This script retrieves a console screenshot of one or more virtual machines.

Get-ScreenshotFromVM.ps1

<#
        .SYNOPSIS
        This script retrieves a console screenshot of one or more virtual machines.

        .DESCRIPTION
        The script needs four parameters: 
        
        - the name of the VM (name from the inventory)
        - the hostname of a vCenter or ESXi host
        - username, and
        - password

        You can also pipeline a list of VMs to the script.

        History  
        v0.1: Under development
     
        .EXAMPLE
        Get-ScreenshotFromVM -vm testvm -vmhost vcenter -username thomastest -password yoursecretpassword
    
        .NOTES
        Author: Patrick Terlisten, patrick@blazilla.de, Twitter @PTerlisten
    
        This script is provided 'AS IS' with no warranty expressed or implied. Run at your own risk.

        This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0
        International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).

        This script is inspired by "Get-VMScreenshot" by Martin Pugh (@thesurlyadm1n, www.thesurlyadmin.com)
    
        https://community.spiceworks.com/scripts/show/1748-get-vmscreenshot-get-screen-shots-from-the-console-session-of-your-vm-s

        .LINK
        http://www.vcloudnine.de
#>

#Requires -Version 3.0
#Requires -Module VMware.VimAutomation.Core

# Parameter
Param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, 
        ValueFromPipeline=$true, 
        ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true)]
    [String[]]$vm = "Name of VM",
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$vmhost = "Name of vCenter or ESXi host",
    [string]$username = "Username",
    [string]$password = "Password"
)

Begin {
    # Variables
    $secstring = ConvertTo-SecureString $password -asplaintext -force
    $cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($username, $secstring)

    # Connect to vCenter
    try {
        Connect-VIServer -Server $vmhost -User $username -Password $password -ErrorAction stop | Out-Null
        Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Successfully connectioned to $vmhost" 
    }
    catch {
        throw "Connection to $vmhost failed"
    }

}

# Do something

Process {
    Foreach ($item in $vm) {
        $vmid = (Get-VM -Name $item).ExtensionData.MoRef.Value
        Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://$vmhost/screen?id=$vmid -Credential $cred -OutFile $pwd\$item-$(Get-Date -f yyyyMMdd-hhmm).png
        Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Console screenshot was saved as $pwd\$item-$(Get-Date -f yyyyMMdd-hhmm).png"   
    }
}

# Clean up

End {
    # Disconnect from vCenter
    Disconnect-VIServer -Force -Confirm:$false
    Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "Successfully disconnected from $vmhost"
}