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Learning PowerCLI - Second Edition

Chapter 1. Introduction to PowerCLI

Have you ever had to create 200 virtual machines in a short period of time, change a setting on all of your hosts, or make an advanced report for your boss to show how full the hard disks of your virtual machines are? If you have, you know that performing these tasks using the vSphere web client will take a lot of time. This is where automation can make your job easier. VMware PowerCLI is a powerful tool that can perform these tasks and much more. And the best thing is that it is free!

VMware PowerCLI is a command-line interface (CLI) distributed as a collection of Microsoft PowerShell modules and snap-ins. Microsoft PowerShell is Microsoft's command shell and scripting language, designed with the systems administrator in mind. Microsoft PowerShell is available on every Microsoft Windows server or workstation since Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. VMware PowerCLI is an extension to Microsoft PowerShell. This means that all of the features of PowerShell can be used in PowerCLI. You can use PowerCLI to automate your vSphere hosts, virtual machines, virtual networks, storage, clusters, vCenter Servers, and more.

In this chapter, you will learn:

Downloading and installing PowerCLI
Participating in the VMware Customer Improvement Program
Modifying the PowerShell execution policy
Creating a PowerShell profile
Connecting and disconnecting servers
Using the credential store
Retrieving a list of all of your virtual machines
Retrieving a list of all of your hosts

Downloading and installing PowerCLI

In this section, you will learn how to download and install PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1. First, we will list the requirements for PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1. After downloading PowerCLI from the VMware website, we will install PowerCLI on your system.

Requirements for using PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1

You can install VMware PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1, the version used for writing this book, on the following 64-bit operating systems:

Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 7 Service Pack 1

VMware PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1 is compatible with the following PowerShell versions:

Microsoft PowerShell 3.0
Microsoft PowerShell 4.0
Microsoft PowerShell 5.0
Microsoft PowerShell 5.1

If you want to work with VMware PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1, make sure that the following software is present on your system:

Microsoft PowerShell 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, or 5.1
NET Framework 4.5, 4.5.x, 4.6, or 4.6.x

Downloading PowerCLI 6.5 Release 1

Before you can install PowerCLI, you have to download the PowerCLI installer from the VMware website. You will need a My VMware account to do this.

Perform the following steps to download PowerCLI:

Visit http://www.vmware.com/go/powercli . On this page, you will find a Resources section.
Click on the Download button to download PowerCLI.
You have to log in with a My VMware account. If you don't have a My VMware account, you can register for free.
After you log in, you will be taken to the VMware PowerCLI download page. Click on the Download Now button to start downloading PowerCLI.

Installing PowerCLI

Perform the following steps to install PowerCLI:

Run the PowerCLI installer that you just downloaded.
Click Yes in the User Account Control window to accept the Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? option.
If the PowerShell execution policy on your computer is not set to RemoteSigned, you will get a warning that tells you It is recommended that you set the execution policy to "RemoteSigned" in order to be able to execute scripts. After the installation of PowerCLI, I will show you how to set the execution policy. Click on Continue to continue to the installation of PowerCLI.
Click on Next > in the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for VMware PowerCLI window.
Select I accept the terms in the license agreement and click on Next >.
If you are not using vCloud Air, VMware vCloud Director, vSphere Update Manager, vRealize Operations Manager, or Horizon View, you can click on the little arrow to the left of a feature and select This feature will not be available. I recommend installing all of the features, to be able to run the scripts in all of the chapters in this book. If you want, you can change the installation directory by clicking on Change.... Click on Next >.
Click on Install to begin the installation.
Click on Finish to exit the installation wizard.

After installing PowerCLI, you will have a VMware PowerCLI icon on your desktop. If you installed PowerCLI on a 64-bit computer, you will also have a VMware PowerCLI (32-Bit) icon. Some PowerCLI commands only work in the 32-bit version of PowerCLI. So keep both versions.

Modifying the PowerShell execution policy

If this is the first time that you are using Microsoft PowerShell on the computer on which you installed PowerCLI, you have to change the execution policy to be able to start PowerCLI.

The Microsoft PowerShell execution policies define when you can run scripts or load configuration files. The possible values for the execution policy are Restricted, AllSigned, RemoteSigned, Unrestricted, Bypass, and Undefined.

Policy	Description
`Restricted`	This is the default execution policy. It allows you to run commands at the Command Prompt, but disables the execution of scripts. It will also disable the start of PowerCLI.
`AllSigned`	With the `AllSigned` execution policy, scripts can run, but they must be signed by a trusted publisher. If you run a script by a publisher that is not trusted yet, you will see a prompt asking whether you trust the publisher of the script.
`RemoteSigned`	The `RemoteSigned` execution policy allows you to run scripts that you have written on the local computer. Any script downloaded from the Internet must be signed by a trusted publisher or must be unblocked.
`Unrestricted`	When the execution policy is set to `Unrestricted`, unsigned scripts can run. If you run a script that has been downloaded from the Internet, you will get a security warning saying that this script can potentially harm your computer and asking whether you want to run this script.
`Bypass`	The `Bypass` execution policy blocks nothing and displays no warnings or prompts. This execution policy is designed for configurations in which a Microsoft PowerShell script is built into a larger application that has its own security model.
`Undefined`	The `Undefined` execution policy removes the execution policy from the current scope. If the execution policy in all scopes is `Undefined`, the effective execution policy is `Restricted`, which is the default execution policy. The `Undefined` execution policy will not remove an execution policy that is set in a Group Policy scope.

You can check the current execution policy setting with the following command:

PowerCLI C:\> Get-ExecutionPolicy

Get-ExecutionPolicy is a Microsoft PowerShell commandlet (cmdlet). Cmdlets are commands built into PowerShell or PowerCLI. They follow a verb-noun naming convention. The get cmdlets retrieve information about the item that is specified as the noun part of the cmdlet.

Set the execution policy to RemoteSigned to be able to start PowerCLI and run scripts written on the local computer with the Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned command.

Note

You have to run the Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned command from a PowerShell or PowerCLI session that you started using the Run as Administrator option, or you will get the following error message:

Set-ExecutionPolicy : Access to the registry key 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell' is denied.

If you are using both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of PowerCLI, you have to run this command in both versions.

In the following screenshot of the PowerCLI console, you will see the output of the Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned command if you run this command in a PowerCLI session started with Run as Administrator.

You can get more information about execution policies by typing the following command:

PowerCLI C:\> Get-Help about_Execution_Policies

To get more information about signing your scripts, type the following command:

PowerCLI C:\> Get-Help about_signing

Note

If you get an error message saying Get-Help could not find about_Execution_Policies in a help file, you have to run the Update-Help cmdlet in a PowerShell, or PowerCLI session started with Run as Administrator first. The Update-Help cmdlet downloads the newest help files for Microsoft PowerShell modules and installs them on your computer. Because Microsoft updates the Microsoft PowerShell help files on a regular basis, it is recommended to run the Update-Help cmdlet on a regular basis also.

Description

VMware vSphere PowerCLI, a free extension to Microsoft Windows PowerShell, enables you to automate the management of a VMware vSphere or vCloud environment. This book will show you how to automate your tasks and make your job easier. Starting with an introduction to the basics of PowerCLI, the book will teach you how to manage your vSphere and vCloud infrastructure from the command line. To help you manage a vSphere host overall, you will learn how to manage vSphere ESXi hosts, host profiles, host services, host firewall, and deploy and upgrade ESXi hosts using Image Builder and Auto Deploy. The next chapter will not only teach you how to create datastore and datastore clusters, but you’ll also work with profile-driven and policy-based storage to manage your storage. To create a disaster recovery solution and retrieve information from vRealize Operations, you will learn how to use Site Recovery Manager and vRealize Operations respectively. Towards the end, you’ll see how to use the REST APIs from PowerShell to manage NSX and vRealize Automation and create patch baselines, scan hosts against the baselines for missing patches, and re-mediate hosts. By the end of the book, you will be capable of using the best tool to automate the management and configuration of VMware vSphere.

What you will learn

• Explore PowerShell and PowerCLI cmdlets and their output objects • See how to manage virtual machines and work with virtual networks • Manage vCloud Director from PowerCLI • Use Site Recovery Manager from PowerCLI to create a disaster recovery solution • Manage NSX and vRealize Automation using REST API with PowerCLI • Create and configure vSphere HA and DRS clusters • Use vSphere Update Manager with PowerCLI to create patch baselines and scan hosts • Explore reporting techniques to retrieve log files

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