Repairing Windows Management Instrumentation for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager

Resolving The Problem

Verify WMI Service Status

• Open the Services management console:
  • Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
  • Locate the Windows Management Instrumentation service.
  • Ensure it is running and set to Automatic startup.
  • If it’s stopped, right-click and select Start.
• If the service fails to start, proceed to check WMI configuration and permissions.

Check WMI Configuration and Permissions

• Open the WMI Control tool:
  • Press Win + R, type wmimgmt.msc, and press Enter.
  • Right-click WMI Control (Local) and select Properties.
• In the Security tab:
  • Navigate to Root and Root\CCM namespaces.
  • Ensure the Everyone group (or relevant user accounts) has Full Control permissions. If not:
    • Click Security, select Edit, and grant Full Control to Everyone or the appropriate user group.
• In the Default Properties tab:
  • Ensure Enable Distributed COM on this computer is checked.
  • Set Default Authentication Level to Connect.
  • Set Default Impersonation Level to Identify.
• In the COM Security tab:
  • Under Access Permissions, click Edit Limits and ensure Everyone has full permissions.
  • Under Launch and Activation Permissions, ensure Everyone has full permissions.
• Apply changes and restart the WMI service (see Step 1).

Repair MECHClient Using ccmrepair.exe

• The MECH client includes a built-in repair tool that can address WMI-related issues:
  • Open an elevated Command Prompt (run as administrator).
  • Navigate to the MECH client installation directory (typically C:\Windows\CCM).
  • Run the following command:

ccmrepair.exe

• Two ways to monitor the repair process
  • By opening the ccmsetup.log file located in C:\Windows\CCMSetup\Logs and looking for the line CcmSetup is exiting with return code 0 to confirm successful repair.
  • By watching the output of the command prompt. When see “Done” as the status, it means the client agent repair or reinstall was successfully completed. For example:

C:\Windows\CCM>ccmrepair.exe

Repairing product {88B420C9-C484-4E20-8D02-C25243A36B80}…

Done.

Reset WMI Repository (Last Resort)

• Steps to reset the WMI repository:
  • Stop the WMI service:
    • Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

net stop winmgmt

• Rename or delete the WMI repository:
  • Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\wbem.
  • Rename the Repository folder to Repository_old:

ren C:\Windows\System32\wbem\Repository Repository_old

• Restart the WMI service:

net start winmgmt

• The WMI repository will be rebuilt automatically upon service restart.
• After rebuilding, re-run the MECH client repair:

ccmrepair.exe

• Reinstall the MECH client if necessary (see Step 6).

Check MECH Client Logs for Errors

• Review MECH client logs to identify specific WMI issues:
  • ccmsetup.log: Located in C:\Windows\CCMSetup\Logs, logs client installation and repair activities.
  • ClientIDManagerStartup.log: Located in C:\Windows\CCM\Logs, logs client registration issues.
  • AppDiscovery.log and AppEnforce.log: Located in C:\Windows\CCM\Logs, logs application discovery and enforcement issues.
• Look for errors related to WMI, such as access denied or missing namespaces (e.g., root\CCM).
• If logs indicate certificate issues, ensure the client certificate is valid and initiate a policy update:

powershell.exe Invoke-WmiMethod -Namespace root\CCM -Class SMS_Client -Name TriggerSchedule "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000021}"

This triggers a machine policy retrieval.

Reinstall MECH Client (if Necessary)

• If repairing the client doesn’t resolve the issue, uninstall and reinstall the MECH client:
  • Uninstall the client:
    • Run the following command in an elevated Command Prompt:

C:\Windows\CCMSetup\CCMSetup.exe /uninstall

• Monitor the uninstall process in ccmsetup.log.
• Reinstall the client:Use the MECH client installation package or run:

CCMSetup.exe /MP:<management_point_FQDN> SMSSITECODE=<site_code>

• Replace <management_point_FQDN> with the fully qualified domain name of the management point and <site_code> with your MECH site code.
• Verify installation in ccmsetup.log.

Verify Repair Success

• Open the Configuration Manager properties in Control Panel (control smscfgrc).
• Trigger a Machine Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle and Application Deployment Evaluation Cycle.
• Open Software Center to confirm it loads without errors.
• Check client health in the MECH console under Assets and Compliance > Devices to ensure the client is reporting as healthy.