PowerCLI - 11

Carter Shanklin created a nice little slideshow about Using VI Toolkit (For Windows) From .NET and uploaded it to SlideShare. Although all the examples are written in C++ you can learn a lot from his presentation. You also should take a look at the VMware Infrastructure .NET Toolkit 1.0 Developer’s Guide. Finally I was able to convert most of Carter’s code to Visual Basic Express 2008 and make a connection to my ESX 3.5 server. Here’s the source code, just paste it under a button.

        Dim MySession As New VMware.Vim.VimClient

        MySession.Connect("https://192.168.178.110/sdk")

        MySession.Login("root", "vmware")

        MsgBox(MySession.ServiceContent.About.FullName)

        MySession.Logout()

Come on you VB guys, let’s create some great tools :-)

This Developer’s Guide, provides information about setting up the development environment and developing applications using the VMware Infrastructure .NET Toolkit 1.0. VMware® provides several different SDK products, each of which targets different developer communities and target platforms. This guide is intended for developers who are creating applications for managing VMware Infrastructure components. The VMware Infrastructure .NET Toolkit is a client-side framework from VMware that simplifies the programming effort associated with the VMware Infrastructure API and server-side object model. It is a part of the VMware Infrastructure Toolkit (for Windows), which provides easy-to-use C# and PowerShell interface to VMware Infrastructure APIs. Using VI .NET Toolkit you can create, customize, or manage VMware Infrastructure inventory objects using VI APIs calls.

During the installation of the Update Manager, you can select to install the optional VMware Infrastructure Update Manager – PowerShell Library. VMware Update Manager – PowerShell Library is a set of commandlets for scanning and remediating virtual machines or hosts, downloading software updates, and creating baselines. It can be installed and used on any machine that has VMware Infrastructure Toolkit (for Windows) installed and access to a VirtualCenter Server. VMware Infrastructure Update Manager – PowerShell Library is an experimental feature and is supported only in English.

Jonathan Walz & Hal Rottenberg, the guys behind the PowerScripting Podcast have a great show lined up for you.  They will be talking to Carter Shanklin from VMware about their PowerShell Toolkit.  He’s got some exciting NEW news to share with us, so that’s cool.  They also bring you news, resources, tips and whatever else they can scrape up.

Do you think you have what it takes to be the best PowerShell scripter? VMware is challenging the world’s VI administrators to a contest of skill, creativity and raw scripting talent. If you think you have what it takes to be the best and an all expenses paid trip to VMworld Las Vegas is your cup of tea – this is for you.

Prizes:

First Prize: Airfare, hotel and admission to VMworld 2008 Las Vegas (up to $5,000 in value) or $5,000 USD Cash Prize

Second Prize: Macbook Air with VMware Fusion or $2,500 USD

Third Prize: Xbox 360 Elite or $500 USD

Make sure you use the Latest Released Version: 1.0 | 07/25/08 | 103777 | 2.54 MB  :-)

Jonathan Walz & Hal Rottenberg, the guys behind the PowerScripting Podcast interviewed Carter Shanklin. In Episode 34 they spoke with Carter, a Product Manager over at VMware about the VI Toolkit for Windows. The VI Toolkit will become general available this weekend and will contain a lot of new CmdLet’s. Here’s the output from a pre-GA build v1.0.101511 "Get-Command –psssnapin vmware*". Carter’s next project is the VIX API. The VMware VIX API allows you to automate VM and guest operations on VMware Server, Workstation and ESX. He started a blog about this subject recently. I also had the opportunity to ask Hal about the progress on his upcoming “Managing VMWare with Windows PowerShell�? book. Hal reported it's coming along. You can read his take on these and other technologies at his blog TechProsaic.

The VMware Infrastructure (VI) Toolkit (for Windows) 1.0 includes more than 120 cmdlets, a set of sample scripts, and a function library that make managing and automating the VMware Infrastructure easier than ever before.

Here's a link to my accidental discovery: Latest Released Version: 1.0 | 07/25/08 | 103777 | 2.54 MB

PoshCode is a collection of PowerShell functions, scripts and modules that are free for public use. As you find things useful, they only ask that you contribute back to the community.

AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI.  It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages. AutoItX is a DLL version of AutoIt v3 that provides a subset of the features of AutoIt via an ActiveX/COM and DLL interface. This means that you can add AutoIt-like features to your VMware PowerShell script.

Invoke-Item c:\windows\notepad.exe
Get-VIServer esx35.ntpro.local -User root -Password vmware
$autoitx=new-object -com autoitx3.control
$MyHost = Get-VMHost esx35.ntpro.local
$HostView = Get-View $MyHost.ID
$NetworkSystem = get-view $HostView.ConfigManager.NetworkSystem
$AllPortGroups = $NetworkSystem.NetworkInfo.Portgroup
$autoitx.winactivate("Untitled - Notepad","")
foreach ($HostPortGroup in $AllPortGroups){$autoitx.send($HostPortGroup.Spec.Name + "`r") }

I created a PowerShell script that makes an export of all the PortGroup names and VLANID’s to a CSV file. The next step is to import these setting into another ESX server. You can make your own contribution or follow the progress at this address. LucD from Belgium, thanks for your help.

Get-VIServer vcserver.ntpro.local -User -Password

$MyHost = Get-VMHost esx35.ntpro.local 

$HostView = Get-View $MyHost.ID

$NetworkSystem = get-view $HostView.ConfigManager.NetworkSystem

$AllPortGroups = $NetworkSystem.NetworkInfo.Portgroup

Foreach ($HostPortGroup in $AllPortGroups)

{$HostPortGroup.Spec | Select-Object Name,VlanId | Out-File -filepath "C:\portgroups.txt" -append}

ESX Server hosts can use multipathing for failover. When one path from the ESX Server host to the SAN becomes unavailable, the host switches to another path. ESX Server hosts can also use multipathing for load balancing. To achieve better load balancing across paths, administrators can specify that the ESX Server host should switch paths under certain circumstances. Different settable options determine when the ESX Server host switches paths and what paths are chosen. Rob Mokkink created a load balancing PowerShel script that spreads even and odd LUN’s over different HBA cards.