WMI Query Language – WQL – is used to either form a query directly or indirectly in the –Filter parameter of Get-WmiObject and Get-CimInstance.
$query = "SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk WHERE DriveType = 3"
Get-CimInstance -Query $query
OR using the –Filter parameter
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter "DriveType = 3"
WQL is a limited subset of SQL.
If you want to find out more there is a help file available in PowerShell 3.0 and above
get-help about_WQL -ShowWindow
By: Jeffrey Snover [MSFT] on November 2, 2013 at 2:20 pm
get-help about_WQL -ShowWindow
Was one of the best things we ever did. I can never remember WQL and could never find the reference pages either. My joke really is true, “PowerShell is such a powerful tool because I am such a weak person” 🙂