Win32_ProcessTrace - powershell.one

The Win32_ProcessTrace event WMI class is the base event for process events.

Methods

Win32_ProcessTrace has no methods.

Properties

Win32_ProcessTrace returns 7 properties:

'ParentProcessID','ProcessID','ProcessName','SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR','SessionID','Sid',
'TIME_CREATED'

Unless explicitly marked as writeable, all properties are read-only. Read all properties for all instances:

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace -Property *

Most WMI classes return one or more instances.

When Get-CimInstance returns no result, then apparently no instances of class Win32_ProcessTrace exist. This is normal behavior.

Either the class is not implemented on your system (may be deprecated or due to missing drivers, i.e. CIM_VideoControllerResolution), or there are simply no physical representations of this class currently available (i.e. Win32_TapeDrive).

ParentProcessID

UINT32

Process that starts an event.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property ParentProcessID

ProcessID

UINT32

The ProcessID property identifies the process involved in the event.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property ProcessID

ProcessName

STRING

Name of the process. You can use this name to get the instance of Win32_Process for the same process.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property ProcessName

SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR

UINT8 ARRAY

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR

SessionID

UINT32

Session under which the process exists.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property SessionID

Sid

UINT8 ARRAY

The Sid property is the security identifier representing the user context under which the event happened.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property Sid

TIME_CREATED

UINT64

For more information about using uint64 values in scripts, see Scripting in WMI.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property TIME_CREATED

Examples

List all instances of Win32_ProcessTrace

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace

Learn more about Get-CimInstance and the deprecated Get-WmiObject.

View all properties

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace -Property *

View key properties only

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace -KeyOnly

Selecting Properties

To select only some properties, pipe the results to Select-Object -Property a,b,c with a comma-separated list of the properties you require. Wildcards are permitted.

Get-CimInstance always returns all properties but only retrieves the ones that you specify. All other properties are empty but still present. That’s why you need to pipe the results into Select-Object if you want to limit the visible properties, i.e. for reporting.

Selecting Properties

The code below lists all available properties. Remove the ones you do not need:

$properties = 'ParentProcessID',
              'ProcessID',
              'ProcessName',
              'SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR',
              'SessionID',
              'Sid',
              'TIME_CREATED'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace | Select-Object -Property $properties

Limiting Network Bandwidth

If you work remotely, it makes sense to limit network bandwidth by filtering the properties on the server side, too:

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_ProcessTrace -Property $property | 
Select-Object -Property $property

Selecting Instances

To select some instances, use Get-CimInstance and a WMI Query. The wildcard character in WMI Queries is % (and not “*”).

The parameter -Filter runs a simple query.

Listing all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_ProcessTrace -Filter 'Caption LIKE "a%"' 

Using a WQL Query

The parameter -Query uses a query similar to SQL and combines the parameters -Filter and -Property. This returns all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”, and returns the properties specified:

Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT TIME_CREATED, ParentProcessID, Sid, ProcessID FROM Win32_ProcessTrace WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'"

Any property you did not specify is still present but empty. You might need to use Select-Object to remove all unwanted properties:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT TIME_CREATED, ParentProcessID, Sid, ProcessID FROM Win32_ProcessTrace WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'" | Select-Object -Property TIME_CREATED, ParentProcessID, Sid, ProcessID

Accessing Remote Computers

To access remote systems, you need to have proper permissions. User the parameter -ComputerName to access one or more remote systems.

Authenticating as Current User

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with your current identity:
$result = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ProcessTrace -ComputerName $list 
$result

Authenticating as Different User

Use a CIMSession object to authenticate with a new identity:

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with a different identity:
$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Authenticate to retrieve WMI information:'
$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $list -Credential $cred

$result = Get-CimInstance Win32_ProcessTrace -CimSession $session

# remove the session after use (if you do not plan to re-use it later)
Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session

$result

Learn more about accessing remote computers.

Requirements

To use Win32_ProcessTrace, the following requirements apply:

PowerShell

Get-CimInstance was introduced with PowerShell Version 3.0, which in turn was introduced on clients with Windows 8 and on servers with Windows Server 2012.

If necessary, update Windows PowerShell to Windows PowerShell 5.1, or install PowerShell 7 side-by-side.

Operating System

Win32_ProcessTrace was introduced on clients with Windows Vista and on servers with Windows Server 2008.

Namespace

Win32_ProcessTrace lives in the Namespace Root/CIMV2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance.

Implementation

Win32_ProcessTrace is implemented in Krnlprov.dll and defined in Krnlprov.mof. Both files are located in the folder C:\Windows\system32\wbem:

explorer $env:windir\system32\wbem
notepad $env:windir\system32\wbem\Krnlprov.mof

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