powershell – Love I.T., Live I.T., Embrace I.T.

How to setup a Powershell Environment to manage VMware

August 18, 2015 No Comments

Make sure .NET Framework 4.5 is installed (HERE)
Make sure that Powershell 3.0 is installed (do not use 4.0 as it breaks add-ins) (HERE)
Install vSphere PowerCLi (HERE)
open PS and run: Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted
Close and reopen PS and create a new profile by running: New-item –type file –force $profile
Run the following: Notepad $profile
Paste the following into the file:
1. Add-PSSnapin VMware.VimAutomation.Core
  Add-PSSnapin VMware.VimAutomation.Vds
  Add-PSSnapin VMware.VimAutomation.License
  Add-PSSnapin VMware.DeployAutomation
  Add-PSSnapin VMware.ImageBuilder
  Add-PSSnapin VMware.VimAutomation.Cloud
Save the PS1 file on your desktop and open a session via the shortcut.

Automation, Cloud, Command Line Shortcuts, Virtualization

Connecting direct to an Org in vCloud with PowerCLi

February 12, 2015 No Comments

I found it quite risky to connect to a vCloud instance as a SysAdmin and perform calls to a specific Org and ensure not to touch other orgs by a simple typo in my commands.

Use the following command to connect via PowerCLi direct to an org in vCD.

Connect-CIServer -Org WWW -Server XXX -Username YYY -password ‘ZZZ’

Automation, Cloud, Command Line Shortcuts, Cool Tricks and Tools, Powershell, Virtualization

A nice Slash and Burn script for vCD

August 22, 2014 No Comments

WARNING!!! This will delete ALL VMs in your vCD!!!!!

Connect to your vCD with “Connect-CIServer ” and run the following:


Stop-CIVApp * -Confirm:$false
Remove-CIVApp * -Confirm:$false
sleep 5
Remove-OrgNetwork * -Confirm:$false

Then manually delete any gateway devices and then run the following to clean up all the orgs:


Set-OrgVdc -Enabled:$false
remove-OrgVdc -Confirm:$false
Set-Org -Enabled:$false 
remove-Org -Confirm:$false

Big thanks to my colleague Grant Voss for this awesome little cleanup script.

Automation, Cloud, Powershell, Virtualization

Using PowerCLI To Answer Virtual Machine Message Questions

August 1, 2014 No Comments

The Virtual Machine Message I’m faced with deals with the relocation of the VM. Via the vSphere Client, my possible choices to answer the question are “Cancel”, “I moved it”, or “I copied it”. I don’t have the patience or desire to mouse through this hundreds of times.

I want to provide the same answer, “I moved it”, for every VM in inventory which has this question. The script to accomplish this is fairly simple, even by my standards. Once the PowerCLI connection is established to the vCenter Server or ESX(i) host, it’s a one-liner. Following is the PowerShell script which gets the job done for my situation:

Connect-VIServer vc501.boche.lab
Get-VM | Get-VMQuestion | Set-VMQuestion -Option “I moved it” -Confirm:$false

Note that there are different types of Virtual Machine Message questions which will yield a different set of possible answers. Be sure to query a VM having a question via PowerCLI for the possible answers to that question. Get-VM | Get-VMQuestion -full should do it. Once the possible answers are revealed, use Set-VMQuestion -Option to provide an answer.

Also note the script above will cycle through all VMs in inventory, and for those having a question, it will provide the same response for each VM. Thus the assumption is made that all VMs with pending questions have the same question being asked. To respond to explicit question types or to filter the VMs being looped through, the script would need to be refined.

For more information on the Get-VMQuestion or Set-VMQuestion PowerCLI cmdlets, use Get-Help Get-VMQuestion -full or Set-Help Get-VMQuestion -full respectively.

Thank you to Jason Boche for this article