---
id: wmi
version: "1.5.1"
license: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# WMI — Windows Management Instrumentation

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 1.0M/mo

## What it is and what it does

WMI is a lightweight Python wrapper around Windows Management Instrumentation, Microsoft's system for accessing detailed information about computers and networks. It sits on top of pywin32 and abstracts away the COM plumbing, letting you write simple Python code to query services, hardware, performance metrics, and other system properties on Windows machines.

The package is designed for system administrators and developers who need to automate Windows system tasks—restarting services, checking disk space, monitoring processes, or gathering inventory data. It works by translating Python method calls into WMI queries against the underlying Windows system. However, the package has been abandoned since 2020 and receives no active maintenance, so it may have compatibility issues with newer Python versions or Windows releases.

Use it for:

- Restart or manage Windows services programmatically based on system state.
- Query hardware inventory (disk, memory, network adapters) for system monitoring or reporting.
- Automate administrative tasks like checking running processes or service status across multiple machines.
- Build system health dashboards that pull real-time data from Windows WMI providers.
- Integrate Windows system information into Python-based IT management or monitoring tools.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

WMI wraps Windows Management Instrumentation to let Python code query and control system resources, services, and hardware on Windows machines through a simplified API.

Yes, if you are on Windows and need to query or control system resources via WMI—it remains functional and has no known vulnerabilities. However, be aware that the package is abandoned and untested against Python versions beyond 3.4 or Windows versions beyond 8.x. For new projects, verify compatibility with your Python and Windows versions first, and consider whether a more actively maintained alternative exists for your specific use case.

## Install

pip install wmi
uv add wmi
poetry add wmi

## Installing WMI

Before you install: Installation is straightforward (low friction), but the package is abandoned as of 2020 with no recent maintenance. It depends on pywin32, which is actively maintained, but WMI itself will not receive bug fixes or updates.

License in practice: Licensed under the MIT License (permissive), so you can use it freely in commercial or private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install wmi

import wmi

c = wmi.WMI()
for service in c.Win32_Service(StartMode="Auto", State="Stopped"):
    print(service.Caption)

Requires Windows OS and pywin32 to be installed; will not work on Linux or macOS.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably with Python versions beyond 3.4 (last tested version mentioned in description).
- Current compatibility with recent pywin32 builds and modern Windows versions (10, 11).
- Whether makepy compilation is still necessary for complex WMI queries on current systems.

## Package facts

- License: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 1.0M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

windows system monitoring, WMI query python, windows service management, system information windows, hardware inventory windows, windows performance monitoring, COM interface wrapper, windows-only, system-administration, abandoned

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