Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

powercli

Using the Out-GridView feature in PowerCLI

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I wanted to output some data with PowerCLI using the Out-GridView cmdlet. Reason for using this cmdlet is that I needed to create an index for the .vmdk’s  attached to the virtual machines and the number varies, however I encountered the following error on my system:

Out-GridView : To use the Out-GridView cmdlet, install the Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment feature from Server Manager. (Could not load file or assembly ‘Microsoft.PowerShell.GraphicalHost, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.)

After some troubleshooting I discovered that this can be resolved easily by installing PowerShell ISE, which is an optional feature and requires .Net 3.5 SP1, to install this on Windows Server 2008 R2, use the Add Features Wizard or run the following Powershell command:

Import-Module ServerManager; Add-WindowsFeature PowerShell-ISE

-ray

Looking for PowerCLI skills?

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No need to struggle anymore, just learn PowerCLI from the masters… Luc Dekens and Alan Renouf wrote a book which is available for pre-ordering right now. Most of you probably already know Luc and Alan, but for those who don’t I think I am not exaggerating when I say that these guys are the top PowerCLI experts in the virtualization industry. Both Luc and Alan have a wealth of expertise and know how to explain things in a way that even I can understand it… believe that is an achievement cause I have no affinity with PowerCLI whatsoever. Now, Alan and Luc didn’t do this by themselves they had Arnim van Lieshout, Glen Sizemore and Jonathan Medd helping them out writing the book. Lets not forget their infamous tech editor Stuart “vinternals” Radnidge

VMware vSphere PowerCLI is a must-have tool for any administrator managing VMware vSphere in a Windows environment. Having to repeat vSphere administrative tasks can be time consuming and error-prone, but PowerCLI—created specifically for Windows environments—allows VMware administrators to automate tasks. Written to the latest PowerCLI, this handy guide shows you step by step how to use the PowerCLI cmdlets for daily administration procedures and frequently performed tasks for VMware vSphere X. The reference is organized by vSphere tasks, providing a practical approach to accessing the information you need while you are on the job. Supported by real world examples and no-nonsense instruction, coverage includes installation, configuration, and management of a vSphere environment, management of the virtual machine life-cycle, security, and monitoring and reporting.

While I was scavenging the internet for a screenshot of the cover, which I did not manage to find by the way, I noticed something else. It seems that these 5 guys are literally planning to take over the PowerCLI Community:

It seems that PowerCLIbook.com will primarily be used as a mechanism to offer readers updated versions of scripts, to enable them to ask the authors questions around the book itself and even to download a full Powerpack. Judging by the fact that is hasn’t been formally announced yet I expect the guys are still working on the forum/site.

Anyway, go out and pre-order the book… it is worth it,

RT: VMware Event – London – 8th Oct – Not to be missed!

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I was just talking to Mr Alan Renouf and it appears that there are a couple of free slots left at the API/PowerCLI event that VMware has organized in coöperation with Alan on the 8th of October in London.

If you are in London on the 8th October 2010 then you could be in for a treat, VMware are arranging a fantastic event, well worth the visit and best of all its free !

The event is called: Managing vSphere in large environments using APIs and PowerCLI

There are limited spaces available so act now or you will miss out, some of the most fantastic minds of VMware will be gracing London with their presence before heading out to VMworld Copenhagen.

Think of this as a taster of the kind of things you can expect from Technology Exchange, the contents are listed below, I would recommend this to any VMware admins who are managing large implementations of vCenter, there will be some great detail in these sessions.

If you would like to attend please send an email to [email protected] with your name and company, this will strictly be on a first come first serve basis as there are limited numbers.

Exploring VMware APIs

Speaker: Preetham Gopalaswamy

vSphere APIs for Performance Monitoring

Speaker: Balaji Parimi, Ravi Soundararajan

Of course Alan really focussed on the API part of the event, but that is not all there is. If you thought my esxtop page was useful, make sure to attend this event as this is the best part of the day in my opinion:

Advanced performance troubleshooting using esxtop

Level: Advanced

Length: 60 minutes

This talk will teach you how to spot tricky performance issues using the various counters in esxtop.

Speaker: Krishna Raj Raja, Staff Engineer, Performance Team

If you are in the UK and can’t make it to VMworld, this is your chance to catch some of the top experts and get to know the API and esxtop inside out!

The uncrowned king of PowerCLI is Alan Renouf

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No, I am not exaggerating. Alan Renouf truly is the uncrowned king of PowerCLI. Although I’ve seen some amazing scripts from other people as well Alan always seems to bring that little extra to make him stand out. No this is not an Alan Renouf appreciation blog article, although he deserves one, this article is about his two latest additions.

The first one is the Virtu-Al VESI & PowerGui Powerpack. If you are like me, not a powercli hero, this is what you were looking for all along. Alan has bundled all his script into a Powerpack which enables you to import all his scripts at once and run them with a single click. All scripts are placed into categories which makes them easy to find. Not only can you use them you can also modify them to your needs. Of course if you do improve these scripts give some feedback to Alan so that he might be able to incorporate it into the Powerpack.

The second one is Version 3 of the daily report or vCheck as it is called as of v3. I wrote about version 1 and many people have downloaded it and are using it in their environment. The script just got better and a whole set of new features have been added. Alan was smart enough to ask around in the community what his report was lacking and incorporated all these tips in Version 3 of vCheck(previously known as the Daily Report). Again, if you feel there is anything missing don’t hesitate to leave a comment and ask Alan if he can add it… Here’s the list of new features:

  • Status report to screen whilst running interactively
  • At the top of the script you can now turn off any areas you do not want to report on (this makes it faster to run)
  • VMs on Local storage has been changed to report VMs stored on datastores attached to only one host
  • VM active alerts
  • Cluster Active Alerts
  • If HA Cluster is set to use host datastore for swapfile, check the host has a swapfile location set
  • Host active Alerts
  • Dead SCSI Luns
  • VMs with over x amount of vCPUs
  • vSphere check: Slot Sizes
  • vSphere check: Outdated VM Hardware (Less than V7)
  • VMs in Inconsistent folders (the name of the folder is not the same as the name)
  • Added the number of issues to each title line

Carter can you please hand over your crown to Alan?! Thanks,