Category : PowerCLI
Written by Christopher Lewis on June 14, 2019 .
Out of the blue this week, I had a query from a colleague about being able to update the vCenter License key programmatically via PowerShell/PowerCLI. This is something I have done before so luckily I had a script.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 24, 2017 .
A very quick post on the latest version of VMware’s PowerCLI, v6.5.1. See VMware’s Official Blog here .
This is now a MODULE available from the
PowerShell Gallery
which is #Awesome because it has been a major annoyance not being able just to type Install-Module PowerCLI to install it. Instead you had to go through a standard windows install package in the past.
At a Glance
- Remove existing PowerCLI installation.
- Open a Administrative PowerShell window.
- Run
Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI -Force -confirm:$false
Detailed Steps
Firstly, you need to remove any version of PowerCLI that you currently have installed using Add/Remove Programs on your device.
Written by Christopher Lewis on August 16, 2016 .
I thought I would share a quick script to create a vCenter User Role with all the appropriate permissions for use with vRealize Automation (6.x or 7.x).
The script creates a new User Role within vCenter called vRealize Automation User.
Note: if you don’t like the name you can change the $role property to anything you like.
The script prompts for following information:
- vCenter Server FQDN
- the vCenter/SSO User with rights to create the role
- the vCenter/SSO User password
- the vRealize Automation Service account (that you want to assign to the permission)
And then automagically creates the new vCenter role with the required privileges and assigns permissions to the vRealize Automation service account from the root of the vCenter Server and propagates down.
Written by Christopher Lewis on July 25, 2016 .
As a follow on to my previous article, HOWTO: Automate the installation of the External Platform Service Controller using PowerCLI & JSON - Part 1 , I had a new customer requirement to deploy the Platform Service Controller as the identity solution for vRealize Automation 6.x, but this time directly onto a VMware vCenter Server rather than an VMware vSphere ESXi host.
I can hear you all screaming at the article about vRealize Automation 7, how it is much cooler and has its own highly available vIDM - but this project started when vRA7 had only just come out and the customer didn’t want to take the risk.
Platform Services Controller PowerCLI PowerShell PSC VMware vSphere
Written by Christopher Lewis on July 3, 2016 .
As a follow on to my previous article on how to deploy HOWTO: Deploy the VMware vSphere 6.0 Platform Services Controlle r, I thought I would share a way to automate the delivery of the vSphere Platform Services Controller using PowerCLI/Powershell.
The main credit for this article goes to the information in the brilliant PowerCLI Reference 2nd Edition (see my review here ) of which my colleague Jonathan Medd ( www.jonathanmedd.net / @JonathanMedd ) was a co-author.
Platform Services Controller PowerCLI PowerShell PSC VMware vSphere
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 25, 2016 .
Being able to Power on a Virtual Machine is a PowerCLI 101 subject (right after the Connect-VIServer).
Start-VM -VM "VM Name" -Server "vCenter/ESX Server Name"
However, how about being able to choose what to do with a Virtual Machine based on its current Power Status? That is where (amongst other ways) the PowerShell Switch command comes in.
Firstly we get the
Virtual Machine Object
using Get-VM into an object called (funnily enough) $VM.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 12, 2016 .
As part of the continual (re)deployment and evolution of my home lab I have created a custom ESXi image to include a VIB for my Synology SAN. Whilst I will concentrate on the steps required to complete this specifically for the Synology, the principle applies to any home lab or indeed any Production environment that needs a custom VMware vSphere ESXi Image.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 7, 2016 .
Power CLI 2nd Edition - A “must have” book for anyone who is working with VMware products and wants to add value and save time.
The book has been helpful to me for three reasons: it has taught me how to automate those mundane tasks that everybody hates to, it has enabled me to remove the human error - making sure results are consistent, and most importantly it has given me back some much needed time to tackle more interesting problems/tasks (after all once you have written a script once it can be re-used on many projects!).
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 3: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Automation
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 2: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Operations
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 1: Understanding Pricing Cards in VMware Aria
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 5
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 4