CMPivot is a powerful tool within the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly known as System Center Configuration Manager or SCCM) that allows IT administrators to query real-time data from clients. This tool is essential for quickly gathering information and making informed decisions about the state of your managed devices. While CMPivot is typically accessed through the Configuration Manager console, there are scenarios where running it via CMD (Command Prompt) can be beneficial, such as automation scripts or remote management tasks.

This article will guide you through the steps to run CMPivot via CMD in a Windows environment, ensuring you can leverage its capabilities efficiently. We'll also provide practical examples to illustrate the process.

Examples:

1. Prerequisites:

   • Ensure you have administrative privileges on the machine where you want to run CMPivot.
   • Verify that the Configuration Manager client is installed and properly configured on the target machine.

2. Running CMPivot via CMD:

   • Open Command Prompt with administrative privileges. You can do this by searching for "cmd" in the Start menu, right-clicking on "Command Prompt," and selecting "Run as administrator."

   • Navigate to the Configuration Manager client installation directory. By default, it is located at C:\Windows\CCM.

     cd C:\Windows\CCM

   • Use the CMPivot.exe command to run a query. For example, to query all installed software on the client, you can use the following command:

     CMPivot.exe -Query "InstalledSoftware | where SoftwareName == 'Microsoft Office'"

     This command will return a list of all instances of Microsoft Office installed on the client.

3. Automating CMPivot Queries:

   • You can create batch scripts to automate CMPivot queries. Here is an example of a batch script that queries for all running processes and saves the output to a text file:

     @echo off
     cd C:\Windows\CCM
     CMPivot.exe -Query "Processes" > C:\CMPivotOutput\Processes.txt
     echo CMPivot query executed and output saved to C:\CMPivotOutput\Processes.txt

   • Save the above script as CMPivotQuery.bat and run it as an administrator. The output will be saved in the specified directory.

4. Using CMPivot with PowerShell:

   • PowerShell offers more flexibility and scripting capabilities compared to CMD. You can run CMPivot queries using PowerShell as well. Here is an example:

     $CMPivotPath = "C:\Windows\CCM\CMPivot.exe"
     $Query = "InstalledSoftware | where SoftwareName == 'Microsoft Office'"
     & $CMPivotPath -Query $Query

     This script runs the same query as before but within a PowerShell environment.