PowerCLI - 4

Alan Renouf has just released version 3 of his Virtualization EcoShell PowerPack and it contains some great new features. In its short existence Alan’s PowerPack has already been downloaded over 2500 times. During the Dutch VMUG last Friday, I’ve presented a session which will give you a good insight into working with the Virtualization EcoShell and Alan’s PowerPack. Just to show you how easy it is to upgrade to the newest version, I’ve created a little Jing movie.

Continue reading "How to upgrade Alan Renouf’s Virtualization..." »

Currently I’m working very hard on my upcoming Dutch VMUG presentation. While I was testing the demo part which is going to be real cool btw, I discovered a real useful feature in the Virtualization EcoShell. The EcoShell Provides pre-defined and customizable reports as well as automated maps without hassle in HTML, XML and CSV formats, including support for Microsoft Visio. But if you want to hassle with XML, what’s the best way? The example screenshots show how to export a selection of data stores to an XML file and then create an Microsoft Excel Map by importing the XML from the file. Excel really does a good job with creating an XML-based representation objects from the EcoShell. The under laying technique is based on the Export-Clixml cmdlet, it creates an XML-based representation of an object or objects and stores it in a file. You can then use the Import-CLIXML cmdlet to re-create the saved object based on the contents of that file. This cmdlet is similar to ConvertTo-XML, except that Export-Clixml stores the resulting XML in a file. ConvertTo-XML returns the XML, so you can continue to process it in Windows PowerShell.

  

VMware vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1 has been tested against the beta release of vSphere 4.1. To find the related issues, see Known Issues, Compatibility with VMware vSphere 4.1 Beta.

What's New in This Release?
This release of vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1 introduces the following new capabilities:

•Managing the failover and load-balancing policies of VirtualSwitch and VirtualPortGroup objects with Get-NicTeamingPolicy and Set-NicTeamingPolicy.
•Copying files in and out of guest operating systems with Copy-VMGuestFile.
•Restarting virtual machines with Restart-VM.
•Managing the power state of hosts using Start-VMHost, Restart-VMHost, Suspend-VMHost, and Stop-VMHost.
•Managing guest networks with Get-VMGuestNetworkInterface, Set-VMGuestNetworkInterface, Get-VMGuestRoute, New-VMGuestRoute, Remove-VMGuestRoute, and Set-VMGuestRoute.
•Retrieving and removing USB devices with Get-UsbDevice and Remove-UsbDevice.
•Managing NIC customization settings with Get-OSCustomizationNicMapping, New-OSCustomizationNicMapping, and Set-OSCustomizationNicMapping.
•Handling virtual machine questions with Get-VMQuestion and Set-VMQuestion.
•Working with host storages and iSCSI HBA devices with Get-VMHostHba, Set-VMHostHba, Get-iScsiHbaTarget, New-iScsiHbaTarget, Remove-iScsiHbaTarget, Set-iScsiHbaTarget, and Set-VMHostStorage.
•Moving templates with Move-Template and Move-Inventory.
•Managing the access control system with Get-VIPrivilege, Get-VIRole, New-VIRole, Remove-VIRole, Set-VIRole, Get-VIPermission, New-VIPermission, Remove-VIPermission, and Set-VIPermission.
•Managing DRS recommendations with Get-DrsRecommendation and Apply-DrsRecommendation.
•Upgrading hosts with Install-VMHostPatch.
•Managing virtual appliances with Get-VApp, Export-VApp, Import-VApp, New-VApp, Remove-VApp, Set-VApp, Start-VApp, and Stop-VApp.
•Managing PCI and SCSI passthrough devices with Add-PassthroughDevice, Get-PassthroughDevice, and Remove-PassthroughDevice.
•Running BAT (Windows) and BASH (Linux) scripts with Invoke-VMScript.
•Granting and revoking shell access with New-VMHostAccount and Set-VMHostAccount.
•Uploading firmware packages with Set-VMHostFirmware.
•Creating virtual machines with thin provisioned disks with New-VM.
•Cloning powered-on virtual machines with New-VM.
•Resizing virtual disks and guest partitions with Set-HardDisk.
•Extending, cloning, inflating, and reallocating virtual hard disks with Copy-HardDisk, New-HardDisk, and Set-HardDisk.
•Managing the host time zones with Get-VMHostAvailableTimeZone and Set-VMHost.
•Working with default Datastore Provider and Inventory Provider drives.
•Working with files and directories in datastores by using the Datastore Provider.
For more information on changes made in vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1, including deprecations and security enhancements, see the vSphere PowerCLI Change Log.

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/sdkwin40u1/ZHcqYmQlcHRiZGVqdA

Carter Shanklin just released the alpha version of project Onyx trough Twitter and YouTube. Onyx generates PowerShell code to help you solve your toughest automation challenges. See the full demonstration with a complete explanation of how to use Onyx at YouTube. Once you have downloaded Project Onyx (http://blogs.vmware.com/files/onyx_1.5.3607.25516.zip) this video shows you how to use it. I already did some tests and it looks awesome.

 

Onyx is a standalone application that serves as a proxy between the vSphere Client and the vCenter Server. It monitors the network communication between them and translates it into an executable PowerShell code. Later, this code can be modified and saved into a reusable function or script.

1. To connect to a server, click the "Connect" icon.

2. Enter the IP of the vCenter Server on which you want to work and click Connect.

3. Connect with any of the following clients:

    For vSphere Client, in the "IP Address" field enter the following address:
    http:// [IP of the machine where Onyx is running] : [listening port]
      
    For vSphere PowerCLI, run the following command:
    Connect-VIServer [IP of the machine where Onyx is running] -Protocol http
    -Port [listening port] -User [username] -Pass [password]

4. To start the generation of PowerCLI.NET scripts, click the "Start" icon.

5. To save the generated script, click the "Save output to file" icon.

Note: To run the generated script, use VMware vSphere PowerCLI.
Free download at: http://www.vmware.com/go/powercli

One of the coolest PowerShell scripters in the universe has just released version 14 of his VESI PowerPack. I’m talking about a fellow vExpert Alan Renouf, he created a real cool VESI PowerPack which can be downloaded freely at his website. This PowerPack is able to check a lot of things in your VMware environment like showing  a list of VMs with inconsistent folder names, ESX NTP settings, Primary HA Nodes and Last VMs created....

Alan invited me to the beta, so the only thing I had to do is upgrade the PowerPack. It’s as simple as one, two,  three.  There’s only one little problem, I have  to recapture a lot of screenshots for my upcoming VESI presentation at the Dutch VMUG the 11th of December.

Scott Herold is happy to announce that the 1.2 version of Virtualization EcoShell is officially available for download at TheVESI.org Download Page. 

We’ve added several new key features that we will be highlighting on our blog over the next several days!  Make sure you you download the newest release and give it a shot!  Don’t forget to check back here for tips and tricks on how to use the new features over the next few days!

New in the Virtualization EcoShell 1.2 Release

•Charts Tab allowuing users to graph any information presented in the grid view using various chart formats
•Best Practices Filters allow customers to easly perform daily checks of common misconfigurations
•Custom Attribute Manager allows users to view all custom attributes and quickly modify custom attribute values against multiple entities
•Hyper-V PowerPack allowing administrators to manage indivdual Microsoft Hyper-V installations using PowerShell

The first new feature that stroke my eye was the Chart tab in the Grid. After some customization , I was able to create really cool charts. You can select different types like Area, Column, Doughnut, Line, Scatter, Stacked Area and Stacked Column. The horizontal axes labels hold the category and can be fed by everything that’s measurable. You can also select multiple legend entries.

http://www.thevesi.org