Month: July 2015

Add Virtual Machine Templates (.VMTX) to Inventory using PowerShell

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Here is a script that will scan a datastore for VM templates (.VMTX) and add them to inventory. This is a modified version of the Add Virtual Machines (.VMX) to Inventory script.

You must have VMware PowerCLI installed in order to have the cmdlets required for PowerShell to run the script.

Add VMTX (Virtual Machine Templates) to Inventory from a Datastore:

#####################################################################
# Load VMware Plugins and vCenter Connect #
#####################################################################

Add-PSSnapin vmware.vimautomation.core

connect-viserver -server ENTER VCENTER FQDN HERE
#####################################################################
# Add .VMTX (VM Templates) to Inventory from Datastore #
#####################################################################

# Variables: Update these to the match the environment
$Cluster = "ENTER CLUSTER NAME HERE"
$Datastore = "ENTER DATASTORE NAME HERE"
$VMFolder = "ENTER FOLDER NAME HERE"
$ESXHost = Get-Cluster $Cluster | Get-VMHost | select -First 1

foreach($Datastore in get-datastore $Datastore)
{
# Collect .vmtx paths of registered VMs on the datastore
$registered = @{}
Get-Template -Datastore $Datastore | ForEach-Object -Process {
$registered.Add($_.Name+'.vmtx',$true)
}

# Set up Search for .VMTX Files in Datastore(s)
$null = New-PSDrive -Name TgtDS -Location $Datastore -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root '\'
$unregistered = @(Get-ChildItem -Path TgtDS: -Recurse | `
Where-Object -FilterScript {
$_.FolderPath -notmatch '.snapshot' -and $_.Name -like '*.vmtx' -and !$registered.ContainsKey($_.Name)
}
)
Remove-PSDrive -Name TgtDS

#Register all .vmtx Files as VMs on the datastore
foreach($vmtxFile in $unregistered)
{
New-Template -Name $vmtxFile.Name -TemplateFilePath $vmtxFile.DatastoreFullPath -VMHost $ESXHost -Location $VMFolder -RunAsync
}
}

Let’s see it in action!

Read more…

Add Virtual Machines (.VMX) to Inventory using PowerShell

by

There are quite a few clicks to add a virtual machine from a datastore to inventory. If you were to consolidate an environment and had to add multiple virtual machines this would be quite a manual task. Easier solution? Script it! The below script makes scanning a datastore and registering all virtual machines with vCenter a breeze.

You must have VMware PowerCLI installed in order to have the cmdlets required for PowerShell to run the script.

Add VMX (Virtual Machines) to Inventory from a Datastore:

#####################################################################
# Load VMware Plugins and vCenter Connect #
#####################################################################

Add-PSSnapin vmware.vimautomation.core

connect-viserver -server ENTER VCENTER FQDN HERE
#####################################################################
# Add .VMX (Virtual Machines) to Inventory from Datastore #
#####################################################################

# Variables: Update these to the match the environment
$Cluster = "ENTER CLUSTER NAME HERE"
$Datastore = "ENTER DATASTORE NAME HERE"
$VMFolder = "ENTER FOLDER NAME HERE"
$ESXHost = Get-Cluster $Cluster | Get-VMHost | select -First 1

foreach($Datastore in $Datastore) {
# Searches for .VMX Files in datastore variable
$ds = Get-Datastore -Name $Datastore | %{Get-View $_.Id}
$SearchSpec = New-Object VMware.Vim.HostDatastoreBrowserSearchSpec
$SearchSpec.matchpattern = "*.vmx"
$dsBrowser = Get-View $ds.browser
$DatastorePath = "[" + $ds.Summary.Name + "]"

# Find all .VMX file paths in Datastore variable and filters out .snapshot
$SearchResult = $dsBrowser.SearchDatastoreSubFolders($DatastorePath, $SearchSpec) | where {$_.FolderPath -notmatch ".snapshot"} | %{$_.FolderPath + ($_.File | select Path).Path}

# Register all .VMX files with vCenter
foreach($VMXFile in $SearchResult) {
New-VM -VMFilePath $VMXFile -VMHost $ESXHost -Location $VMFolder -RunAsync
}
}

Let’s see it in action!

Read more…