How to Import Configuration Baselines and Configuration Items

Article
10/04/2022

In Configuration Manager, importing a configuration baseline or configuration item by using the Configuration Manager SDK requires a properly formatted XML file. Unlike the Configuration Manager console, the Configuration Manager SDK does not support directly importing a CAB file.

Important

The encoding of the XML file must be set to UTF-16 encoded Unicode. The XML encoding can be identified in the XML header:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16" ?>

When configuration data is imported into Configuration Manager, the format can be the following:

DCM Digest XML only

To import Configuration Baselines and Configuration Items

Set up a connection to the SMS Provider.
Read the source XML file into a variable.
Create an instance the SMS_ConfigurationItem class.
Copy the source file contents (XML) into the SMS_ConfigurationItem property SDMPackageXML.
Save the configuration item instance.

Example

The following code examples show how to create an instance of a configuration baseline or a configuration item and then populate it by importing a configuration baseline or a configuration item XML definition.

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


Sub DCMImportBaselineOrCI(swbemServices,   _  
                          pathToFile)  

' Set required variables.  
readFile = 1  'constant   
fileContents          =    ""  
initialReadSucceeded  =    ""  
triStateTrue = -1  ' This sets the file read to Unicode.  

' Check if source xml file exists.  
set fileSytemObject = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")  
If fileSytemObject.FileExists(pathToFile) Then  
    set textFile = fileSytemObject.OpenTextFile(pathToFile, readFile, False, triStateTrue)      
    fileContents = textFile.ReadAll  
    textFile.Close  

    initialReadSucceeded = true  

    set textFile = Nothing  

    Wscript.Echo " "  
    Wscript.Echo "Successfully read " & pathToFile  

Else  
    initialReadSucceeded = false  

    Wscript.Echo " "  
    Wscript.Echo "File does not exist."  
End If  
set fileSytemObject = Nothing  

If initialReadSucceeded Then  

    On Error Resume Next   

        ' Create an instance of configuration item.  
        set newCI = swbemServices.Get("SMS_ConfigurationItem").SpawnInstance_()        

        ' Copy specified file contents (XML) into SMS_ConfigurationItem property.  
        newCI.SDMPackageXML = fileContents  

        ' Save configuration item.  
        newCI.Put_  

        If Err.Number<>0 Then  
            Wscript.Echo "Couldn't create configuration item."  
            Wscript.Echo "Possible duplicate configuration item or invalid XML."  
            Wscript.Quit  
        End If  
    On Error Goto 0  
Else  
    Wscript.Echo " "  
    Wscript.Echo "Failed to create configuration item."     
End If    

End Sub


public void DCMImportBaselineOrCI(WqlConnectionManager connection,  
                                  string pathToFile)  
{  

    // Set required variables.  
    string fileContents = null;  
    bool initialReadSucceeded = false;  

    // Load XML file using pathToFile variable.  
    try  
    {  
        // Open the file specified by the pathToFile variable and read the contents into a string.  
        using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(pathToFile, System.Text.Encoding.Unicode))  
        {  
            fileContents = sr.ReadToEnd();  
        }  

        Console.WriteLine("Successfully read " + pathToFile + ".");  

        initialReadSucceeded = true;  
    }  
    catch (Exception ex)  
    {  
        Console.WriteLine("Unable to read " + pathToFile + "." + "\n" + ex.Message);  
        throw;  
    }  

    // Run only if the initial read was successful.  
    if (initialReadSucceeded)  
    {  
        try  
        {  
            // Create an instance of Configuration Item.  
            IResultObject newCI = connection.CreateInstance("SMS_ConfigurationItem");  

            // Copy specified file contents (XML) into SMS_ConfigurationItem property.  
            newCI["SDMPackageXML"].StringValue = fileContents;  

            // Save new SMS_ConfigurationItem object.   
            newCI.Put();  
        }  
        catch (SmsException ex)  
        {  
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to create configuration item using " + pathToFile + ".");  
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Details);  
            throw;   
        }  
    }  
}

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
- `connection` - `swbemServices`	- Managed: `WqlConnectionManager` - VBScript: SWbemServices	A valid connection to the SMS Provider.
pathToFile	- Managed: `String` - VBScript: `String`	Path of the XML file to import.

Compiling the Code

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.ComponentModel

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

adminui.wqlqueryengine

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

Robust Programming

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

.NET Framework Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see Configuration Manager role-based administration.