PowerCLI – BAFM

PowerCLI: Delete all snapshots by name

February 23, 2015February 23, 2015 Christian Leave a comment

I have the issue that we use a cloud automation software, which for whatever reason failed to delete the hypervisor snapshots.

Now I was looking into a quick way to delete all those 520 snapshots with PowerCLI, and I found something pretty quick.

Based on that, I came up with my own quick PowerCLI one-liner, that’ll list all VMs and their snapshots:

Get-VM | Get-Snapshot  | Where { $_.Name -like "201502*" } | Format-Table -Property VM, Name, Created, Description, SizeMB -AutoSize

1	Get-VM \| Get-Snapshot \| Where { $_.Name -like "201502*" } \| Format-Table -Property VM, Name, Created, Description, SizeMB -AutoSize

Now, I could use another one-liner to delete all snapshots, that’ll look like this:

Get-VM | Get-Snapshot  | Where {$_.Name -like "201502*"} | Remove-Snapshot -Confirm:$false -RunAsync

1	Get-VM \| Get-Snapshot \| Where {$_.Name -like "201502*"} \| Remove-Snapshot -Confirm:$false -RunAsync

However, this will either crash an ESXi host (because the amount of the snapshots is too much) or overwealm the storage. So in the end I used a script like this:

$maxtasks = 5
 
$snaps = Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | Where { $_.Name -like "201502*" }
 
$i = 0
while($i -lt $snaps.Count) {
	Remove-Snapshot -Snapshot $snaps[$i] -RunAsync -Confirm:$false
	$tasks = Get-Task -Status "Running" | where {$_.Name -eq "RemoveSnapshot_Task"}
	while($tasks.Count -gt ($maxtasks-1)) {
		sleep 30
		$tasks = Get-Task -Status "Running" | where {$_.Name -eq "RemoveSnapshot_Task"}
     }
     $i++
}

$maxtasks = 5

$snaps = Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | Where { $_.Name -like "201502*" }

$i = 0

while($i -lt $snaps.Count) {

Remove-Snapshot -Snapshot $snaps[$i] -RunAsync -Confirm:$false

$tasks = Get-Task -Status "Running" | where {$_.Name -eq "RemoveSnapshot_Task"}

while($tasks.Count -gt ($maxtasks-1)) {

sleep 30

$tasks = Get-Task -Status "Running" | where {$_.Name -eq "RemoveSnapshot_Task"}

}

$i++

}

This’ll limit the maximum amount of snapshots to delete at times to 5 (or 10 if you change the $maxtasks value).

Quick-Add a bunch of Virtual Machine Port-Groups from CSV

January 3, 2015January 3, 2015 Christian Leave a comment

Well, I’m currently migrating between different cluster layouts, and I had to create the new PortGroups on the old hosts, in order for me to switch between old and new hosts.

$vmhosts = Get-Cluster "UCSCL01-02" | Get-VMHost
foreach ($vmhost in $vmhosts) {
  import-csv -Delimiter ";" .\pg.csv | foreach {
    $vmhost | Get-VirtualSwitch -Name "vSwitch3" | New-VirtualPortGroup `
                                -Name $_.portgroup -VLanId $_.vlanid
  }
}

$vmhosts = Get-Cluster "UCSCL01-02" | Get-VMHost

foreach ($vmhost in $vmhosts) {

import-csv -Delimiter ";" .\pg.csv | foreach {

$vmhost | Get-VirtualSwitch -Name "vSwitch3" | New-VirtualPortGroup `

-Name $_.portgroup -VLanId $_.vlanid

}

And the corresponding CSV would look like this:

portgroup;vlanid
1700_routers;1700
1701_routers;1701
1702_routers;1702
1703_routers;1703
1704_routers;1704
1705_routers;1705
1706_routers;1706
1707_routers;1707
1708_routers;1708
1709_routers;1709
1710_routers;1710
1711_routers;1711
1712_routers;1712
1713_routers;1713
1714_routers;1714
1715_routers;1715
1716_routers;1716
1717_routers;1717
1718_routers;1718
1719_routers;1719
2000_virtual-machines;2000
2001_virtual-machines;2001
2002_virtual-machines;2002
2003_virtual-machines;2003
2004_virtual-machines;2004
2005_virtual-machines;2005
2006_virtual-machines;2006
2007_virtual-machines;2007
2008_virtual-machines;2008
2009_virtual-machines;2009
2010_virtual-machines;2010
2011_virtual-machines;2011
2012_virtual-machines;2012
2013_virtual-machines;2013
2014_virtual-machines;2014
2015_virtual-machines;2015
2016_virtual-machines;2016
2017_virtual-machines;2017
2018_virtual-machines;2018
2019_virtual-machines;2019

portgroup;vlanid

1700_routers;1700

1701_routers;1701

1702_routers;1702

1703_routers;1703

1704_routers;1704

1705_routers;1705

1706_routers;1706

1707_routers;1707

1708_routers;1708

1709_routers;1709

1710_routers;1710

1711_routers;1711

1712_routers;1712

1713_routers;1713

1714_routers;1714

1715_routers;1715

1716_routers;1716

1717_routers;1717

1718_routers;1718

1719_routers;1719

2000_virtual-machines;2000

2001_virtual-machines;2001

2002_virtual-machines;2002

2003_virtual-machines;2003

2004_virtual-machines;2004

2005_virtual-machines;2005

2006_virtual-machines;2006

2007_virtual-machines;2007

2008_virtual-machines;2008

2009_virtual-machines;2009

2010_virtual-machines;2010

2011_virtual-machines;2011

2012_virtual-machines;2012

2013_virtual-machines;2013

2014_virtual-machines;2014

2015_virtual-machines;2015

2016_virtual-machines;2016

2017_virtual-machines;2017

2018_virtual-machines;2018

2019_virtual-machines;2019

vCenter: Removing VSC custom attributes

October 17, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

Well, yesterday I got pissed of those Virtual Storage Console custom attributes.

Currently we don’t use the Provisioning & Cloning feature of the VSC, thus we don’t need the custom attributes. After poking around, I decided to write a short PowerCLI script to do the task.

It’s really rather simple, so here goes:

param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

If ( !($vCenter) )
{
	Write-Host
	Write-Host "vcenter-remove-vsc-attributes: <vcenter-server>"
	Write-Host
	Write-Host "   <vcenter-server>  - DNS name of your vCenter server."
	Write-Host
	exit 1
}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Remove-CustomAttribute -CustomAttribute "PnC.CustSpec", "PnC.Deployed", "PnC.GroupID", "PnC.Source" -Confirm:$false

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

If ( !($vCenter) )

{

Write-Host

Write-Host "vcenter-remove-vsc-attributes: <vcenter-server>"

Write-Host

Write-Host " <vcenter-server> - DNS name of your vCenter server."

Write-Host

exit 1

}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Remove-CustomAttribute -CustomAttribute "PnC.CustSpec", "PnC.Deployed", "PnC.GroupID", "PnC.Source" -Confirm:$false

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

vm-online-backup – Another day, another PowerCLI script

April 30, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

Well, on Friday I had a short chat with someone from one of our application departments, stating he wanted a backup copy of a VM (ain’t to hard), but a) they don’t want any downtime and b) it has to be identical to the original.

So I sat down today, googled for a bit and actually found something that pretty much does what I want, though I had to fix it up a bit … So find attached a script, which creates a hot-clone from a snapshot and then only if the latest clone was successful deletes the old one.

param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

if ( !($vCenter) ) {
	Write-Host ""
	Write-Host "vm-create-snapshot-clone: <vcenter> <VM-Name> <Target Datastore>"
	Write-Host "    <vcenter>          - Hostname of the vCenter Server instance for this script"
	Write-Host "                         to work on."
	Write-Host ""
	exit 1
}
# Based on http://www.simonlong.co.uk/blog/2010/05/05/powercli-a-simple-vm-backup-script/

# Import Backup CSV
$backupinfo =  Import-Csv C:ScriptsTEMPbackupvms.csv

#Set Date format for clone names
$date = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd"

#Set Date format for emails
$time = (Get-Date -f "HH:MM")

#Connect to vCenter
Connect-VIServer $vCenter

foreach ($customer in $backupinfo)
{
    $vm = Get-VM $customer.MasterVM
	$SCRIPTS = "C:ScriptsTEMP$( $customer.MasterVM ).txt"

    # Create new snapshot for clone
    $vm | New-Snapshot -Name "Clone Snapshot" -Description (get-date -format "'Created: 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm")

    # Get managed object view
    $vmView = $vm | Get-View

    # Get folder managed object reference
    $cloneFolder = $vmView.parent

    # Build clone specification
    $cloneSpec = new-object Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineCloneSpec
    $cloneSpec.Snapshot = $vmView.Snapshot.CurrentSnapshot

    # Make linked disk specification
    $cloneSpec.Location = new-object Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec
    $cloneSpec.Location.Datastore = (Get-Datastore -Name $customer.BackupDS | Get-View).MoRef
    $cloneSpec.Location.Transform =  [Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineRelocateTransformation]::sparse

    $cloneName = "$vm-$date"

    # Create clone
    $vmView.CloneVM( $cloneFolder, $cloneName, $cloneSpec )

	if (( Test-Path -Path $SCRIPTS) -ne $true ) {
		$cloneName | Out-File $SCRIPTS
	} else {
		$old_vm = Get-Content $SCRIPTS
		$cloneName | Out-File $SCRIPTS

		Get-VM $old_vm | Remove-VM -DeletePermanently -Confirm:$false
	}

    # Remove Snapshot created for clone
    Get-Snapshot -VM $vm -Name "Clone Snapshot" | Remove-Snapshot -confirm:$False
}
#Disconnect from vCenter
Disconnect-VIServer -Server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

if ( !($vCenter) ) {

Write-Host ""

Write-Host "vm-create-snapshot-clone: <vcenter> <VM-Name> <Target Datastore>"

Write-Host " <vcenter> - Hostname of the vCenter Server instance for this script"

Write-Host " to work on."

Write-Host ""

exit 1

}

# Based on http://www.simonlong.co.uk/blog/2010/05/05/powercli-a-simple-vm-backup-script/

# Import Backup CSV

$backupinfo = Import-Csv C:ScriptsTEMPbackupvms.csv

#Set Date format for clone names

$date = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd"

#Set Date format for emails

$time = (Get-Date -f "HH:MM")

#Connect to vCenter

Connect-VIServer $vCenter

foreach ($customer in $backupinfo)

{

$vm = Get-VM $customer.MasterVM

$SCRIPTS = "C:ScriptsTEMP$( $customer.MasterVM ).txt"

# Create new snapshot for clone

$vm | New-Snapshot -Name "Clone Snapshot" -Description (get-date -format "'Created: 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm")

# Get managed object view

$vmView = $vm | Get-View

# Get folder managed object reference

$cloneFolder = $vmView.parent

# Build clone specification

$cloneSpec = new-object Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineCloneSpec

$cloneSpec.Snapshot = $vmView.Snapshot.CurrentSnapshot

# Make linked disk specification

$cloneSpec.Location = new-object Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineRelocateSpec

$cloneSpec.Location.Datastore = (Get-Datastore -Name $customer.BackupDS | Get-View).MoRef

$cloneSpec.Location.Transform = [Vmware.Vim.VirtualMachineRelocateTransformation]::sparse

$cloneName = "$vm-$date"

# Create clone

$vmView.CloneVM( $cloneFolder, $cloneName, $cloneSpec )

if (( Test-Path -Path $SCRIPTS) -ne $true ) {

$cloneName | Out-File $SCRIPTS

} else {

$old_vm = Get-Content $SCRIPTS

$cloneName | Out-File $SCRIPTS

Get-VM $old_vm | Remove-VM -DeletePermanently -Confirm:$false

}

# Remove Snapshot created for clone

Get-Snapshot -VM $vm -Name "Clone Snapshot" | Remove-Snapshot -confirm:$False

}

#Disconnect from vCenter

Disconnect-VIServer -Server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

The backupvms.csv looks pretty simple:

; html-script: false ]MasterVM,BackupDS
sles11-sp1,datastore2-nfs
sles10-sp4,datastore1-nfs

; html-script: false ]MasterVM,BackupDS

sles11-sp1,datastore2-nfs

sles10-sp4,datastore1-nfs

Microsoft Cluster on VMware and Devices

February 11, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

Well, once again the Microsoft Cluster on VMware bit my ass … As you might know, MSCS on VMware is a particular kind of pain, with each upgrade you end up with the same problem over and over again (SCSI reservations on the RDM-LUNs being one, and the passive node not booting being the other).

So I opened up another support case with VMware, and the responded like this:

Please see this kb entry: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1016106

This doesn’t completely fit my case, but since the only active cluster-node failed yesterday evening (it’s only our internal file-share server, thus no worries), I thought I’d try to set the options.

param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $cluster, [string] $device_identifier )
&nbsp;
# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
    Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

if ( !($vCenter) -or !($cluster) -or !($device_identifier) ) {
    Write-Host `n "cluster-fix-mscs-lun: <vcenter> <cluster> <device_identifier>" `n
    Write-Host "cluster-fix-mscs-lun sets the specified device to be perennially reserved"
    Write-Host "    thus a) the affected host(s) boot faster"
    Write-Host "    and  b) the affected passive nodes actually boots up" `n
    exit 1
}

# Turn off Errors
$ErrorActionPreference = "silentlycontinue"

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

$VMhosts = Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost

foreach ($vmhost in $VMhosts) {
    # Create the ESXCLI command line
    $esxcli = Get-ESXCLI -VMHost $vmhost

    # List settings for device
    $esxcli.storage.core.device.list($device_identifier)

    # Set the specified LUN to PerenniallyReserved
    $esxcli.storage.core.device.setconfig($false, $device_identifier, $true)

    # Print verification for the above action
    $esxcli.storage.core.device.list($device_identifier)
}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $cluster, [string] $device_identifier )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

if ( !($vCenter) -or !($cluster) -or !($device_identifier) ) {

Write-Host `n "cluster-fix-mscs-lun: <vcenter> <cluster> <device_identifier>" `n

Write-Host "cluster-fix-mscs-lun sets the specified device to be perennially reserved"

Write-Host " thus a) the affected host(s) boot faster"

Write-Host " and b) the affected passive nodes actually boots up" `n

exit 1

}

# Turn off Errors

$ErrorActionPreference = "silentlycontinue"

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

$VMhosts = Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost

foreach ($vmhost in $VMhosts) {

# Create the ESXCLI command line

$esxcli = Get-ESXCLI -VMHost $vmhost

# List settings for device

$esxcli.storage.core.device.list($device_identifier)

# Set the specified LUN to PerenniallyReserved

$esxcli.storage.core.device.setconfig($false, $device_identifier, $true)

# Print verification for the above action

$esxcli.storage.core.device.list($device_identifier)

}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

And guess what ? My damn cluster works again 🙂

Reconfiguring NTP settings vCenter-wide

February 4, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

I recently started reinstalling all my ESX hosts, so I wrote up a short script that is reconfiguring all hosts and sets the NTP configuration according to my wish:

param( [string] $vcenter, [string] $ntpserver1, [string] $ntpserver2 )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

If ( !($vcenter) -or !($ntpserver1) -or !($ntpserver2) )
{
	Write-Host `n "vcenter-ntp-reconfigure: <vcenter-server> <ntpserver1> <ntpserver2>" `n
	Write-Host "This script clears the NTP servers currently configured and" `n
	Write-Hsot "adds the ones supplied on the command line." `n
	Write-Host "   <vcenter-server>  - DNS name of your vCenter server." `n
	Write-Host "   <ntpserver1>      - NTP server #1" `n
	Write-Host "   <ntpserver2>      - NTP server #2" `n
	exit 1
}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vcenter

foreach ($esxhost in Get-VMHost)
{
	Get-VMHost $esxhost | Remove-VMHostNtpServer -Confirm:$false -NtpServer (Get-VMHost $esxhost | `
                Get-VMHostNtpServer)
	Get-VMHost $esxhost | Add-VMHostNtpServer -NtpServer $ntpserver1
	Get-VMHost $esxhost | Add-VMHostNtpServer -NtpServer $ntpserver2
}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vcenter -Confirm:$false

param( [string] $vcenter, [string] $ntpserver1, [string] $ntpserver2 )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

If ( !($vcenter) -or !($ntpserver1) -or !($ntpserver2) )

{

Write-Host `n "vcenter-ntp-reconfigure: <vcenter-server> <ntpserver1> <ntpserver2>" `n

Write-Host "This script clears the NTP servers currently configured and" `n

Write-Hsot "adds the ones supplied on the command line." `n

Write-Host " <vcenter-server> - DNS name of your vCenter server." `n

Write-Host " <ntpserver1> - NTP server #1" `n

Write-Host " <ntpserver2> - NTP server #2" `n

exit 1

}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vcenter

foreach ($esxhost in Get-VMHost)

{

Get-VMHost $esxhost | Remove-VMHostNtpServer -Confirm:$false -NtpServer (Get-VMHost $esxhost | `

Get-VMHostNtpServer)

Get-VMHost $esxhost | Add-VMHostNtpServer -NtpServer $ntpserver1

Get-VMHost $esxhost | Add-VMHostNtpServer -NtpServer $ntpserver2

}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vcenter -Confirm:$false

As you can see, the script takes the vCenter hostname and two NTP servers and basically applies it to each host in your vCenter environment.

Rename a Standard Port Group on all hosts in a cluster

February 4, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian 1 Comment

Well, I recently decided to rename a bunch of my Standard Port Groups, since they did no longer reflect the network they were providing. Since I’m a lazy bastard (well lazy as in click lazy), I wrote this little PowerCLI script:

param( 
	[string] $vcenter,
	[string] $cluster,
	[string] $oldpg,
	[string] $newpg,
	[string] $vlan )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

If ( !($vcenter) -or !($cluster) -or !($oldpg) -or !($newpg) -or !($vlan) )
{
	Write-Host `n "pg-cluster-rename: <vcenter-server> <cluster> <oldpg> <newpg>" `n
	Write-Host "This script renames each port group with the name <oldpg> to <newpg>" `n
	Write-Host "   <vcenter-server>  - DNS name of your vCenter server." `n
	Write-Host "   <cluster>         - Display-Name of the vCenter cluster, on which we are"
	Write-Host "                       gonna create the new portgroup." `n
	Write-Host "   <oldpg>           - Name of the old Port Group that is to be replaced (ie VLAN2)." `n
	Write-Host "   <newpg>           - Name of the new Port Group (ie PG-VLAN2-Produktion)." `n
	Write-Host "   <vlan>            - VLAN-ID for of the new port group." `n
	exit 1
}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vcenter

Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost | Get-VirtualSwitch -Name $vswitch | `
        New-VirtualPortGroup -Name $pg -VLanId $vlan
Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VM | Get-NetworkAdapter | Where { $_.NetworkName -eq "$oldpg" } | `
        Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $newpg -Confirm:$false
Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost | %{Get-View (Get-View $_.ID).configmanager.networkSystem} | %{ 
	$_.RemovePortGroup($oldpg)
}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vcenter -Confirm:$false

param(

[string] $vcenter,

[string] $cluster,

[string] $oldpg,

[string] $newpg,

[string] $vlan )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

If ( !($vcenter) -or !($cluster) -or !($oldpg) -or !($newpg) -or !($vlan) )

{

Write-Host `n "pg-cluster-rename: <vcenter-server> <cluster> <oldpg> <newpg>" `n

Write-Host "This script renames each port group with the name <oldpg> to <newpg>" `n

Write-Host " <vcenter-server> - DNS name of your vCenter server." `n

Write-Host " <cluster> - Display-Name of the vCenter cluster, on which we are"

Write-Host " gonna create the new portgroup." `n

Write-Host " <oldpg> - Name of the old Port Group that is to be replaced (ie VLAN2)." `n

Write-Host " <newpg> - Name of the new Port Group (ie PG-VLAN2-Produktion)." `n

Write-Host " <vlan> - VLAN-ID for of the new port group." `n

exit 1

}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vcenter

Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost | Get-VirtualSwitch -Name $vswitch | `

New-VirtualPortGroup -Name $pg -VLanId $vlan

Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VM | Get-NetworkAdapter | Where { $_.NetworkName -eq "$oldpg" } | `

Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $newpg -Confirm:$false

Get-Cluster $cluster | Get-VMHost | %{Get-View (Get-View $_.ID).configmanager.networkSystem} | %{

$_.RemovePortGroup($oldpg)

}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vcenter -Confirm:$false

This script basically takes a vCenter instance and a single cluster, then creates a new Port Group on each host, after which it reconfigures all VMs possessing a virtual NIC with that Port Group and then deletes the old Port Group.

Emptying a VMFS datastore with PowerCLI

January 26, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

Well, once again I hacked at the Powershell/PowerCLI the other day. Since we don’t yet have a Enterprise Plus license at work (which would support Datastore Maintaince and Storage DRS), I needed a way to empty one datastore and move all the content into another one~~, while enabling Thin-Provisioning~~.

So I googled for a bit, and actually found a few hints … So without further yada-yada, here’s the script I came up with:

param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $datastore_old, $datastore_new )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"
}

if ( !($vCenter) -or !($datastore_old) -or !($datastore_new) ) {
	Write-Host `n "datastore-massmigrate-vms: <vcenter> <datastore_old> <datastore_new>" `n
	Write-Host "   datastore-massmigrate-vms moves all VMs residing on <datastore_old>"
	Write-Host "   to the datastore named <datastore_new>." `n
	exit 1
}

# Turn off Errors
$ErrorActionPreference = "silentlycontinue"

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Write-Host "Migrating VMs from datastore" $datastore_old "to" $datastore_new

$vms = Get-VM -datastore $datastore_old

foreach ($vm in $vms) {
         Write-Host "Moving" $vm "from" $datastore_old "to" $datastore_new
         Move-VM $vm -Datastore $datastore_new
}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $datastore_old, $datastore_new )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

if ( !($vCenter) -or !($datastore_old) -or !($datastore_new) ) {

Write-Host `n "datastore-massmigrate-vms: <vcenter> <datastore_old> <datastore_new>" `n

Write-Host " datastore-massmigrate-vms moves all VMs residing on <datastore_old>"

Write-Host " to the datastore named <datastore_new>." `n

exit 1

}

# Turn off Errors

$ErrorActionPreference = "silentlycontinue"

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Write-Host "Migrating VMs from datastore" $datastore_old "to" $datastore_new

$vms = Get-VM -datastore $datastore_old

foreach ($vm in $vms) {

Write-Host "Moving" $vm "from" $datastore_old "to" $datastore_new

Move-VM $vm -Datastore $datastore_new

}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

Initially I have something different, which was a bit shorter (based on Brian‘s work), but it had a huge downside: If you have vRDMs (like I do), it converts every damn vRDM into a VMDK, so make sure you only run this script on a datastore on VMs that either have only pRDMs or VMs with only VMDKs.

Rebooting a virtual machine via Task scheduler

January 16, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

Since the Scheduled Tasks in vCenter ain’t exportable, I went ahead and wrote a rather simple script, which lets me do this in Windows own Task Scheduler. What this script does, is initiate a graceful shutdown and if the VM isn’t shutdown within 60 seconds (12 * 5 seconds) it simply powers the VM off and immediately after that powers it back on.

; html-script: false ]param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $VMname )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn&#039;t loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name &quot;VMware.VimAutomation.Core&quot; -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name &quot;VMware.VimAutomation.Core&quot;
}

If ( !($vCenter) -or !($VMname) )
{
	Write-Host
	Write-Host &quot;vm-reboot: &lt;vcenter-server&gt; &lt;VMname&gt;&quot;
	Write-Host
	Write-Host &quot;   &lt;vcenter-server&gt;  - DNS name of your vCenter server.&quot;
	Write-Host &quot;   &lt;VMname&gt;          - Display name of the VM in this vCenter server.&quot;
	Write-Host
	exit 1
}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

$VM = Get-VM $VMname

# First, try shutting down the virtual machine gracefully
Write-Host &quot;Stopping VM $( $VM )&quot;
Write-Host &quot;   - Graceful shutdown&quot;
Shutdown-VMGuest -VM $VM -Confirm:$false
$VM = Get-VM $VMname

$i = 0
While ($VM.PowerState -ne &quot;PoweredOff&quot;) {
	# If that doesn&#039;t work, break out the hammer and just kill it
	if ( $i -gt 12 ) {
		Write-Host &quot;  - Forced shutdown&quot;
		Stop-VM -VM $VMname -Confirm:$false
	}

	Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
	$VM = Get-VM $VMname
	$i++
}

If ($VM.PowerState -eq &quot;PoweredOff&quot;) {
	Write-Host &quot;Starting VM $( $VM )&quot;
	Start-VM -VM $VM -Confirm:$false &gt;$NULL
}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

; html-script: false ]param( [string] $vCenter, [string] $VMname )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

If ( !($vCenter) -or !($VMname) )

{

Write-Host

Write-Host "vm-reboot: <vcenter-server> <VMname>"

Write-Host

Write-Host " <vcenter-server> - DNS name of your vCenter server."

Write-Host " <VMname> - Display name of the VM in this vCenter server."

Write-Host

exit 1

}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

$VM = Get-VM $VMname

# First, try shutting down the virtual machine gracefully

Write-Host "Stopping VM $( $VM )"

Write-Host " - Graceful shutdown"

Shutdown-VMGuest -VM $VM -Confirm:$false

$VM = Get-VM $VMname

$i = 0

While ($VM.PowerState -ne "PoweredOff") {

# If that doesn't work, break out the hammer and just kill it

if ( $i -gt 12 ) {

Write-Host " - Forced shutdown"

Stop-VM -VM $VMname -Confirm:$false

}

Start-Sleep -Seconds 5

$VM = Get-VM $VMname

$i++

}

If ($VM.PowerState -eq "PoweredOff") {

Write-Host "Starting VM $( $VM )"

Start-VM -VM $VM -Confirm:$false >$NULL

}

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

Before this implementation in PowerCLI, I needed three tasks for each VM that was to be scheduled. And when migrating vCenters (and I usually do an empty install) vCenter’s scheduled tasks are not exportable, thus you need to re-create the tasks on the new vCenter by yourself again, which for more than four virtual machines is really a pain in the ass …

Update: well, found an error that caused shit not to work … Basically Stop-VM also needs the object for $VMname, otherwise the whole point of waiting for the VM to be stopped is kinda moot (seeing as Stop-VM never stops obsessing about not having a Get-VM object or a VM name to work with).

Reoccurring memory limits in vCenter

January 13, 2012June 21, 2013 Christian Leave a comment

We recently had, after we migrated from vSphere 4 to vSphere 5, a memory limit in size of the configured memory on each and every VM. Since memory limits on VM level pretty much destroy performance, I went ahead an wrote this simple script to remove all memory limits on all VMs that don’t have “Unlimited” configured:

; html-script: false ]param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn&#039;t loaded already
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name &quot;VMware.VimAutomation.Core&quot; -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
	Add-PSSnapin -Name &quot;VMware.VimAutomation.Core&quot;
}

If ( !($vCenter) )
{
	Write-Host
	Write-Host &quot;cluster-remove-mem-limits: &lt;vcenter-server&gt;&quot;
	Write-Host
	Write-Host &quot;   &lt;vcenter-server&gt;  - DNS name of your vCenter server.&quot;
	Write-Host
	exit 1
}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | Where-Object { $_.memlimitmb -ne &#039;-1&#039; } |`
	Set-VMResourceConfiguration -memlimitmb $null

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

; html-script: false ]param( [string] $vCenter )

# Add the VI-Snapin if it isn't loaded already

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )

{

Add-PSSnapin -Name "VMware.VimAutomation.Core"

}

If ( !($vCenter) )

{

Write-Host

Write-Host "cluster-remove-mem-limits: <vcenter-server>"

Write-Host

Write-Host " <vcenter-server> - DNS name of your vCenter server."

Write-Host

exit 1

}

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenter

Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | Where-Object { $_.memlimitmb -ne '-1' } |`

Set-VMResourceConfiguration -memlimitmb $null

Disconnect-VIServer -server $vCenter -Confirm:$false

This script is basically what the guy over at get-admin.com did, just only for memory limits.