PowerCLI from ESXi mass modifications

/ Fred

Most of the time, I use vCenter (Web) Client for day to day operation, for a massive deployment, I have played a bit with PowerCLI. As it is a complete framework, some gems that really helped me.

You should already be logged in vCenter

Set ESXi powermanagement on “Maximum performance”

$hostname="fqdn"
$view = (Get-VMHost $hostname| Get-View)
(Get-View $view.ConfigManager.PowerSystem).ConfigurePowerPolicy(1)

Configure multiple IP addresses from DHCP to Fixed IP

You need a CSV file with

srvname,ipmgmt,ipvmotion

as header inside the file

$servers = "$($ScriptPath)servers.txt"
$FileInitExists = Test-Path $servers

if ($FileInitExists -eq $false){
    "servers.txt does not exist. Create it and place the aliases, one per line"
    exit
}
$file = Import-Csv $servers
foreach ($row in $file){
    $name="$($row.srvname).esx.mercuria.met"
    write-host "$name $($row.ipmgmt) $($row.ipvmotion)"
    $srv=get-vmhost -Name $name
    Get-VMHost $srv| Get-VMHostNetworkAdapter -VMKernel -Name vmk0 |Set-VMHostNetworkAdapter  -IP $($row.ipmgmt) -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 -Confirm:$false
    Get-VMHost $srv| Get-VMHostNetworkAdapter -VMKernel -Name vmk1 |Set-VMHostNetworkAdapter  -IP $($row.ipvmotion) -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 -Confirm:$false
}

NB default gateway is another set of commands, normally the same value as DHCP

Configure all LUN for a disk array to round robin multipath

$srv=get-vmhost -Name $name
Get-ScsiLun -CanonicalName "naa.60030d90*" -VmHost $srv| Set-ScsiLun -MultipathPolicy "roundrobin"

Bypass Powerpath for Hitachi disk array

$srv=get-vmhost -Name $name
$cli=Get-EsxCli -vmhost $srv
$cli.storage.core.claimrule.remove($null,$null,"280")
$cli.storage.core.claimrule.add($null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,"*","NMP",201,$null,$null,"vendor","HITACHI",$null,$null)

Rescan all HBAs

$srv=get-vmhost -Name $name
Get-VMHostStorage -VmHost $srv-RescanAllHba

Useful in a foreach loop 😉

Disable all VAAI

$srv=get-vmhost -Name "fqdn"
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $srv -Name DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedMove -Value 0
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $srv -Name DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedInit -Value 0
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $srv -Name VMFS3.HardwareAcceleratedLocking -Value 0

Set 1 to re-enable

Set host in maintenance mode

Set-VMHost -VMHost $srv -state Maintenance -RunAsync -Confirm:$false

To exit :

Set-VMHost -VMHost $srv -state Connected -RunAsync -Confirm:$false

Working with annotations

$myvalue=get-vm $vm | Get-Annotation -CustomAttribute "my-annotation"

Reboot an ESX

Remember that maintenance mode is normally a best practive

 Restart-VMHost $srv -RunAsync -force  -Confirm:$false

Disable IPv6 in vSphere 5.5

 $cli = Get-EsxCli -vmhost $srv
 $cli.network.ip.set($false)

Attach a host profile

Set-VMHost -VMHost $ucs -profile "UCS-RDM-55"

 

 

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