How to Enable Hardware Inventory

Article
10/10/2022

You enable or disable the Hardware Inventory Client Agent, in Configuration Manager, by modifying the site control file settings.

To enable or disable the Hardware Inventory Client Agent

Set up a connection to the SMS Provider.
Make a connection to the Hardware Inventory Client Agent section of the site control file by using the SMS_SCI_ClientComp class.
Loop through the array of available properties, making changes as needed.
Commit the changes to the site control file.

Example

The following example method enables or disables the Hardware Inventory Client Agent by using the SMS_SCI_ClientComp class to connect to the site control file and change properties.

For information about calling the sample code, see Calling Configuration Manager Code Snippets.


Sub EnableDisableHardwareInventoryClientAgent(swbemServices, swbemContext, siteCode, enableDisableFlag)  

    ' Load site control file and get hardware inventory client client agent section.  
    swbemServices.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile.Filetype=1,Sitecode=""" & siteCode & """", "Refresh", , , swbemContext  
    Set objSWbemInst = swbemServices.Get("SMS_SCI_ClientComp.Filetype=1,Itemtype='Client Component',Sitecode='" & siteCode & "',ItemName='Hardware Inventory Agent'", , swbemContext)  

    ' Display client agent settings before changing the properties.  
    Wscript.Echo " "  
    Wscript.Echo "Properties - Before Change"  
    Wscript.Echo "---------------------------"  
    Wscript.Echo objSWbemInst.ClientComponentName  
    Wscript.Echo objSWbemInst.Flags & " (0 = Disabled, 1 = Enabled)"  

    ' Set client agent by setting the Flags value to  0 or 1 using the enableDisableFlag variable.  
    objSWbemInst.Flags = enableDisableFlag  

    ' Save the new client agent settings.  
    objSWbemInst.Put_ , swbemContext  
    swbemServices.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile.Filetype=1,Sitecode=""" & siteCode & """", "Commit", , , swbemContext  

    ' Refresh in-memory copy of the site control file and get the client component section.  
    swbemServices.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile.Filetype=1,Sitecode=""" & siteCode & """", "Refresh", , , swbemContext  
    Set objSWbemInst = swbemServices.Get("SMS_SCI_ClientComp.Filetype=1,Itemtype='Client Component',Sitecode='" & siteCode & "',ItemName='Hardware Inventory Agent'", , swbemContext)  

    ' Display the client agent settings after change.  
    Wscript.Echo " "  
    Wscript.Echo "Properties - After Change"  
    Wscript.Echo "---------------------------"  
    Wscript.Echo objSWbemInst.ClientComponentName  
    Wscript.Echo objSWbemInst.Flags & " (0 = Disabled, 1 = Enabled)"  

End Sub


public void EnableDisableHardwareInventoryClientAgent(WqlConnectionManager connection,  
                                                      string siteCode,                                              
                                                      string enableDisableFlag)  

{  
    try  
    {  
        IResultObject siteDefinition = connection.GetInstance(@"SMS_SCI_ClientComp.FileType=1,ItemType='Client Component',SiteCode='" + siteCode + "',ItemName='Hardware Inventory Agent'");  

        // Display client agent settings before changing the properties.  
        Console.WriteLine();  
        Console.WriteLine("Properties - Before Change");  
        Console.WriteLine("---------------------------");  
        Console.WriteLine(siteDefinition["ClientComponentName"].StringValue);  
        Console.WriteLine(siteDefinition["Flags"].StringValue + " (0 = Disabled, 1 = Enabled)");  

        // Set client agent by setting "Flags" value to 0 or 1 by using the enableDisableFlag variable.  
        siteDefinition["Flags"].StringValue = enableDisableFlag;  

        // Save the settings.  
        siteDefinition.Put();  

        // Verify the change by reconnecting and getting the value again.  
        IResultObject siteDefinition2 = connection.GetInstance(@"SMS_SCI_ClientComp.FileType=1,ItemType='Client Component',SiteCode='" + siteCode + "',ItemName='Hardware Inventory Agent'");  

        // Display client agent settings after changing the properties.  
        Console.WriteLine();  
        Console.WriteLine("Properties - After Change");  
        Console.WriteLine("--------------------------");  
        Console.WriteLine(siteDefinition2["ClientComponentName"].StringValue);  
        Console.WriteLine(siteDefinition2["Flags"].StringValue + " (0 = Disabled, 1 = Enabled)");  
    }  

    catch (SmsException ex)  
    {  
        Console.WriteLine("Failed. Error: " + ex.InnerException.Message);  
        throw;  
    }  

}

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
- `connection` - `swbemServices`	- Managed: `WqlConnectionManager` - VBScript: SWbemServices	A valid connection to the SMS Provider.
`swbemContext`	- VBScript: `SWbemContext`	A valid context object. For more information, see How to Add a Configuration Manager Context Qualifier by Using WMI.
`siteCode`	- Managed: `String` - VBScript: `String`	The site code.
`enableDisableFlag`	- Managed: `String` - VBScript: `String`	Determines whether the Hardware Inventory client agent is enabled or disabled.

Compiling the Code

This C# example requires:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.Text

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

adminui.wqlqueryengine

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

Robust Programming

For more information about error handling, see About Configuration Manager Errors.

.NET Framework Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see Configuration Manager role-based administration.