicenseStatus property integer values to their meanings:<\/P>
$L = get-wmiobject -class SoftwareLicensingProduct\n$L | format-list -property Name, Description, `\n @{Label=”Grace period (days)”; Expression={ $_.graceperiodremaining \/ 1440}}, `\n @{Label= “License Status”; Expression={switch (foreach {$_.LicenseStatus}) `\n { 0 {“Unlicensed”} `\n 1 {“Licensed”} `\n 2 {“Out-Of-Box Grace Period”} `\n 3 {“Out-Of-Tolerance Grace Period”} `\n 4 {“Non-Genuine Grace Period”} `\n } } }\n<\/PRE>\nHere’s the output. It’s not exactly like the VBScript output, but it will do:<\/P>
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_KMS channel\nGrace period (days) : 0\nLicense Status : Unlicensed<\/p>\nName : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_MAK channel\nGrace period (days) : 0\nLicense Status : Unlicensed<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, OCUR add-on for Ultimate,HomePremium\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, RETAIL channel\nGrace period (days) : 0\nLicense Status : Unlicensed<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, RETAIL channel\nGrace period (days) : 0\nLicense Status : Unlicensed<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channe\n l\nGrace period (days) : 173.5\nLicense Status : Licensed<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, OEM_SLP channel\nGrace period (days) : 0\nLicense Status : Unlicensed\n<\/PRE>\n
Windows PowerShell makes this otherwise complex task rather easy. The Get-WmiObject cmdlet has a Class parameter (-class) that lets you specify any WMI class. The Scripting Guy told us to use the SoftwareLicensingProduct class, and we always do what he says. I saved the output in a variable named $L (for “license”):<\/P>
$L = get-wmiobject -class SoftwareLicensingProduct\n<\/PRE>\nAt this point we have all of the data that we need in the $L variable; all that’s left to do is to format the output. I chose to format the data as a list, because the long values would be truncated in a table. <\/P>\n
The Format-List cmdlet has a Property parameter (-property) that lets you select the properties that are displayed in the list. And I copied the properties that the Scripting Guy used in his script:<\/P>
format-List -property Name, Description, GracePeriodRemaining, LicenseStatus\n<\/PRE>\nThis command is designed to find the grace period on my local computer, but I could easily add the ComputerName parameter of Get-WmiObject to run the same command on a remote computer, such as one named Vista2.<\/P>
get-wmiobject -class SoftwareLicensingProduct -computername Vista2 | format-List Name, Description, GracePeriodRemaining, LicenseStatus\n<\/PRE>\nI’m done with the task, but I’m still curious about this new SoftwareLicensingProduct object. Perhaps, just perhaps, the Scripting Guy didn’t show all of the cool properties of the class. Or, maybe the objects in this class have methods that I might want to use later. <\/P>\n
Because I have objects, not just strings, I don’t need to retrieve the data again; I just need to re-format the display. First, I’ll look at the properties that we didn’t use in this display.<\/P>\n
I can easily view all of the properties and methods of the objects in $L by using the Get-Member cmdlet. In this command, I use a pipeline operator (|) to send the objects in the $L variable to Get-Member:<\/P>
$L | get-member\n<\/PRE>\nAnd here’s the result: the properties and methods of a SoftwareLicensingProduct object.<\/P>
TypeName: System.Management.ManagementObject#root\\cimv2\\SoftwareLicensingPro\nduct<\/p>\nName MemberType Definition\n—- ———- ———-\nActivate Method System.Management.ManagementBaseOb…\nDepositOfflineConfirmationId Method System.Management.ManagementBaseOb…\nUninstallProductKey Method System.Management.ManagementBaseOb…\nApplicationID Property System.String ApplicationID {get;s…\nDescription Property System.String Description {get;set;}\nEvaluationEndDate Property System.String EvaluationEndDate {g…\nGracePeriodRemaining Property System.UInt32 GracePeriodRemaining…\nID Property System.String ID {get;set;}\nLicenseStatus Property System.UInt32 LicenseStatus {get;s…\nMachineURL Property System.String MachineURL {get;set;}\nName Property System.String Name {get;set;}\nOfflineInstallationId Property System.String OfflineInstallationI…\nPartialProductKey Property System.String PartialProductKey {g…\nProcessorURL Property System.String ProcessorURL {get;set;}\nProductKeyID Property System.String ProductKeyID {get;set;}\nProductKeyURL Property System.String ProductKeyURL {get;s…\nUseLicenseURL Property System.String UseLicenseURL {get;s…\n__CLASS Property System.String __CLASS {get;set;}\n__DERIVATION Property System.String[] __DERIVATION {get;…\n__DYNASTY Property System.String __DYNASTY {get;set;}\n__GENUS Property System.Int32 __GENUS {get;set;}\n__NAMESPACE Property System.String __NAMESPACE {get;set;}\n__PATH Property System.String __PATH {get;set;}\n__PROPERTY_COUNT Property System.Int32 __PROPERTY_COUNT {get…\n__RELPATH Property System.String __RELPATH {get;set;}\n__SERVER Property System.String __SERVER {get;set;}\n__SUPERCLASS Property System.String __SUPERCLASS {get;set;}\nConvertFromDateTime ScriptMethod System.Object ConvertFromDateTime();\nConvertToDateTime ScriptMethod System.Object ConvertToDateTime();\nDelete ScriptMethod System.Object Delete();\nGetType ScriptMethod System.Object GetType();\nPut ScriptMethod System.Object Put();\n<\/PRE>\n
Hmm, Activate and UninstallProductKey methods. An OfflineInstallationID property. Okay, these are interesting, but I need to see an example. <\/P>\n
Because the Get-WmiObject cmdlet retrieved more than one object, I actually have a group or array of objects. I can use the . (that’s a dot) property operator and the Count property of an array to find out how many objects I have.<\/P>
$L.count\n6\n<\/PRE>\nAnd I discover that I have six of them; a bit too much for one display.<\/P>\n
I’ll select the most interesting one — the one with the license — and display the values of its properties. This command uses the Where-Object cmdlet (alias = “where”) to select one of the objects, the one with the word “client” somewhere in the description text. Again, I use the Format-List cmdlet and use its Property parameter with a value of all<\/B> (*).<\/P>$L | where {$_.description -like “*client*”} | format-list -property *<\/p>\n__GENUS : 2\n__CLASS : SoftwareLicensingProduct\n__SUPERCLASS :\n__DYNASTY : SoftwareLicensingProduct\n__RELPATH : SoftwareLicensingProduct.ID=”cfd8ff08-c0d7-452b-9f60-ef\n 5c70c32094″\n__PROPERTY_COUNT : 14\n__DERIVATION : {}\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\n__NAMESPACE : root\\cimv2\n__PATH : \\\\JUNEB-TESTV\\root\\cimv2:SoftwareLicensingProduct.ID=”c\n fd8ff08-c0d7-452b-9f60-ef5c70c32094″\nApplicationID : 55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT chan\n nel\nEvaluationEndDate : 16010101000000.000000-000\nGracePeriodRemaining : 249840\nID : cfd8ff08-c0d7-452b-9f60-ef5c70c32094\nLicenseStatus : 1\nMachineURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57203\nName : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nOfflineInstallationId : 013421174935129263064954303550341742525985120465630192\nPartialProductKey : 4BWMV\nProcessorURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57201\nProductKeyID : 89579-00142-236-020020-03-1033-6000.0000-0292007\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204\nUseLicenseURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=572\n<\/PRE>\n
Now, I can display some of these other properties, just by changing the Format-List command. This time, I’ll pipe the objects in the $L variable to a Format-List command with a different set of properties:<\/P>
$L | format-List Name, Description, GracePeriodRemaining, LicenseStatus, __SERVER, ProductKeyURL\n<\/PRE>\nHere’s the result:<\/P>
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_KMS channel\nGracePeriodRemaining : 0\nLicenseStatus : 0\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204<\/p>\nName : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_MAK channel\nGracePeriodRemaining : 0\nLicenseStatus : 0\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, OCUR add-on for Ultimate,HomePremium\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, RETAIL channel\nGracePeriodRemaining : 0\nLicenseStatus : 0\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, RETAIL channel\nGracePeriodRemaining : 0\nLicenseStatus : 0\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT chann\n el\nGracePeriodRemaining : 258900\nLicenseStatus : 1\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204<\/p>\n
Name : Windows(TM) Vista, Enterprise edition\nDescription : Windows Operating System – Vista, OEM_SLP channel\nGracePeriodRemaining : 0\nLicenseStatus : 0\n__SERVER : JUNEB-TESTV\nProductKeyURL : http:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkId=57204\n<\/PRE>\n
Okay, it’s not much more useful in this case. Once again, we’ll have to concede to the Scripting Guy.<\/P>\n
One last issue is how I managed the fancy formatting in the second version of the command:<\/P>
$L = get-wmiobject -class SoftwareLicensingProduct\n$L | format-list Name, Description, `\n @{Label=”Grace period (days)”; Expression={ $_.graceperiodremaining \/ 1440}}, `\n @{Label= “License Status”; Expression={switch (foreach {$_.LicenseStatus}) `\n { 0 {“Unlicensed”} `\n 1 {“Licensed”} `\n 2 {“Out-Of-Box Grace Period”} `\n 3 {“Out-Of-Tolerance Grace Period”} `\n 4 {“Non-Genuine Grace Period”} `\n } } }\n<\/PRE>\nTo manipulate a property value before displaying it, I used a calculated property<\/I>. This takes the form of a “hash table,” (formally called an associative array<\/I><\/B>to avoid any hint of impropriety). Each hash table can have Label, Expression, Format, and Alignment keys. You can use them with Select-Object and the formatting cmdlets (Format-*). For examples, see “get-help format-table -examples”.<\/P>\n
Here’s the format:<\/P>
@{<key>=<value>; [<key>=<value>\u2026]}\n<\/PRE>\nsuch as:<\/P>
@{Label=”Name”; Expression={$_.Property * Int}}\n<\/PRE>\n(The tricky part is remembering the correct number of parentheses and curly braces\u2026)<\/P>\n
In this case, to convert the value of the GracePeriodRemaining property from minutes to days, I divided the value by 1440, the number of minutes in a day. The expression starts with a $_ <\/B>, the symbol that represents the current object. You need it whenever you are displaying more than one object (in this case, 6 of them).<\/P>@{Label=” Grace period (days)”; Expression={$_.graceperiodremaining \/ 1440}}\n<\/PRE>\nTo change the integer values of the LicenseStatus properties to meaningful names, I typed a switch<\/B> statement in the value of the Expression key. Windows PowerShell uses a pretty standard form of the switch<\/B> statement. For a detailed description of switch statements in PowerShell, at the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type “get-help about_switch”.<\/P>\n
These simple commands can be very powerful. Again, the trick was finding the SoftwareLicensingProduct class of WMI. In this case, like many others, I relied on the venerable Scripting Guy, but if he was off at a baseball game — I mean, occupied in an important meeting — you can use the List parameter of Get-WmiObject to list all of the available WMI classes.<\/P>
get-wmiobject -list\n<\/PRE>\nI’ll continue to rely on the Scripting Guy.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the remaining operating system grace period for a computer running Windows Vista?— LD Hey, LD. You know, a number of years ago the Scripting Guy who writes this column came outside after work only to discover that his car wouldn\u2019t start. At that time he was working as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":87096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,47,3,5,725],"class_list":["post-65183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scripting","tag-desktop-management","tag-general-management-tasks","tag-scripting-guy","tag-vbscript","tag-windows-vista"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"
Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the remaining operating system grace period for a computer running Windows Vista?— LD Hey, LD. You know, a number of years ago the Scripting Guy who writes this column came outside after work only to discover that his car wouldn\u2019t start. At that time he was working as […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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