powerCLI cheat sheet

powerCLI cheat sheet

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Get-Help Get-Snapshot
Get-Help XXX (cmdlet)

REMARKS
    To see the examples, type: "get-help Get-Snapshot -examples".
    For more information, type: "get-help Get-Snapshot -detailed".
    For technical information, type: "get-help Get-Snapshot -full".
    For online help, type: "get-help Get-Snapshot -online"

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#install PowerCLI offline

# download the PowerCLI ZIP file , VMware-PowerCLI-12.7.0-20091289
https://code.vmware.com/web/tool/vmware-powercli

> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Major  Minor  Patch  PreReleaseLabel BuildLabel
-----  -----  -----  --------------- ----------
7      2      6

> $env:PSModulePath #Check the PowerShell Module path
c:\program files\powershell\7\Modules

#Extract the contents of the ZIP file to the listed folder
c:\program files\powershell\7\Modules

#Unblock the files
> Get-ChildItem * -Recurse | Unblock-File 

#verify that the PowerCLI module is available
> Get-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI* -ListAvailable


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#install PowerCLI

> Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser
> Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser -AllowClobber


PowerCLI allows administrators to manage their VMware environment using the command line. You can simply install VMware PowerCLI straight from the official PowerShell Gallery by issuing the following command from a PowerShell console:
Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI
To allow the execution of local PowerShell scripts, you need to relax the execution policy:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned.

#powershell,verify Installation of PowerCLI
Get-Module -ListAvailable VMware* 

#Update PowerCLI
> Update-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI
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#Uninstall PowerCLI

#uninstall all official PowerCLI modules except VMware.PowerCLI
(Get-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ListAvailable).RequiredModules | Uninstall-Module -Force
#uninstall the PowerCLI main module
Get-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ListAvailable | Uninstall-Module -Force
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#PowerShell
Get-ExecutionPolicy 
Get-ExecutionPolicy -List
Get-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope CurrentUser
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned #alternatively

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#login 

>Get-PowerCLIConfiguration
#connect to vCenter with Invalid certificate (self-signed certificate or invalid cert) but shows with certificate warning.
>Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -Scope User -InvalidCertificateAction warn 
# Connects to a vSphere server by using the User and Password parameters

>Connect-VIServer -Server 10.23.112.235 -Protocol https -User admin -Password pass #login via CLI

>Connect-VIServer -Server 10.35.1.200 -credential $(Get-Credential) #login via windows pop-up menu
>Connect-VIServer -Menu #login via windows pop-up menu without server parameters

>Disconnect-VIServer #end session
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Get-VM | Get-Snapshot|Select VM,Name
get-vm -name VMNAME | get-snapshot
Get-Snapshot -VM VMNAME -Name 'Before ServicePack 2' #Retrieves the snapshot named "Before ServicePack2" of the VM virtual machine.

create a new snapshot
New-Snapshot -VM Test-1 -Name 'This is a test snapshot' -Description 'Testing this out' -Quiesce -Memory
New-Snapshot -VM VM -Name BeforePatch
New-Snapshot -VM VM2 -Name PoweredOnVM -Memory $true

revert a VM to a snapshot
Set-VM -VM Test-1 -Snapshot (Get-Snapshot -VM Test-1 -Name 'This is a test snapshot'

Remove a snapshot
> Get-Snapshot -VM Test-1 | Remove-Snapshot -RemoveChildren

filter your request by using the Where-Object cmdlet and use the Guest property, 
Get-VM | Where-Object {$_.Guest -like "*Centos*"}
Get-VM | Where-Object {$_.Guest -like "*Windows Server 2012*"}
Get-VM | Where-Object {$_.Guest -like "*Windows Server 2016*"}
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Get-View -Viewtype VirtualMachine -Property name, guest.ipaddress
Get-VMHost #ESXi Hosts
Get-VMHost | format-list -Property Name,Version
Get-VMHost | fl #Detailed Information on ESXi Hosts

Get-VMHost -Name esxiserver | Get-VM

Start-VM "Tiny Linux template" #Power On a VM
Stop-VM "Tiny Linux template" #Power Off a VM
Restart-VM "Tiny Linux template"

Shutdown-VMGuest ‑VM <vm>
Restart-VMGuest ‑VM <vm>
#(dis)Mounts the VMware Tools CD installer 
Mount-Tools ‑VM <vm>
Dismount-Tools ‑VM <vm>

# SSH and Esxi Shell Status TSM – – Denotes Esxi Shell
> Get-VMHost| Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}
> Get-VMHost -Name esxiserver | Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}

Enabling SSH And Shell
Get-VMHost -Name esxiserver | Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}| Set-VMHostService -policy "on"
Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}| Set-VMHostService -policy "on"
Restart SSH And Shell
Get-VMHost -Name esxiserver  | Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}| Restart-VMHostService
Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostService | Where-Object {$_.Key -like "TSM*"}| Restart-VMHostService

#list machines loaded with ISOs Unnecessarily
Get-VM | Get-CDDrive | where-object{$_.isopath -notlike $null} | FT Parent,Isopath –AutoSize

> Get-VM | where-object {$_.PowerState -eq "PoweredOff"} #VMs that are in the PoweredOff state
> Get-VM | where-object {$_.PowerState –eq “PoweredOff”} | Start-VM

Get-VM | where-object {$_.NumCpu –gt 1 } # VMs more than 1 CPU assigned
> Get-vm | where-object {$_.MemoryGB -eq 4 } | select -ExpandProperty Name | out-file c:\tmp\VMs.txt #VMs w 4GB memory


Get-VirtualSwitch #the virtual switches configured
Get-VirtualSwitch -Name vSwitch8
Get-VirtualSwitch -Name vSwitch8 | fl
Get-VirtualSwitch | fl

Get-VirtualPortGroup #virtual port groups
Get-VM | Where-Object { ($PSItem | Get-NetworkAdapter | where {$_.networkname -match "DPortgroup"})} #VMs inside port group DPortGroup

#Getting OS Version Information on VMs
Get-VM | Sort-Object -Property Name | Get-View -Property @("Name", "Config.GuestFullName", "Guest.GuestFullName") | Select-Object -Property Name, @{N="Configured OS";E={$_.Config.GuestFullName}}, @{N="Running OS";E={$_.Guest.GuestFullName}}
# txt output
Get-VM | Sort-Object -Property Name | Get-View -Property @("Name", "Config.GuestFullName", "Guest.GuestFullName") |Select-Object -Property Name, @{N="Configured OS";E={$_.Config.GuestFullName}}, @{N="Running OS";E={$_.Guest.GuestFullName}}  | out-file c:\tmp\VMswOS.txt
#csv output
Get-VM | Sort-Object -Property Name | Get-View -Property @("Name", "Config.GuestFullName", "Guest.GuestFullName") |Select -Property Name, @{N="Configured OS";E={$_.Config.GuestFullName}}, @{N="Running OS";E={$_.Guest.GuestFullName}} | Export-CSV C:\tmp\report.csv -NoTypeInformation 

Invoke-VMScript -VM WindowsVM -ScriptText "dir C:\" -GuestUser administrator -GuestPassword pass2

Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -Filter @{"Name" = "WindowsVM"}
> $VM = Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -Filter @{"Name" = "WindowsVM"}
> $VM.Guest
> $VM.Guest.GuestFullName

Get-Log -Bundle -DestinationPath C:\vSphere_logs #Generate Diagnostic Log Bundle on ESXi Host or vCenter

# This command will give you a list of all your DRS Affinity rules:
Get-DrsRule | Select Name, Enabled, Type, @{Name="VM"; Expression={ $iTemp = @(); $_.VMIds | % { $iTemp += (Get-VM -Id $_).Name }; [string]::Join(";", $iTemp) }} | export-csv c:\temp\DRSRules.csv

# This will give you IP address, name, notes, folder and guest ID:
Get-vm | where { $_.PowerState -eq “PoweredOn”} | Select Name,Notes,Folder,GuestID,@{N="IP Address";E={@($_.guest.IPAddress[0])}} | export-csv c:\temp\VMsOn.csv

# This will give you a list of all VMs that are powered on:
Get-vm | where { $_.PowerState -eq “PoweredOn”} | export-csv c:\temp\VMsOn.csv

This script will give you a list of all Datastores and a breakdown of the remaining space:
Get-VM |
Select Name,
@{N="Datastore";E={[string]::Join(',',(Get-Datastore -Id $_.DatastoreIdList | Select -ExpandProperty Name))}},
@{N="UsedSpaceGB";E={[math]::Round($_.UsedSpaceGB,1)}},
@{N="ProvisionedSpaceGB";E={[math]::Round($_.ProvisionedSpaceGB,1)}},
@{N="Folder";E={$_.Folder.Name}} |
Export-Csv C:\temp\VMsDatastores.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture

This command will give you a .csv file containing all snapshots outstanding within your vCenter environment:
get-vm | get-snapshot | export-csv c:\temp\snapshots.csv

This command will show you all the VMs with ISO files mounted:
Get-VM | FT Name, @{Label="ISO file"; Expression = { ($_ | Get-CDDrive).ISOPath }}

This command will give you information about your hosts:
get-vmhost | Select Name,@{N=”Cluster”;E={Get-Cluster -VMHost $_}},@{N=”Datacenter”;E={Get-Datacenter -VMHost $_}} | Export-csv c:\temp\hostinventory.csv 

This will give you the free space remaining in all your datastores:
Get-Datastore | Select Name,CapacityGB,FreeSpaceGB,state | sort -Property FreeSpaceGB -Descending | Export-Csv C:\Scripts\vCenter\DatastoreReport.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture 

This will give you all the thick provisioned VMs in your environment:
Get-Datastore | Get-VM | Get-HardDisk | Where {$_.storageformat -eq "Thick" } | Select Parent, Name, CapacityGB, storageformat | Export-Csv C:\temp\VMsThick.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture 

This will give you all the thin provisioned VMs in your environment:
Get-Datastore | Get-VM | Get-HardDisk | Where {$_.storageformat -eq "Thin" } | Select Parent, Name, CapacityGB, storageformat | Export-Csv C:\temp\VMsThin.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture 

This command translates the HostID to the host DNS name:
Get-VMHost | Select ID,name 

This command will show you information on your vSwitches and port groups:
Get-VirtualPortGroup | select Name,VirtualSwitch,VLanId,VMHostID | Export-Csv C:\temp\VMHostNetworkInfo.csv

Get VM disk info
Get-VM -Name exchange1 | Get-HardDisk | Format-List

Find Vm’s Created last 10 days
Get-VIEvent -maxsamples 10000 |where {$_.Gettype().Name-eq “VmCreatedEvent” -or $_.Gettype().Name-eq “VmBeingClonedEvent” -or $_.Gettype().Name-eq “VmBeingDeployedEvent”} |Sort CreatedTime -Descending |Select CreatedTime, UserName,FullformattedMessage -First 10

Updating VMware Tools without reboot:
Get-VMGuest -VM $vm | Update-Tools -NoReboot

Searching for entries in events in vCenter:
foreach ($vmm in get-vm * ) { $vmm |Get-VIEvent -Start 2020.03.23 -MaxSamples 1000 | ? FullFormattedMessage -Match Ethernet0 | select {$vmm.Name} , CreatedTime,FullFormattedMessage }