Using WMI Filters with GPOs

To create a WMI filter for the GPO, right-click the WMI Filters node and select New to open the New WMI Filter dialog box. Name the filter, provide a description, and add your query, as Figure 3 shows. You can specify a namespace other than the default root\CIMv2 if you have specific needs, but for most situations, the classes in the default namespace are adequate. Also, you can add several WQL queries to one WMI filter; simply click Add and define the additional queries. Click Save.

Finally, link the WMI filter to your GPO by opening the WMI filter in GPMC and right-clicking in the white space under GPOs that use this WMI filter. Click Add, then choose the target GPO. Figure 4 summarizes the results of these steps and shows a WMI filter named Dell Optiplex, which finds matches for all computer objects for which the Model property of the Win32_ComputerSystem class contains the word OptiPlex. The WMI filter is linked to the GPO named Run Dell Upgrade Software. GPMC presents the data in such a way that from one view you can determine that the Run Dell Upgrade Software GPO, applied at the domain level, will run only on Optiplex model computers.

What's in a Query?
Constructing the WQL query syntax is perhaps the trickiest task that you'll encounter when you begin working with WMI filters. Your system contains more than 200 WMI classes, but you'll likely use only a few of them for your WMI filters. The classes usually begin with the prefix Win32_, followed by a descriptive name such as ComputerSystem or OperatingSystem. . . .