You create a computer variable for a computer that is running System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager by adding instances of SMS_MachineVariable to the SMS_MachineSettings class MachineVariables array property.

To create a computer variable

  1. Set up a connection to the SMS Provider. For more information, see About the SMS Provider in Configuration Manager.

  2. Get an instance of SMS_MachineSettings.

  3. For each variable to be added, add instances of the embedded object a SMS_MachineVariable to the MachineVariables array property.

  4. Commit the changes to the SMS_MachineSettings class instance.

Example

The following example method creates a collection variable and adds it to the collection identified by the supplied identifier.

In the example, the LocaleID property is hard-coded to English (U.S.). If you need the locale for non-U.S. installations, you can get it from the SMS_Identification Server WMI ClassLocaleID property.

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

Visual Basic Script  Copy Code
Sub CreateComputerVariable(connection, siteCode, name, value, mask, computerId)

	Dim computerSettings
	Dim computerVariables
	Dim computerVariable
	Dim Settings

	' See if the computer settings object already exists. if it does not, create it.
	Set settings = connection.ExecQuery _
	("Select * From SMS_MachineSettings Where ResourceID = '" & computerID & "'")
   
	If settings.Count = 0 Then
		Wscript.Echo "Creating computer settings object"
		Set computerSettings = connection.Get("SMS_MachineSettings").SpawnInstance_
		computerSettings.ResourceID = computerId
		computerSettings.SourceSite = siteCode
		computerSettings.LocaleID = 1033
		computerSettings.Put_
	End If  

	' Get the computer settings object.
	Set computerSettings = connection.Get("SMS_MachineSettings.ResourceID='" & computerId &"'" )
   
	' Get the computer variables.
	computerVariables=computerSettings.MachineVariables

	' Create and populate a new computer variable.
	Set computerVariable = connection.Get("SMS_MachineVariable").SpawnInstance_
	computerVariable.Name = name
	computerVariable.Value = value
	computerVariable.IsMasked = mask

	' Add the new computer variable.
	ReDim Preserve computerVariables (UBound (computerVariables)+1)
	Set computerVariables(UBound(computerVariables)) = computerVariable

	computerSettings.MachineVariables=computerVariables

	computerSettings.Put_
		
 End Sub   
C#  Copy Code
public void CreateComputerVariable(
	WqlConnectionManager connection,
	string siteCode, 
	string name, 
	string value, 
	bool mask, 
	int computerId)
{
	try
	{
		// Get the computer settings.
		IResultObject computerSettings=null;

		IResultObject computerSettingsQuery = connection.QueryProcessor.ExecuteQuery(
			"Select * from SMS_MachineSettings where ResourceId = '" + computerId + "'");

		foreach (IResultObject settings in computerSettingsQuery)
		{
			computerSettings = settings;
	}

		if (computerSettings == null) // It does not exist, so create it.
		{
			computerSettings = connection.CreateInstance(@"SMS_MachineSettings");
			computerSettings["ResourceID"].IntegerValue = computerId;
			computerSettings["SourceSite"].StringValue = siteCode;
			computerSettings["LocaleID"].IntegerValue = 1033;
			computerSettings.Put();
			computerSettings.Get();
	}

		// Create the computer variable.
		List<IResultObject> computerVariables = computerSettings.GetArrayItems("MachineVariables");
		IResultObject computerVariable = connection.CreateEmbeddedObjectInstance("SMS_MachineVariable");
		computerVariable["Name"].StringValue = name;
		computerVariable["Value"].StringValue = value;
		computerVariable["IsMasked"].BooleanValue = mask;

		// Add the computer variable to the computer settings.
		computerVariables.Add(computerVariable);
		computerSettings.SetArrayItems("MachineVariables", computerVariables);

		computerSettings.Put();
}
	catch (SmsException e)
	{
		Console.WriteLine("Failed to create computer variable: " + e.Message);
		throw;
}
}

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter

Type

Description

connection

  • Managed: WqlConnectionManager

  • VBScript: SWbemServices

A valid connection to the SMS Provider.

siteCode

  • Managed: String

  • VBScript: String

The site code of the source site.

name

  • Managed: String

  • VBScript: String

The name of the variable to be created.

value

  • Managed: String

  • VBScript: String

The value of the variable.

mask

  • Managed: Boolean

  • VBScript: Boolean

Specifies whether the value is displayed in the Configuration Manager console.

true - the variable value is not displayed.

false - the variable value is displayed.

computerID

  • Managed: Integer

  • VBScript: Integer

The computer identifier. Typically this is the SMS_R_System class ResourceID property.

Compiling the Code

The C# example has the following compilation requirements:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

adminui.wqlqueryengine

Robust Programming

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

Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see Securing Configuration Manager Applications.

See Also