Luckily PowerGUI gave us a great way to add an MMC style interface back on top of the cmdlets, this is called a Powerpack.

The Image Builder and Auto Deploy Powerpack is a PowerGUI Powerpack which enables us as VMware admins to have a graphical interface to Image Builder and Auto Deploy which are currently released as PowerShell snap-ins only.

The Powerpack contains a variety of scripts which will allow you to harness the power of custom ESXi images and stateless deployment.

What Do I need ?

In order to use this Powerpack you will need the following:

• PowerShell V2
• PowerCLI 5.0 or later version
• PowerGUI
• Download the Powerpack from below

Download

Instructions

Here is a short video which shows you the basics of how to import the Powerpack and how to use it.

Automatically update

To see how to import a Powerpack and how to make sure you always have the latest version check this post here: http://www.virtu-al.net/2009/10/29/vesi-powergui-powerpack-management/

How can I contribute ?

Please add comments to this post if something doesn’t work or you have any ideas on how to make it better – remember this is an initial release !

Screenshots

Image Builder and Auto Deploy Powerpack is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

My standard answer was to always ask them if they preferred trains or turtles but the answer is very easy now.

VESI is the product known as any of the following:

• VESI
• Virtualisation EcoShell
• The Virtualisation EcoShell
• vEcoShell
• The Green one
• The one with the turtle

From now this product is no more, you can still download it at the moment but no further development time will be spent by Vizioncore or Quest on this product, but wait, do not despair, there is good news.

The VMware PowerPack has now come back under the PowerGUI installation wizard and is part of PowerGUI 2.3 which can be downloaded from the PowerGUI site here.

Don’t worry – you haven’t lost anything, in fact the guys at Quest do an excellent job of updating PowerGUI and also do an excellent job of monitoring the forums for future capabilities or bugs or even help with scripting so please do not disperse just go to the PowerGUI site now and download the latest version which has several bug fixes and enhancements over the old version of VESI already !

Kirk Munro and his team have even released a new version of the VMware PowerPack which allows you to work with the latest version of PowerCLI 4.1 U1, check here for more info on this.

Lastly, the VMware Community PowerPack will also still work with PowerGUI so you can still enjoy the help and scripts created and published in this great PowerPack which can be downloaded from here.

Read more on this at Dmitry Sotnikov’s site here

P.S. Cody, we feel your pain as another turtle is slain !

Say goodbye to VESI is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

For example if you wanted to select just the VMs from one host you could present the user a nice GUI with all the hosts added to the dropdown box with the following simple code:

# Send the Hosts to the GUI function
Select-GUIObject "Host" (Get-VMHost)
# Get the VMs for the selected host
$SelObj | Get-VM | Out-GridView

So the GUI box presented from the Select-GUIObject would look like so:

Once the host was selected and the OK button was pressed the VMs would be returned in $selObj and a list of VMs can be gained as in the next line of code and the following output from Out-Gridview:

Other examples of this function can be used with Get-VM or Get-Datastore or whatever you like, this is one of the areas I have spoken to the people at Quest and I believe they may be making some improvements to PowerGUI & vEcoShell to make input easier.

The code:

Function Select-GUIObject ($ObjName, $Object) {
	#Generated Form Function
	function GenerateForm {
	########################################################################
	# Code Generated By: SAPIEN Technologies PrimalForms (Community Edition) v1.0.7.0
	# Generated By: Alan Renouf (http://virtu-al.net)
	########################################################################

	#region Import the Assemblies
	[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Windows.Forms") | Out-Null
	[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Drawing") | Out-Null
	#endregion

	#region Generated Form Objects
	$form1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
	$button1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
	$label1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
	$comboBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
	$InitialFormWindowState = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState
	#endregion Generated Form Objects

	#----------------------------------------------
	#Generated Event Script Blocks
	#----------------------------------------------
	#Provide Custom Code for events specified in PrimalForms.
	$button1_OnClick=
	{
	$global:SelObj = $comboBox1.SelectedItem
	$form1.close()
	}

	$handler_label2_Click=
	{
	}

	$OnLoadForm_StateCorrection=
	{#Correct the initial state of the form to prevent the .Net maximized form issue
		$form1.WindowState = $InitialFormWindowState

		$Object | Foreach {
			$comboBox1.items.add($_)
			$comboBox1.SelectedIndex=0
		}
		$Combobox1.visible = $true
		$label1.visible = $true
		$button1.visible = $true
		$form1.Text = "Please select a $ObjName"
	}

	#----------------------------------------------
	#region Generated Form Code
	$form1.AutoScaleMode = 0
	$form1.Text = "Please wait loading $ObjName...."
	$form1.Name = "form1"
	$form1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
	$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
	$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 66
	$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 392
	$form1.ClientSize = $System_Drawing_Size
	$form1.FormBorderStyle = 1

	$form1.Controls.Add($InfoLabel)

	$button1.TabIndex = 2
	$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
	$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 23
	$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 75
	$button1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
	$button1.Name = "button1"
	$button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

	$button1.Visible = $False
	$button1.Text = "OK"
	$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
	$System_Drawing_Point.X = 300
	$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 21
	$button1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point

	$button1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
	$button1.add_Click($button1_OnClick)

	$form1.Controls.Add($button1)

	$label1.TabIndex = 1
	$label1.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",8.25,1,3,1)
	$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
	$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 23
	$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 50
	$label1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
	$label1.Name = "label1"
	$label1.Visible = $False
	$label1.Text = "$ObjName:"
	$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
	$System_Drawing_Point.X = 8
	$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 26
	$label1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point

	$label1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

	$form1.Controls.Add($label1)

	$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
	$System_Drawing_Point.X = 64
	$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 21
	$comboBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
	$comboBox1.Visible = $False
	$comboBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
	$comboBox1.FormattingEnabled = $True
	$comboBox1.Name = "comboBox1"
	$comboBox1.TabIndex = 0
	$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
	$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 21
	$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 217
	$comboBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size

	$form1.Controls.Add($comboBox1)

	#endregion Generated Form Code

	#Save the initial state of the form
	$InitialFormWindowState = $form1.WindowState
	#Init the OnLoad event to correct the initial state of the form
	$form1.add_Load($OnLoadForm_StateCorrection)

	#Show the Form
	$form1.ShowDialog()| Out-Null

	} #End Function

	#Call the Function
	GenerateForm
}

Connect-VIServer myvcenter.mydomain.com

Select-GUIObject "VM" (Get-VM)
Write-host "You Selected $SelObj"

Select-GUIObject "Datastore" (Get-Datastore)
Write-host "You Selected $SelObj"

# Send the Hosts to the GUI function
Select-GUIObject "Host" (Get-VMHost)
# Get the VMs for the selected host
$SelObj | Get-VM | Out-GridView

Simple PowerShell selection box is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

At the last VMUG I showed how vEcoShell could be used to add the graphical interface back onto our PowerCLI scripts and also gave an overview of the “VMware Community PowerPack”, when performing the demo I showed how easy it was to drill down into an object using the debugger in the script editor.

Someone asked me if next time I would give more tips and tricks like this, the kind of tips you pick up without realising it and are really helpful to people starting to learn PowerCLI.

So this time there will be a change in the way my session is presented…. We are going to get interactive !

If you are attending my PowerCLI session at the VMUG this Thursday 11-12, please bring along the following equipment:

• Laptop, Windows is preferable but if you have to use one of them Mac things please make sure you have a Windows VM.
• Pre-install Windows PowerShell V2
• Pre-Install PowerCLI 4.0 U1
• Pre-Install vEcoShell and vEcoShell Script editor.

I will bring these on a USB stick also but it will help if you are already setup and raring to go !

My plan is to host a ESX host and a vCenter VM and a few other VMs which we can all hook into and mess with, we can all do the same things and learn at the same time, I will have some mini instructions to follow which will help you along the path – think of this as a free PowerCLI course !

We will start off slow and then I will ask you to do a few things on your own, just to keep you awake.

Hopefully it will go down without a hitch, if you are unable to bring your laptop don’t worry I will try and put you in a group with other people so we can all observe and work together.

See you on Thursday and please remember your laptop !

London VMUG – Thu 15 July – Lets get interactive ! is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

The Virtu-Al PowerPack is no more – gone, dead and buried – RIP

However, the “VMware Community PowerPack” has arrived ! Yes it is a rename but also there is new content and a whole lot more to come, to give this the justice it needs I have created a landing page for the PowerPack at the top of my site under featured scripts or click here.

On the landing page you can see how to download it, a video showing how to install it and also how you can get involved in making it even more useful – Come on people we are all managing the same VMware software here !

Don’t worry if you don’t have scripting skills, you can still get involved !

And with great people like the below already adding content it is destine for great things !

Head over to the landing page http://www.virtu-al.net/featured-scripts/vmware-powerpack/ and check out the “VMware Community PowerPack” now !

Goodbye Virtu-Al – Hello Community is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

Now why would you put a GUI back on top of the scripting, lets think about this…

At the moment when you are using the vSphere client to update your virtual infrastructure it is as slow as the human that is driving it, if you want to create 10 virtual machines you will need to click over 50 times (roughly 5 times per VM) and also type the names in etc etc.

If we were to use PowerCLI to do this then we could do it in one-line:

Foreach ($i in 1..10) { Get-VMHost ESX01.virtual.net | New-VM -Name "Newvm$i” -DiskMB 1024 -MemoryMB 512 } 

The difference here is not what it is doing as it is still creating 10 VMs, still connecting to the same vCenter and still using the same API’s as the client its just an automated way of making the call, a programmatic way of sending many calls down the same line to the vCenter.

So why would we use vEcoShell or PowerGUI ?

Well believe it or not coding doesn’t come easy to some people, yeah I know its hard to grasp isnt it !

At the end of the day we all want the benefits of PowerCLI, we love the fact that it makes things easier but not all of us have the time or the mind set to be able to sit down and write a script to automate what they need, of course with such a great book coming out in the future these people will realise just how easy it can be to do this but in the meantime that’s where I see vEcoShell or PowerGUI fitting in, it not only allows me (and other script writers) to share the scripts we have written in a nice easy GUI format with the script still available to browse but also it helps beginners use the same tools the advanced scripter’s would use in a nice easy point and click fashion.

If you haven’t tried vEcoShell or PowerGUI, I would head straight over to there sites and download the free products, its amazing the amount of time you will save and for no cost !

Extended with the VMware Community PowerPack (more to come on this) you will have all the common issues and pain point areas in one management area, for example…

List all VM’s disk partitions and sizes and export them to many formats to forward them on….

Or backup all your ESXi hosts configuration in one click:

Plus much much more, and remember its FREE !

Why vEcoShell or PowerGUI makes sense is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

We don’t have many more details at the moment but wanted to let you know, as we are both very excited (and nervous by the amount of work) about this project.

As you know we both live and breathe PowerCLI. And we want to share our knowledge to help others achieve the level of PowerCLI automation we both know is possible.

One thing you can expect from this book is a practical approach with examples galore, we aim to cover most of the common configuration/troubleshooting and reporting areas with easy to understand examples and explanations.

To answer some of your questions:

Q: What’s the title ?
A: Well, in the end we went for “VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration”

Q: Why ?
A: We’re both crazy enough to think we can do this.

Q: When ?
A: Our publisher, Sybex, targets 2011 Q1

Q: What ?
A: Expect a practical, down-to-earth approach. We’re going to show you how you can manage all aspects of your vSphere environment with PowerCLI.

Q: Who are these guys ?
A: Alan, who recently joined EMC’s vSpecialist army, is well-known from his Virtu-Al blog, his UK VMUG appearances, as a co-host of the Get-Scripting podcasts and as the winner of the recent Script-O-Mania contest.
Luc, aka LucD, is known from the PowerCLI Community, his LucD notes blog, his Dutch VMUG and VMworld appearances and as the winner of the first PowerCLI Scripting contest.

Q: Where do these guys live ?
A: Alan, contrary to some rumours, is an English guy and lives in Wiltshire, UK.
Luc lives in Belgium and works in the Netherlands. The best of both worlds

We’re writing a book is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

Whilst preparing for my trip I heard that the famous “Dutch VMUG” was having a PowerCLI / VESI event, now I know I was on holiday but it would have been rude to pass within an hour of the area and not attend   and I was glad I did.

Having presented at a few VMUGS now I was very impressed at how organised the Dutch VMUG members really are, the presentations were submitted before hand and everything was set for the date well in advance, there were some real superstars presenting too, Armin van Lieshout, Arne Fokkema and Viktor van den Berg.

The format was great, this was a beginners guide to firstly PowerShell and PowerCLI and then moving onto The Virtualization EcoShell, the great thing about it was that after each presentation there was a LAB, there were enough PC’s setup for the attendees to work in pairs and go through a pre-setup sheet, showing how what had just been presented really worked, in my opinion a great way of doing things as PowerShell and PowerCLI can be a hard thing to teach to beginners, present for too long and you end up using the Start-Sleep cmdlet without realising it.  This way the audience was kept captivated and wanting to learn more.

After the PowerShell and PowerCLI presentations and labs they then moved onto the VESI, starting with an insight into the future of the product and some kind words from Scott Herold, this can be watched below:

After the video there was an explanation of the VESI and another lab, this was then followed by Arne and I showing some tips and tricks on how to create your own PowerPack,  I was privileged to present with Arne who did a great job.

Hopefully we showed people not only how to create your own nodes and how to populate them with useful information but also some tips and tricks on how to best use the object orientated PowerShell language and VESI script editor and debugger.  We also mentioned a new project “The VMware Community PowerPack” which I will be posting more about in the coming days.

Some pictures of the VMUG can be seen here, courtesy of Viktor.

Personally, I would just like to say a massive thanks to Viktor, Vizioncore, XTG, the other organisers and presenters for letting an English guy crash the Dutch VMUG and also a massive thanks for all my goodies:

PowerShell / PowerCLI / VESI & the Dutch VMUG is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

In the back of your mind when adding a new host to a cluster you should always be thinking, how many hosts should be in this cluster ? or when adding another LUN to your clustered hosts, how many datastores should I have as a maximum before it starts impacting my performance and how many paths are supported ?

The answer to these questions (in my case anyway) is to use PowerCLI to check them

I will of course add these to the next version of vCheck so they are automatically checked for but in the meantime here are some quick one-liners to check your infrastructure against the configured maximums for storage, I will add more as I write them:

Virtual machines per volume: 256 Maximum:

Get-Datastore | Select Name, @{N="NumVM";E={@($_ | Get-VM).Count}} | Sort Name | Out-GridView

Volumes per host: 256 Maximum:

Get-VMHost | Where {$_.State -eq "Connected"} | Select Name, @{N="NumberOfLuns";E={($_ | Get-ScsiLun | Measure-Object).Count}} | Out-GridView

Total paths on a host: 1024 Maximum:

Get-VMHost | Where {$_.State -eq "Connected"} | Select Name, @{N="TotalPaths";E={($_ | Get-ScsiLun | Get-ScsiLunPath | Measure-Object).Count}} | Out-GridView

And of course these will be available in the latest version of my VESI/PowerGUI powerpack as seen below:

PowerCLI: Configured Maximums – Storage is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex

Get-VMHost | Select Name, @{N="FibreHBAs";E={($_ | Get-VMHostHba | Where { $_.Type -eq "FibreChannel"} | Measure-Object).Count}} | Out-GridView

Output:

And of course you can easily add it to VESI/PowerGUI:

PowerCLI: How many HBA’s ? is a post from: Virtu-Al.
Virtu-Al is one of the authors of VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration"

Buy it now from: Amazon USA Amazon UK Sybex