Exporting VM Tags in readable format

[JBartholomew]

So I have been working on a script to import Tags from a CSV into vCenter so we can do batch imports of our vCenter tags (its much easier to edit 1000 rows of a spreadsheet than it is to do it directly in vCenter.)

See: Re: Working with Batch Tags in PowerCLI for the script itself.

The problem I have run into is I now have the import script running properly, but now I require a way to export the updated data to a readable CSV file so I can ensure the data being input is up to date. The issue with the export from powerCLI is how vCenter stores tags. within vCenter, tags are stored as TagCategory/TagName together as an object called $Tag and each $Tag is stored in a different element of the array Get-tagassignment. The problem is the input CSV is split out with each Line consisting of the VMName and which Tags it contains under each category with each category being a column.

so The CSV is as follows:

VMName     |     Category 1     |     Category 2     |      Category 3     |      Category 4      |

VM1            |                         |       Tag Value     |                           |     Tag Value         |

VM2            |     Tag Value      |      Tag Value      |     Tag Value        |                            |

Where the tags in VMWare are stored as follows:

VMName     |     Category/Tag        |

VM1            |     Category 2/Tag     |

VM1            |     Category 4/Tag     |

VM2           |     Category 1/Tag      |

VM2           |     Category 2/Tag      |

VM2           |     Category 3/Tag      |

So I am looking for a way to get the current output into the format I need, so I can basically create a cyclic loop so the updated tags can be exported back to the CSV so when the CSV is updated it already reflects any changes (such as additional VMs or Removed VMs)

[markshannon]

interestingly i get the same error.

although tried on another vcenter and worked ok.

[LucD]

Yes, there has been an issue reported on multiple occasions with the Get-TagAssignment cmdlet.

As an alternative try the functions from Kyle's CISTag module or my rCISTag module.

[markshannon]

hi

how do i run these modules in relation to the above script that you mentioned?

thanks

[LucD]

These modules contain cmdlets that do the exact same as the current Tag cmdlets.

You only have to change all Tag-related cmdlets in your script.

[markshannon]

Hi

so i modified this script :-

$objTemplate = @{

   VM = ''

}

(Get-rCisTagCategory).Name | Sort-Object | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $objTemplate.Add($_,'')

}

Get-rCisTagAssignment|

Group-Object -Property {$_.Entity.Name} |

ForEach-Object -Process {

   $obj = $objTemplate.Clone()

   $obj['VM'] = $_.Name

   $_.Group | Group-Object -Property {$_.Tag.Category.Name} |

   ForEach-Object -Process {

   $cat = $_.Name

   $vTag = $_.Group | Group-Object -Property {$_.Tag.Category.Name} |

   ForEach-Object -Process {

   $_.Group.Tag.Name

   }

   $obj[$cat] = (($vTag | Sort-Object) -join '|')

   }

   New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

} | Export-Csv -Path c:\temp\tagreport.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture

I get the below error after a while:-

Exception calling "Add" with "2" argument(s): "Item has already been added. Key in dictionary: 'VM'  Key being added: 'VM'"

At line:8 char:4

+    $objTemplate.Add($_,'')

+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

New-Object : Cannot process argument because the value of argument "name" is not valid. Change the value of the "name" argument and run the operation again.

At line:41 char:4

+    New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [New-Object], PSArgumentException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Argument,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewObjectCommand

thanks in advance

mark

[markshannon]

Hi Luc

Wondered if you had any info on the above please?

also do you have another book coming out or is the one with the green cover the latest?

thanks

[LucD]

Do you see the same category appear more than once when you do Get-rCisTagCategory?

The green cover (Ed 2) is the latest one.
And no, no new edition in the planning for now.

[markshannon]

great i have just ordered.

No there isn't - all the names are different.

PS C:\> $obj

Name                           Value                                                                                                                                                                        

----                           -----                                                                                                                                                                        

Last Backup Date                                                                                                                                                                                            

Datastore                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Zer                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Protected by Zerto                                                                                                                                                                                          

Backup Result                                                                                                                                                                                               

Storage Type                                                                                                                                                                                                

vSphere Folders                                                                                                                                                                                             

BC Level                                                                                                                                                                                                    

OSS VMs with Shavlik Snapshots                                                                                                                                                                              

VMs with Snapshots                                                                                                                                                                                          

Sample Business View Category                                                                                                                                                                               

VM Location                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Owner                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Protection Method                                                                                                                                                                                           

VM Network                                                                                                                                                                                                  

VM    

when i run the 1st part of the script it comes with:-

PS C:\> $objTemplate = @{

   VM = ''

}

PS C:\> (Get-rCisTagCategory).Name | Sort-Object | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $objTemplate.Add($_,'')

}

Exception calling "Add" with "2" argument(s): "Item has already been added. Key in dictionary: 'VM'  Key being added: 'VM'"

At line:2 char:4

+    $objTemplate.Add($_,'')

+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

[LucD]

I reworked the script.
Does this return the correct results?

$assigned = Get-VM | Get-TagAssignment

$tagCat = $assigned.Tag.Category.Name | Sort-Object -Unique

$assigned | Group-Object -Property { $_.Entity.Name } |

ForEach-Object -Process {

   $vm = $_

   $obj = [ordered]@{

   VM = $vm.Name

   }

   $tagCat | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $cat = $_

   $tags = ($vm.Group | where { $_.Tag.Category.Name -eq $cat }).Tag.Name -join '|'

   $obj.Add($cat, $tags)

   }

   New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

}

[markshannon]

Hi

sorry to sound a bit like a novice, but do i replace 'ALL' of the below with what you sent?  thanks

$objTemplate = @{

   VM = ''

}

(Get-rCisTagCategory).Name | Sort-Object | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $objTemplate.Add($_,'')

}

Get-rCisTagAssignment|

Group-Object -Property {$_.Entity.Name} |

ForEach-Object -Process {

   $obj = $objTemplate.Clone()

   $obj['VM'] = $_.Name

   $_.Group | Group-Object -Property {$_.Tag.Category.Name} |

   ForEach-Object -Process {

   $cat = $_.Name

   $vTag = $_.Group | Group-Object -Property {$_.Tag.Category.Name} |

   ForEach-Object -Process {

   $_.Group.Tag.Name

   }

   $obj[$cat] = (($vTag | Sort-Object) -join '|')

   }

   New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

} | Export-Csv -Path c:\temp\tagreport.csv -NoTypeInformation -UseCulture

[LucD]

Yes, I restarted from scratch :smileygrin:

[markshannon]

yes that worked   thankyou

i have a tag category named 'machine information' that has multiple tags against it (tag category could be named anything),  in the report it lists all the tags in same excel field like below with pipe splitting the tags:-

Machine Information

Production|Owner IT|Non SQL|Internal Facing

how easy is it to split these out?

ps.  your 2nd ed book arrived yesterday

[LucD]

Splitting out is not a problem, but how would you name those columns?

[markshannon]

good question i dont know!!!

i guess it needs to dynamic if possible in case new categories are created with multiple tags?

to be easier, could just another column be created called the same whatever the category is called so in this example we would just have 4 columns called 'machine information'?

i say easier, thats why im here asking ha!!!

[LucD]

I'm afraid not, you can't have columns with the same name.
And Export-Csv has an issue exporting arrays where not all rows have the same number of properties.

We could first calculate how many columns we would end up with, and then create those columns for all rows.

[markshannon]

that would work

[LucD]

The code becomes a bit more complex, but this should do the trick.

$assigned = Get-VM | Get-TagAssignment

$tagCat = $assigned.Tag.Category.Name | Sort-Object -Unique

$report = $assigned | Group-Object -Property { $_.Entity.Name } |

ForEach-Object -Process {

   $vm = $_

   $obj = [ordered]@{

   VM = $vm.Name

   }

   $tagCat | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $cat = $_

   $tags = ($vm.Group | where { $_.Tag.Category.Name -eq $cat }).Tag.Name -join '|'

   $obj.Add($cat, $tags)

   }

   New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

}

$colTab = @{ }

$report | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | where { $_.Name -ne 'VM' } |

ForEach-Object -Process {

   $column = $report."$($_.Name)"

   $columnMax = ($column | where { $_ -ne '' } | % {

   $_.Split('|').Count

   } | Measure-Object -Maximum).Maximum

   $colTab.Add($_.Name, $columnMax)

}

$report | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $row = $_

   $obj = [ordered]@{

   VM = $_.VM

   }

   $colTab.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object -Property Name | ForEach-Object -Process {

   if ($_.Value -gt 1)

   {

   $col = $_

   $values = ($row."$($_.Name)").Split('|')

   1..($_.Value) | ForEach-Object -Process {

   $obj.Add("$($col.Name)-$_", $values[$_ - 1])

   }

   }

   else

   {

   $obj.Add($_.Name, $row."$($_.Name)")

   }

   }

   New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

}

[markshannon]

Legend works an absolute treat.

appreciate your assistance on this - now to decipher your code so i understand it

[ganapa2000]

LucD,

How can I get the VM Folder details in the output ?

[LucD]

Try something like this

$assigned = Get-VM | Get-TagAssignment

$tagCat = $assigned.Tag.Category.Name | Sort-Object -Unique

$report = $assigned | Group-Object -Property { $_.Entity.Name } |

ForEach-Object -Process {

    $vm = $_

    $obj = [ordered]@{

        VM     = $vm.Name

        Folder = $vm.Group[0].Entity.Folder.Name

    }

    $tagCat | ForEach-Object -Process {

        $cat = $_

        $tags = ($vm.Group | Where-Object { $_.Tag.Category.Name -eq $cat }).Tag.Name -join '|'

    $obj.Add($cat, $tags)

}

New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

}

$colTab = @{ }

$report | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Where-Object { 'VM', 'Folder' -notcontains $_.Name } |

ForEach-Object -Process {

    $column = $report."$($_.Name)"

    $columnMax = ($column | Where-Object { $_ -ne '' } | ForEach-Object {

            $_.Split('|').Count

        } | Measure-Object -Maximum).Maximum

$colTab.Add($_.Name, $columnMax)

}

$report | ForEach-Object -Process {

    $row = $_

    $obj = [ordered]@{

        VM     = $_.VM

        Folder = $_.Folder

    }

    $colTab.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object -Property Name | ForEach-Object -Process {

        if ($_.Value -gt 1) {

            $col = $_

            $values = ($row."$($_.Name)").Split('|')

            1..($_.Value) | ForEach-Object -Process {

                $obj.Add("$($col.Name)-$_", $values[$_ - 1])

            }

    } else {

        $obj.Add($_.Name, $row."$($_.Name)")

    }

}

New-Object PSObject -Property $obj

}