Using Wildcard with WMIC Version Query

Question

I am an InfoSec admin with an okay amount of PowerShell experience. I'll keep it short and sweet:

([WMI] "\\$comp\root\CIMV2:CIM_DataFile.Name='$path'").Version)

I use this for calling file versions instead of using get-item VersionInfo.ProductVersion, since this does not always return an accurate value. It works well. However, when $path is equal to something like this:

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash*.ocx

The query doesn't work because the file is not found. I imagine this is due to the single quotes around the variable ignoring the wildcard.

I will admit that I did find a work around to my problem here (the answer posted by JPBlanc):

Powershell get-item VersionInfo.ProductVersion incorrect / different than WMI

However, I want to know if it is possible for me to use a wildcard with my existing script.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 20 '14 at 16:13

You can't pass a wildcard directly, but you can query the filesystem with that wildcard and then loop through the results. In both cases here, I'm assuming that you're doing this remotely.

$FlashFiles = invoke-command -computername $comp {Get-ChildItem C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash*.ocx;};
foreach ($File in $FlashFiles) {
    write-output "$($File.Fullname): $(([WMI] "\\$comp\root\CIMV2:CIM_DataFile.Name='$($File.FullName)'").Version)"
}

Or do it with a single pipeline:

invoke-command -computername $comp {Get-ChildItem C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash*.ocx||foreach-object {write-output "$($_.Fullname): $(([WMI] "\\$comp\root\CIMV2:CIM_DataFile.Name='$($_.FullName)'").Version)"};

You can make the latter even faster by running the WMI query local to the remote computer (you could do it with the first too, but it's not as pretty)

invoke-command -computername $comp {Get-ChildItem C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash*.ocx|foreach-object {write-output "$($_.Fullname): $(([WMI] "\\.\root\CIMV2:CIM_DataFile.Name='$($_.FullName)'").Version)"}};

Thank you, Alroc. This is what I was looking for. I'd vote you up, but my reputation isn't high enough! — WKJ, Nov 20 '14 at 17:01

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 20 '14 at 16:13

The Name property of a CIM_DataFile can't contain wildcards. I don't believe any of them can.

However, you can specify the Drive, Path, and Extension to get a list:

Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $comp -Class CIM_DataFile -Filter "Drive='C:' AND Path='\\Windows\\System32\\Macromed\\Flash\\' AND Extension='ocx'"

The syntax of Path is a bit flaky. You need the trailing backslashes, for example.

You can also pipe to Where-Object for further filtering:

Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $comp -Class CIM_DataFile -Filter "Drive='C:' AND Path='\\Windows\\System32\\Macromed\\Flash\\' AND Extension='ocx'" |`
Where-Object { $_.FileName -like 'Flash*' } |`
ForEach-Object { $_.Name; $_.Version }

Using Wildcard with WMIC Version Query

2 Answers2