In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, you write to the site control file using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) by using the SMS_SiteControlFile class methods.

When writing to the site control file by using WMI, you use a session handle to identify your application. This is used to manage concurrent updates to the file.

When you have finished writing to the site control file, you must commit your changes.

SMS_SiteControlFile has the following methods to manage changes to the site control file.

Method Description

CommitSCF

Applies your changes to the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager database.

RefreshSCF

Refreshes your in-memory copy of the site control file with any recent changes from the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager database.

GetSessionHandle

Gets your in-memory copy of the site control file and a session handle. You place the session handle in an IWbemContext object that is passed to all IWbemServices methods.

ReleaseSessionHandle

Releases your in-memory copy of the site control file and any resources associated with your session handle.

Caution
You should be experienced in managing a site's configuration before using the SMS Provider classes to modify the site configuration. You can cause great harm to a site by changing some configurable items. You should use extreme caution or avoid using the SMS_SCI_FileDefinition and SMS_SCI_SiteDefinition classes altogether. These classes manage the site control file itself. If you are not careful, you can render the site useless.

To write to the site control file

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

  2. Create a SWbemNameValue value set to hold your context data.

  3. Get a session handle from SMS_SiteControlFile class GetSessionHandle.

  4. Add the session handle to your context data.

  5. Call the SMS_SiteControlFile object RefreshSCF to get the latest copy of the site control file. Use the context data in the call.

  6. Query for the site control file resource you want to update using your context data.

  7. Update the resource using your context data.

  8. Commit your changes to the site control file using the SMS_SiteControlFile object CommitSCF method.

  9. Call the SMS_SiteControlFile object ReleaseSessionHandle method to release your session handle.

Example

The following VBScript example access the client agent component of the site control file and creates a dummy property, property list and multi-string list. It then removes the updates that were made. The example demonstrates how to set up the session handle, get the site control file, query the site control file, make updates and commit changes to the site control file. The methods used to update the various embedded property types are documented in the following topics.

Method Topic

WriteScfEmbeddedProperty

How to Write a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded Property

GetScfEmbeddedProperty

How to Read a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded Property

WriteScfEmbeddedPropertyList

How to Write a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded Property List

GetScfEmbeddedPropertyList

How to Read a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded Property List

WriteScfRegMultiStringList

How to Write a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded RegMultiString List

GetScfRegMultiStringList

How to Read a Configuration Manager Site Control File Embedded RegMultiString List

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 ReadWriteScf(connection, siteCode)

	Dim context
	Dim query
	Dim resource
	Dim resources
	Dim inParams

	Set context = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemNamedValueSet")

	' Add the standard SMS context qualifiers to the context object.
	context.Add "LocaleID", "MS\1033"
	context.Add "MachineName", "MyMachine"
	context.Add "ApplicationName", "MyApp"

	' Add the session handle.
	context.Add "SessionHandle", _
		 connection.ExecMethod("SMS_SiteControlFile", "GetSessionHandle").SessionHandle

   ' Load site control file.
	 Set inParams = connection.Get("SMS_SiteControlFile").Methods_("RefreshSCF").InParameters.SpawnInstance_
InParams.SiteCode = siteCode
connection.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile", "RefreshSCF", inParams, , context

	' Query for the client agent component.
	query = "SELECT * FROM SMS_SCI_ClientComp " & _
			"WHERE ClientComponentName = 'Client Agent' " & _
		 "AND SiteCode = '" & siteCode & "'"
		 
	Set resources = connection.ExecQuery(query, , , context)		 
		
	For each resource in resources

	' Embedded property.

		WScript.Echo "Embedded property"
		Wscript.Echo "-----------------"

		Dim value
		Dim value1
		Dim value2

		Call WriteScfEmbeddedProperty(connection,context,resource,"Test2",20,"Hello","World")

		If  GetScfEmbeddedProperty(resource,"Test2",value,value1,value2) = True Then
			Wscript.Echo "Value: " + CStr(value)
			WScript.Echo "Value1: " + value1
			WScript.Echo "Value2: " + value2
		End If
	
		WScript.Echo 
		dim n,l
		dim updatedProps 
		Dim scfProp
	
		n = 0
		' Remove the property.
		For l = 0 To UBound (resource.Props) 
	
			' Copy each element except the one to delete.
			If resource.Props(l).PropertyName <> "Test2" Then
				Dim embeddedProperty
				Set embeddedProperty = connection.Get("SMS_EmbeddedProperty").Spawninstance_()
				If l = 0 Then
					' Create an array to copy to.
					updatedProps = array(embeddedProperty)
					Redim updatedProps(Ubound(resource.Props)-1)
				End If
				' Copy the element.
				embeddedProperty.PropertyName = resource.Props(l).PropertyName
				embeddedProperty.Value = resource.Props(l).value
				embeddedProperty.Value1 = resource.Props(l).value1
				embeddedProperty.Value2 = resource.Props(l).value2
				
				Set updatedProps(n) = embeddedProperty
				n = n + 1
		End If  
		Next  
	
		' Update
		resource.Props = updatedProps
		resource.Put_, context
	
		WScript.Echo	 
	
		' Check that the property has been deleted. 
		If  GetScfEmbeddedProperty(resource,"Test2",value,value1,value2) = True Then
			WScript.Echo "Property found"
		Else
			WScript.Echo "Property not found"
		End If
 
		WScript.Echo 
	
	' Embedded property list.

		WScript.Echo "Embedded property list"
		WScript.Echo "----------------------"

		Dim values
		values = Array("Tiger","Wolf")
	
		Call WriteScfEmbeddedPropertyList(connection,context,resource,"Animals",values)
	
		Dim retrievedValues 
	
		If GetScfEmbeddedPropertyList(resource,"Animals",retrievedValues) = True Then
			Dim i,c
			Dim updatedValues
		
			c = 0 
		
			' Display the list and remove the property Tiger.
			updatedValues = Array(UBound(retrievedValues)-1)
			For i = 0 To  UBound (retrievedValues)
				 Wscript.Echo retrievedValues(i)
				 If retrievedValues(i) <> "Tiger" Then
				
					updatedValues(c) = retrievedValues(i)
					c = c + 1
				 End If   
			Next
		
			WScript.Echo
			' Update the property list.
			Call WriteScfEmbeddedPropertyList(connection,context,resource,"Animals",updatedValues)
		
			' Get the property list and display.
			Call GetScfEmbeddedPropertyList(resource,"Animals",retrievedValues)
		
			For i = 0 To  UBound (retrievedValues)
				 Wscript.Echo retrievedValues(i)
			 Next
		Else
			WScript.Echo "Not found"
		End If 
	
		WScript.Echo	
	
	' RegMultiString list.	
							
		WScript.Echo "Embedded RegMultiString list"
		WScript.Echo "----------------------------"

		Dim valueStrings
		valueStrings= Array("Lisa","Julie")
	
		' Write the RegMultiString list.
		Call WriteScfRegMultiStringList(connection,context,resource,"Names2",valueStrings)
	
		Dim retrievedValueStrings 
	
		' Get the RegMultiString list.	
		If GetScfRegMultiStringList(resource,"Names2",retrievedValueStrings) = True Then
		
			Dim updatedValueStrings
		
			c = 0 
			updatedValueStrings = Array(Ubound(retrievedValueStrings)-1)
			For i = 0 To UBound (retrievedValueStrings)
				 Wscript.Echo retrievedValueStrings(i)
				 if retrievedValueStrings(i) <> "Lisa" Then
					updatedValueStrings(c) = retrievedValueStrings(i)
				 End If
			Next 
		
			Call WriteScfRegMultiStringList(connection,context,resource,"Names",updatedValueStrings)
		
			WScript.Echo 
		
			Call GetScfRegMultiStringList(resource,"Names",retrievedValueStrings)
		
			For i = 0 To UBound (retrievedValueStrings)
				 Wscript.Echo retrievedValueStrings(i)
			 Next 
		Else
			WScript.Echo "Not found"		
		End If   
	Next

	' Commit the changes.
	Set inParams = connection.Get("SMS_SiteControlFile").Methods_("CommitSCF").InParameters.SpawnInstance_
	inParams.SiteCode = siteCode
	connection.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile", "CommitSCF", inParams, , context

	' Release the session handle.
	Set inParams = connection.Get("SMS_SiteControlFile").Methods_("ReleaseSessionHandle").InParameters.SpawnInstance_
	inParams.SessionHandle = context.Item("SessionHandle")
	connection.ExecMethod "SMS_SiteControlFile", "ReleaseSessionHandle", inParams  
End Sub

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter Type Description

connection

  • SWbemServices

A valid connection to the SMS Provider.

siteCode

  • String

The site code for the Configuration Manager site.

Compiling the Code

This C# example requires:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.Collections

System.Text

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