= Cheatsheet PowerCLI =

**Summary**: A cheatsheet to use powerCLI, a set of powershell modules that lets you automate all aspects of vSphere management, including network, storage, VM, guest OS and more. \\
**Date**: 3 January 2025 \\
{{tag>cheatsheet powershell vmware}}

Note that most of the snippets and code here was tested on a vSphere 5.1 environment, and also do not compy with any powershell best practices as I was simply not aware of any at the time I was working on this.

== Get All WMI Classes ==

Get all wmi classes on all Windows Servers in your network and filter for Citrix Licensing class:
<code powershell>
Get-ADComputer -filter {(operatingSystem -like "*windows*Server*")} | select -ExpandProperty name | foreach {Get-WmiObject -namespace "root" -Class "__Namespace" -ComputerName $_ } | where {$_.name -eq "CitrixLicensing"} | select name,pscomputername | FT
</code>

== Get All LogicalDisks through WMI ==

IN case you need to know what drive letters are assigned throughout your network:
<code>
Get-ADComputer -filter {(operatingSystem -like "*windows*Server*")} | select -ExpandProperty name | foreach {Get-WmiObject Win32_logicalDisk -ComputerName $_ -Filter "Drivetype='3'"} | select deviceid,drivetype | FT
</code>

== VM with CPU Reservation ==

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.CPUReservationMhz -ne '0'}
</code>

And setting the CPU reservation to 0:

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.CPUReservationMhz -ne '0'} | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -CPUReservationMhz 0
</code>

== Get All VMs and IP Addresses ==

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Select Name, @{N="IP Address";E={@($_.guest.IPAddress[0])}}
</code>

Export to CSV:
<code powershell>
Get-VM | Select Name, @{N="IP Address";E={@($_.guest.IPAddress[0])}} | Export-Csv c:\serverandip.csv
</code>

== VM with CPU Limit ==

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.CPULimitMhz -ne '-1'}
</code>

And setting the CPU limit to unlimited:

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.CPULimitMhz -ne '-1'} | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -CPULimitMhz $null
</code>

== VM with Memory Reservation ==

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemReservationMB -ne '0'}
</code>

And setting the memory reservation to 0:

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemReservationMB -ne '0'} | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -MemReservationMB 0
</code>

Note that if you change the memory reservation, and there is not enough free space in the datastore the next time the VM is powered on the operation will fail. To prevent this you can see all this information with this command:
<code powershell>
ForEach ($vm in (Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemReservationMB -ne '0'} | ForEach {$_.VM})){Get-VM $vm | Select Name,PowerState,@{N="Reservation";E={Get-VMResourceConfiguration -VM $_ | ForEach {$_.MemReservationMB}}},@{N="Datastore";E={Get-Datastore -VM $_}},@{N="Datastore Free Space";E={Get-Datastore -VM $_ | ForEach {$_.FreeSpaceMB}}}}
</code>

This is a small script to automatically remove the reservation if the datastore has enough free space:
<code powershell>
ForEach ($vm in (Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemReservationMB -ne '0'} | ForEach {$_.VM})){
  # $name = (Get-VM $vm | ForEach {$_.Name})
  $powerstate = (Get-VM $vm | ForEach {$_.PowerState})
  [int]$reservation = (Get-VMResourceConfiguration -VM $vm | ForEach {$_.MemReservationMB})
  $datastore = (Get-Datastore -VM $vm )
  [int]$dsfreespace = $datastore.FreeSpaceMB
  [int]$numberofds = (Get-Datastore -VM $vm |Measure-object).Count
  write-host "VM = $vm `n`t PowerState = $powerstate `n`t Memory Reservation = $reservation `n`t DataStore VM = $datastore `n`t Free Space on datastore = $dsfreespace `n`t Number of Datastores is $numberofds"
  if ((($dsfreespace - $reservation) -gt "0") -and ($numberofds -eq "1")){
     Write-Host "Now removing the memory reservation $reservation for VM $vm" -ForegroundColor Green
     Get-VMResourceConfiguration -VM $vm | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -MemReservationMB 0
  }
  else {
     Write-Host "Memory reservation ($reservation) cannot be removed because there is not enough free space on the datastore, or because the VM has multiple datastores." -ForegroundColor Red
  }
}
</code>

> Note: if you just want to view the VMs for which the change cannot be done automatically comment the other Write-Host lines out.

== VM with Memory Limit ==

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemLimitMB -ne '-1'}
</code>

And setting the memory limit to unlimited:

<code powershell>
Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemLimitMB -ne '-1'} | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -MemLimitMB $null
</code>

== Get All CPU and Memory Values ==

<code powershell>
$startdir = "D:\sjoerd"
$csvfile = "$startdir\memlimits.csv"

$myCol = @()

foreach ($VM in (Get-VM | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemLimitMB -ne '-1'})){

$vmview = Get-VM $VM | Get-View

$VMInfo = "" |select-Object VMName,CPUReservation,CPULimit,CPUShares,NumCPU,MEMSize,MEMReservation,MEMLimit,MEMShares
$VMInfo.VMName = $vmview.Name
$VMInfo.CPUReservation = $vmview.Config.CpuAllocation.Reservation
If ($vmview.Config.CpuAllocation.Limit-eq "-1"){$VMInfo.CPULimit = "Unlimited"}
Else{$VMInfo.CPULimit = $vmview.Config.CpuAllocation.Limit}
$VMInfo.CPUShares = $vmview.Config.CpuAllocation.Shares.Shares
$VMInfo.NumCPU = $VM.NumCPU
$VMInfo.MEMSize = $vmview.Config.Hardware.MemoryMB
$VMInfo.MEMReservation = $vmview.Config.MemoryAllocation.Reservation
If ($vmview.Config.MemoryAllocation.Limit-eq "-1"){$VMInfo.MEMLimit = "Unlimited"}
Else{$VMInfo.MEMLimit = $vmview.Config.MemoryAllocation.Limit}

$myCol += $VMInfo
}

$myCol |Export-csv -NoTypeInformation $csvfile
</code>

== VMWare Tools Version ==

<code powershell>
get-vm |% { get-view $_.id } | select Name, @{ Name=";ToolsVersion";; Expression={$_.config.tools.toolsVersion}}
</code>

== Get Hosts with Specific Version ==

<code powershell>
get-vmhost | where-object { $_.version -eq "4.1.0" } | select name,version
</code>

== Get Datastores and Used Storage for VMs within Cluster ==

<code powershell>
Get-Cluster "Acceptance" | Get-VM | Select Name, @{N="Datastore";E={Get-Datastore -vm $_}}, UsedSpaceGB, ProvisionedSpaceGB  | sort Name | Export-Csv F:\Scripts\Output\datastores-acceptance.csv
</code>

== Get All Datastores for All Clusters and See Usage ==

<code powershell>
ForEach ($cluster in get-cluster){get-cluster "$cluster" | Get-VMHost | select -first 1 | get-datastore | where {$_.name -like "?_*"} | Select Name,FreeSpaceMB,CapacityMB,@{N="Number of VMs";E={@($_ | Get-VM).Count}},@{N="VMs";E={@($_ | Get-VM | ForEach-Object {$_.Name})}},@{N="VM Size";E={@($_ | Get-VM | ForEach-Object {$_.UsedSpaceGB})}} | Export-Csv D:\sjoerd\datastore-$cluster-overview.csv}
</code>

== Get Number of Paths in Use per Host within Cluster ==

<code powershell>
Get-Cluster "Acceptance" | Get-VMHost | where {$_.State -eq "Connected"} | Select Name, @{N="TotalPaths";E={($_ | Get-ScsiLun | Get-ScsiLunPath | Measure-Object).Count}}
</code>

== Scan Storage for all Hosts within Cluster ==

<code powershell>
ForEach ($esxhost in (Get-Cluster "Acceptance" | Get-VMHost)) {Get-VmHostStorage $esxhost -RescanAllHba}
</code>

== Set MPIO Settings for All Hosts in Cluster ==

<code powershell>
ForEach ($esxhost in (Get-Cluster "Acceptance" | Get-VMHost)) {D:\tools\plink -ssh $esxhost -l root -pw <fillinpw> /opt/ontap/santools/config_mpath --primary --loadbalance --policy fixed}
</code>

== Count the Number of VMs in a Cluster That Match a Name Pattern ==

<code powershell>
get-cluster "acceptance" | get-vm | where {$_.name -match "prd"} | measure-object
</code>

== Get all Dead Paths In a Datacenter ==

<code powershell>
ForEach ($vmhost in (Get-Datacenter "The Netherlands" | Get-Vmhost | Sort)){ $deadpaths = Get-ScsiLun -vmhost $vmhost | Get-ScsiLunPath | where {$_.State -eq "Dead"} | Select ScsiLun,State; Write-Host $vmhost $deadpaths}
</code>

== Get All LUN IDs in use on an ESX Server ==

<code powershell>
Get-ScsiLun -vmhost esx01 -luntype disk | select runtimename | sort runtimename
</code>

== Get All LUN IDs in use on a NetApp Filer ==

<code powershell>
Get-NaLun | get-nalunmap | select Path,LunId | Sort LunId
</code>

== Get All Volumes From NetApp Filer ==

This will get you all Volumes from a NetApp Filer that start with a capital R and an underscore, separated by a comma, and copied to the clipboard. I needed this to get all volumes that are part of replication:
<code powershell>
import-module D:\sjoerd\dataontap
connect-nacontroller filer01 -credential (Get-credential)
(Get-NaVol | where {$_.name -like "R_*"} | select name -expandproperty Name) -join ',' | clip
</code>

== Working with Credentials ==

If you need to submit credentials for connecting to something you can do this to get a prompt for entering the credentials in stead of having to put them on the commandline:
<code powershell>
Connect-NaController filer01 -Credential (Get-Credential)
</code>

== Get the Number of VMs on all Datastores in a Datacenter ==

<code powershell>
Get-Datastore | where {$_.datacenter -match "The Netherlands"} | Select Name, @{N="Number of VMs";E={@($_ | Get-VM).Count}} | Sort "Number of VMs"
</code>

== Get All VMs with Old Hardware Level Version ==

<code powershell>
Get-Cluster "Acceptance" | Get-VM | Get-View | Where {$_.Config.Version -ne "vmx-09"} | Select Name | Sort Name
</code>

== Set VM Description with CSV File ==

> Note: This command will overwrite the existing descriptions, so make sure you do not overwrite anything important.

You need to create a simple csv file which looks like this:

<code>
VMName,Description
server01,Domain Controller
server02,Database Server
</code>

The second step is to run this command:
<code powershell>
Import-Csv "D:\sjoerd\description.csv" | % { Set-VM $_.VMName -Description $_.Description -Confirm:$false}
</code>

== Scripts ==

Save the code on your management workstation in a simple textfile, and change the extention to ".ps1". Now you can run them from powershell like any executable.

=== Resource Pools with Ballooning and Swapping ===

<code powershell>
$myCol = @()
foreach($clus in (Get-Cluster)){
 foreach($rp in (Get-ResourcePool -Location $clus | Get-View | Where-Object `
  {$_.Name -ne "Resources" -and `
   $_.Summary.QuickStats.BalloonedMemory -ne "0"})){
   $Details = "" | Select-Object Cluster, ResourcePool, `
   SwappedMemory ,BalloonedMemory

    $Details.Cluster = $clus.Name
    $Details.ResourcePool = $rp.Name
    $Details.SwappedMemory = $rp.Summary.QuickStats.SwappedMemory
    $Details.BalloonedMemory = $rp.Summary.QuickStats.BalloonedMemory

    $myCol += $Details
  }
}
$myCol
</code>

=== VMs with Ballooning and Swapping ===

<code powershell>
$myCol = @()
foreach($vm in (Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine | Where-Object `
  {$_.Summary.QuickStats.BalloonedMemory -ne "0"})){
   $Details = "" | Select-Object VM, `
   SwappedMemory ,BalloonedMemory

    $Details.VM = $vm.Name
    $Details.SwappedMemory = $vm.Summary.QuickStats.SwappedMemory
    $Details.BalloonedMemory = $vm.Summary.QuickStats.BalloonedMemory

    $myCol += $Details
  }
$myCol
</code>

=== VMs Network Info ===

<code powershell>
(get-vm) | %{
  $vm = $_
  echo $vm.name----
  $vm.Guest.Nics | %{
    $vminfo = $_
    echo $vminfo.NetworkName $vminfo.IPAddress $vminfo.MacAddress
    echo ";`n";
  }
}
</code>

=== VMs Boot Time ===

<code powershell>
$LastBootProp = @{
  Name = 'LastBootTime'
    Expression = {
      ( Get-Date ) - ( New-TimeSpan -Seconds $_.Summary.QuickStats.UptimeSeconds )
    }
}

Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -Property Name, Summary.QuickStats.UptimeSeconds | Select Name, $LastBootProp
</code>

=== Reading Values for Properties from CSV file ===

This little snippet will set the memory reservations for a VM from a csv file. This is useful if you want to rollback a change and you remembered to make a [[powerclicsvvminfo|csv file with VM information]]. You can use the list to make a separate vms.txt file as input as well as a vmsinput.txt file with reservation settings:
\\
vms.txt:
<code>
WINXP-TESTVM2
WINXP-TESTVM3
WINXP-TESTVM4
</code>

vmsinput.txt:
<code>
VMName,MEMReservation
WINXP-TESTVM2,128
WINXP-TESTVM3,256
WINXP-TESTVM4,128
</code>

<code powershell>
$sourcevms = "C:\Users\sjoerd\Desktop\powercli scripts\vms.txt"
$sourcememory = "C:\Users\sjoerd\Desktop\powercli scripts\vmsinput.txt"

$list = Get-Content $sourcevms | Foreach-Object {Get-VM $_ }

foreach($item in $list){
    $vm = $item.Name
    # The line below gives all information in @= format. This is not directly usable.
    $memres = import-csv $sourcememory | where-object {$_.vmname -eq "$vm"}
    # With this you get only the value of the property in the variable.
    $memresvm = $memres.MEMReservation
    Get-VM $vm | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | where {$_.MemReservationMB -eq '0'} | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -MemReservationMB $memresvm
}

</code>