Clear-CCMCache

PowerShell script that removes old, unused content from the SCCM/CCM client cache (CCMCache) using the supported UIResource.UIResourceMgr COM interface, and reconciles legacy orphans between disk and the CIM index.

Requirements

• Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7+
• Administrative privileges
• Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM/CCM) client installed and CcmExec service running

Usage

.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 [-Days <int>] [-MaxSizeMB <int>] `
                     [-IncludePersisted] [-IncludeInUse] `
                     [-PassThru] [-LogPath <string>] [-NoLog] `
                     [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [-Verbose]

Parameter	Description
-Days	Days an item must be unreferenced before removal. Default 30, range 1-3650.
-MaxSizeMB	Target maximum cache size in MB. If after the days-based pass the cache is still over this size, removes oldest "recent" entries until under target. 0 (default) disables. Persisted/in-use filters still apply.
-IncludePersisted	Also remove entries flagged PersistInCache=$true. Off by default — deleting persisted content typically triggers redownload on the next policy evaluation.
-IncludeInUse	Also attempt to remove entries with ReferenceCount > 0. Off by default — in-use content is being read by a running install or task sequence. The COM interface may still refuse the delete.
-PassThru	Emit per-item records (Timestamp, Status, Path, SizeKB, Source, Reason, Error) on the success stream. Off by default to keep host output quiet.
-LogPath	Override the CMTrace log file location. Default: read from CCM client registry, fall back to %SystemRoot%\CCM\Logs\ClearCache.log, then to %TEMP%\ClearCache.log.
-NoLog	Disable file logging entirely.
-WhatIf	Show what would be removed without making any changes. Reports projected reclaimable size.
-Confirm	Prompt before each removal.
-Verbose	Per-item progress and a summary line on the verbose stream.

Examples

# Default: clean items unreferenced for more than 30 days
.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1

# Preview a 14-day cleanup, no changes made; shows projected reclaimable size
.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 -Days 14 -WhatIf

# Run a 14-day cleanup with verbose output
.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 -Days 14 -Verbose

# Shrink the cache to 8 GB, removing oldest recent entries if days-based isn't enough
.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 -MaxSizeMB 8192 -WhatIf -Verbose

# Clean and export a per-item audit record
.\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 -PassThru | Export-Csv .\cleanup.csv -NoTypeInformation

# Full help
Get-Help .\Clear-CCMCache.ps1 -Detailed

Logging

Every action (Removed / WouldRemove / Skipped / Failed) is appended to a CMTrace-formatted log alongside the rest of the CCM client logs (default %SystemRoot%\CCM\Logs\ClearCache.log). Open it with CMTrace.exe to see runs interleaved with CcmExec.log, CAS.log, etc. The log auto-rotates to ClearCache.lo_ when it crosses 10 MB.

Each run also logs the cache utilization at start: actual on-disk size, configured maximum (read from CacheConfig.Size), percent used, and headroom — the headline numbers an admin needs to decide whether a cleanup is even necessary.

The verbose summary line at the end of every run looks like:

Cache utilization: 850.42 MB on disk / 25.00 GB max (3.3% used, 24.17 GB headroom)
...
Run finished: removed=33 reclaimed=4.21 GB skipped=7 failed=0

In -WhatIf mode it also reports would-remove=N projected=N so you can preview the savings before committing.

What it does

1. Preflights: confirms CcmExec is running and resolves the cache path from ROOT\ccm\SoftMgmtAgent\CacheConfig.
2. Main pass — for every cache element, joins COM (UIResource.UIResourceMgr.GetCacheInfo()) with CIM (CacheInfoEx):
   • Skips entries unreferenced for ≤ -Days.
   • Skips persisted entries unless -IncludePersisted.
   • Skips in-use entries unless -IncludeInUse.
   • Deletes survivors via DeleteCacheElement() — the supported, locking-aware path.
3. Orphan reconciliation (best effort, for legacy state from older scripts or interrupted ops):
   • Folders on disk with no CIM record → deleted.
   • CIM records pointing at missing folders → deleted (COM first, manual fallback).

Every destructive step honors -WhatIf and -Confirm, and disk deletions are bounded to paths under the resolved cache root as a safety guard.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Clean run. No per-item failures; if -MaxSizeMB was set, the cache is now under target.
1	Preflight failed (no CCM client, CcmExec not running, cache path missing, COM bind failed).
2	Run completed but one or more removals failed (failed > 0 in the summary).
3	-MaxSizeMB was set and the cache is still over target after the run.

Use these for SCCM / Intune / scheduled-task conditional logic. See Examples/ for deployment templates.

Deployment

See the Examples/ folder for ready-to-use templates:

• Intune-Detect.ps1 + Intune-Remediate.ps1 — Proactive Remediation script pair.
• Install-ScheduledTask.ps1 — registers a weekly Windows scheduled task running as SYSTEM.

Notes

• The default cache path is C:\Windows\ccmcache, but the script always reads the actual location from CIM.
• The deletion spine uses the supported UIResource.UIResourceMgr COM interface — the same API the CCM client uses internally — so disk and the cache index stay consistent.
• Uses CIM cmdlets only for read/filter (no Get-WmiObject), so the script runs unchanged on PowerShell 5.1 and 7+.
• Provided as-is. Not supported by Microsoft.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests welcome.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to @theruck242 for identifying a critical issue and providing a robust solution to enhance the script's safety and reliability.