The WMI classes Win32_NetworkAdapter and Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration have seen a lot of use over the years. They can be a bit fiddly to use which is why the NetAdapter module in Windows 8/2012 is a so welcome.

Lets start by looking at basic information gathering

PS> Get-NetAdapter | ft -a

Name InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status MacAddress LinkSpeed —- ——————– ——- —— ———- ——— Ethernet NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet 13 Up 00-1F-16-63-F5-DF 100 Mbps WiFi Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter 12 Up 00-24-2B-2F-9C-A5 54 Mbps

We get the Name & description, status, MAC address and link speed as the default display. Contrast with Win32_NetworkAdapter for the same two interfaces

ServiceName : athr MACAddress : 00:24:2B:2F:9C:A5 AdapterType : Ethernet 802.3 DeviceID : 10 Name : Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter NetworkAddresses : Speed : 54000000

ServiceName : NVNET MACAddress : 00:1F:16:63:F5:DF AdapterType : Ethernet 802.3 DeviceID : 11 Name : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet NetworkAddresses : Speed : 100000000

Notice the ifIndex from Get-NetAdapter & DeviceId from Win32_NetworkAdapter. Two different numbers to identify the device.

What else can Get-NetAdapter tell us:

PS> Get-NetAdapter -Name Ethernet | fl *

ifAlias : Ethernet InterfaceAlias : Ethernet ifIndex : 13 ifDesc : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ifName : Ethernet_7 DriverVersion : 73.3.0.0 LinkLayerAddress : 00-1F-16-63-F5-DF MacAddress : 00-1F-16-63-F5-DF Status : Up **LinkSpeed : 100 Mbps MediaType : 802.3 PhysicalMediaType : 802.3 AdminStatus : Up MediaConnectionState : Connected **DriverInformation : Driver Date 2010-03-04 Version 73.3.0.0 NDIS 6.20 DriverFileName : nvmf6232.sys NdisVersion : 6.20 ifOperStatus : Up Caption : Description : ElementName : InstanceID : {188C370D-AD90-46F3-8AD2-0C10AFB6490C} CommunicationStatus : DetailedStatus : HealthState : InstallDate : Name : Ethernet OperatingStatus : OperationalStatus : PrimaryStatus : StatusDescriptions : AvailableRequestedStates : EnabledDefault : 2 EnabledState
: 5 OtherEnabledState : RequestedState : 12 TimeOfLastStateChange : TransitioningToState : 12 AdditionalAvailability : Availability : CreationClassName : MSFT_NetAdapter DeviceID : {188C370D-AD90-46F3-8AD2-0C10AFB6490C} ErrorCleared : ErrorDescription : IdentifyingDescriptions : LastErrorCode : MaxQuiesceTime : OtherIdentifyingInfo : PowerManagementCapabilities : PowerManagementSupported : PowerOnHours : StatusInfo : SystemCreationClassName : CIM_NetworkPort SystemName : RSLAPTOP01 TotalPowerOnHours : MaxSpeed : OtherPortType : PortType : RequestedSpeed : Speed : 100000000 UsageRestriction : ActiveMaximumTransmissionUnit : 1500 AutoSense : FullDuplex : True LinkTechnology : NetworkAddresses : {001F1663F5DF} OtherLinkTechnology : OtherNetworkPortType : PermanentAddress : 001F1663F5DF PortNumber : 0 Support edMaximumTransmissionUnit : AdminLocked : False ComponentID : pci\ven_10de&dev_0760 ConnectorPresent : True DeviceName : \Device{188C370D-AD90-46F3-8AD2-0C10AFB6490C} DeviceWakeUpEnable : False DriverDate : 2010-03-04 DriverDateData : 129121344000000000 DriverDescription : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet DriverMajorNdisVersion : 6 DriverMinorNdisVersion : 20 DriverName : \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvmf6232.sys DriverProvider : NVIDIA DriverVersionString : 73.3.0.0 EndPointInterface : False **HardwareInterface : True **Hidden : False HigherLayerInterfaceIndices : {26} IMFilter : False InterfaceAdminStatus : 1 InterfaceDescription : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet InterfaceGuid : {188C370D-AD90-46F3-8AD2-0C10AFB6490C} InterfaceIndex : 13 InterfaceName : Ethernet_7 InterfaceOperationalStatus : 1 InterfaceType : 6 iSCSIInterface : False LowerLayerInterfaceIndices : MajorDriverVersion : 73 MediaConnectState : 1 MediaDuplexState : 2 MinorDriverVersion : 30 **MtuSize : 1500 **NdisMedium : 0 NdisPhysicalMedium : 14 NetLuid &n bsp; : 1688849977704448 NetLuidIndex : 7 NotUserRemovable : False OperationalStatusDownDefaultPortNotAuthenticated : False OperationalStatusDownInterfacePaused : False OperationalStatusDownLowPowerState : False OperationalStatusDownMediaDisconnected : False PnPDeviceID : PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0760&SUBSYS_360A103C&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&50 **PromiscuousMode : False **ReceiveLinkSpeed : 100000000 State : 2 TransmitLinkSpeed : 100000000 Virtual : False VlanID : WdmInterface : False PSComputerName : **CimClass : ROOT/StandardCimv2:MSFT_NetAdapter **CimInstanceProperties : {Caption, Description, ElementName, InstanceID…} CimSystemProperties : Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimSystemProperties

Notice the CimClass property ROOT/StandardCimv2:MSFT_NetAdapter – this is one of the new WMI classes introduced in Windows 8. Does this class have any methods?

Get-CimClass -Namespace ROOT/StandardCimv2 -ClassName MSFT_NetAdapter | select -ExpandProperty CimClassMethods

Name
—-
RequestStateChange
SetPowerState
Reset
EnableDevice
OnlineDevice
QuiesceDevice
SaveProperties
RestoreProperties
Enable
Disable
Restart
Lock
Unlock
Rename

These will be investigated in other posts ““ maybe we get cmdlets to work with these as well