PowerCLI - 2

PowerShell Server has been rebranded as PowerShell SSH Server and has moved to a new home as a member of the 'PowerShell Inside' product line (www.powershellinside.com). In addition, the new PowerShell SSH Server is now completely FREE to use when run as a desktop application.

PowerShell Inside is a new and separate division of /n software focused exclusively in PowerShell technologies. PowerShell Inside products make technologies more customizable by enhancing them with PowerShell scripting. /n software has built these tools to provide an easy way to enhance and integrate applications without the complexity or expense of custom development. With PowerShell you get comprehensive access to the power of the .NET Framework in an easy to use interface that is tailor-made to help you get more work done, faster.

The following PowerShell Inside products are currently available:

• PowerShell ASP - Build dynamic Web content with PowerShell.
• PowerShell Panel - A PowerShell powered ASP.NET Panel control.
• PowerShell SSH Server - Access PowerShell remotely from SSH terminals.
• PowerShell Web Part - Extend SharePoint portals with dynamic content.
• PowerShell Data Provider - Databind to PowerShell, like you Databind to SQL.
• PowerShell Office Add-In - Automate Outlook with PowerShell scripting.
• PowerShell SSH Components - Components for PowerShell SSH Server Access.
• PowerShell BizTalk Adapter - Automate BizTalk and simplify orchestrations.
• PowerShell SSIS Task - Automate SQL Server and simplify SSIS Workflows.
• PowerShell Workflow Activity - Simplify WF Workflows with PowerShell.

Arnim van Lieshout over at van-lieshout.com has created a great blog post with all the steps involved in completing the setup of the PowerCLI/The VESI environment:

1.Installation of Windows PowerShell
2.Installation of VMware PowerCLI
3.Installation of The Virtualization EcoShell

On April 8th we had a very good DutchVMUG meeting, which was totally dedicated to using PowerCLI and The VESI (Virtualization EcoShell Initiative). Although setting up the environment is straightforward, I wanted to do a small write-up which leads you through the install process and includes all download links needed.

http://www.van-lieshout.com/2010/04/the-vesi-getting-it-up-and-running/

Pablo Roesch has just announced the winners of the Scriptomania contest, congratulations to everyone that participated!

1. @alanrenouf
2. @lamw
3. @avlieshout

We are happy to announce our Script-O-Mania contest Winners. Our judges were extremely excited about all the creative and useful scripts submitted into the community. The decisions were tough to make, some we even considered splitting the prize money but in the end we went with the following line up. Congratulations to all that won and participated. Also wanted to thank Scott L, Robert B, Jeff H. again for their efforts in participating as Judges.

Steve Jin -> Winners of the VMware Script-O-Mania Contest: Who, What, How and Why?

My former colleague and virtualization friend Harold Schoofs has send me a real cool PowerShell script for automating the reporting part of the vSphere VUM baseline compliancy. The Baseline-Compliancy.Ps1 PowerShell script can be used to check the compliancy of all ESX Hosts registered on a VMware vCenter server and match up to any baseline. It will generate 3 kinds of output Files:

1) One file with all hosts and their compliancy state
2) One file with all attached baselines found
3) One file for every attached baseline found with its content

You can get you copy of Harold’s script here: Baseline-Compliancy.ps1 If you have any questions or suggestions for improvements just send your Tweets to @Hharold.

There are a lot of automation tools available which are able to deploy and configure an ESX host but if you want to use PowerCLI for the finishing configuration part there was always a manual step involved. I’ve found a way to start a PowerShell script from the service console trough SSH. The only thing you have to do is install WinSSHD on one of your Windows servers, just execute the distributable that you downloaded from the Bitvise website and follow the process. As soon as the installer completes, you will have a working WinSSHD installation on your machine. No changes to the default configuration are necessary; you only need to start it. However, you might want restrict your users' access to those features that they actually need, which will improve security. If you are new to WinSSHD, it’s highly recommended that you first make sure that you can establish a working SSH connection before you change any settings on the server. If you cannot connect to WinSSHD using its default configuration, this is most likely due to a network or firewall problem that you will need to resolve before you are able to connect. In its default configuration, WinSSHD accepts connections on the well-known port number for SSH servers, 22.

I’ve recorded a Jing video (with audio) which demos the CPU-Ready PowerCLI script running on my vCenter server launched from one of my ESX host’s service console.

Continue reading "How to access PowerCLI trough SSH" »

vCenter Update Manager PowerCLI provides an easy-to-use Windows Powershell interface to VMware vCenter Update Manager and has numerous cmdlets and sample scripts. vCenter Update Manager PowerCLI now also has its own VMTN forum. To find additional resources and exchange ideas with other users, visit http://www.vmware.com/go/powercliupdate.

Automate patching and update of the vSphere environment with the vCenter Update Manager PowerCLI. Cmdlets are provided for your most-frequently performed operations such as downloading software updates, creating baselines, scanning and remediating virtual machines components or hosts. vCenter Update Manager PowerCLI is distributed as a Windows PowerShell snapin, and comes with documentation and samples.

While poking around in the service console, I’ve discovered another hidden pearl. It’s called vmware-vimdump. You’ll find it at /usr/lib/vmware/bin and you can execute it by typing ./vmware-vimdump. Before executing this command, configure your  SSH client e.g. Putty to log printable output to a file.
After a second or 10 you’ll see the following output, followed by every property you can think of:

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= PuTTY log 2010.01.07 21:41:38 =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

./vmware-vimdump
Connecting to : localhost at 443 as root over SOAP
Found 67 managed objects:
1. vim.AuthorizationManager::ha-authmgr
2. vim.ComputeResource::ha-compute-res
3. vim.Datacenter::ha-datacenter
4. vim.Datastore::192.168.178.80:/nfs/public
5. vim.Datastore::496b4b2d-eb377ae5-3a0e-00151798bd3c
6. vim.Datastore::49f35375-879d840a-4a6c-00151798bd3d
7. vim.Datastore::4a1aa279-c94107ae-790a-00151798bd3c
8. vim.DiagnosticManager::ha-diagnosticmgr Continue reading "Hidden tool: vmware-vimdump" »

Virtualization EcoShell is a freeware desktop application that enables IT administrators to unlock the full potential of their virtual infrastructure and reduce the daily operating costs of managing multi-platform environments. Virtualization EcoShell contains over 250 pre-built scripts to help administrators identify and resolve configuration and management challenges in their environment while providing daily cost-saving opportunities.

Ready to unlock the full potential of their virtual infrastructure and reduce the daily operating costs of managing multi-platform environments? Join Scott Herold, Lead Architect for Virtualization Solutions at Vizioncore, as he highlights the key best-practices of daily management and highlights the flexibility of Virtualization EcoShell.

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.