Snapshot storage management questions

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-10-2019

I'm fairly new to ESXI and I'm trying to grasp how snapshots work in this environment.

From what I understand so far, it seems like they work almost like GIT repositories, where a master snapshot is created first, and then a concurrent snapshot is dependent on the master snapshot and the concurrent snapshots (child snapshots) are dependent on each snapshot taken before it making kind of a chain of dependencies. It appears that when ESXI boots a VM, it actually uses the most recent snapshot along with the vdisk and not just the vdisk, meaning the most recent snapshot must be fully intact.

Here is my question. We like to take a snapshot of a certain VM once a week but over time we do not want it to fill up and over encumber our storage capacity. My first thought was to delete any snapshot older than 2 months, but upon doing this I was no longer able to boot into the VM. I did manage to repair it by loading the original vdisk image which was months out of date, and rebuilt everything from there, however; what is the best way to manage snapshots if you seemingly cannot delete the oldest snapshot without affecting the current snapshot?

Thanks.

LucD · ‎10-16-2019

And what about Issue 1 in PowerShell Core: Installation on Ubuntu (Bionic Beaver) - TechNet Articles - United States (English)...

Blog: lucd.info Twitter: @LucD22 Co-author PowerCLI Reference

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-16-2019

managed to install it, had to download libcu60 manually and dpkg it onto the server.

Now:

#! /usr/bin/pwsh
Connect-VIServer -Server x.x.x.x-User xxxx -Password xxxxxxxx
$date = Get-Date
New-Snapshot -VM xxxxxxxx -Name "apt-mirror-snapshot-$date"
Get-VM xxxxxxxx | Get-Snapshot |
Where-Object {$_.Created -lt (Get-Date).AddMonths(-2)} |
Sort-Object -Property Created |
Remove-Snapshot -Confirm:$false -RemoveChildren

Oct 16 16:58:01 CRON[15671]: (root) CMD (/home/user/scripts/mirror/mirror-snapshots)
Oct 16 16:58:01 powershell[15672]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStart:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStart.Informational] PowerShell console is starting up
Oct 16 16:58:01 powershell[15672]: (6.2.3:6:80) [NamedPipeIPC_ServerListenerStarted:NamedPipe.Open.Informational] Windows PowerShell has started an IPC listening thread on process: 15672 in AppDomain: None.
Oct 16 16:58:01 powershell[15672]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStop:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStop.Informational] PowerShell console is ready for user input
Oct 16 16:58:02 postfix/pickup[15193]: 82B1652031E: uid=0 from=<root>
Oct 16 16:58:02 postfix/cleanup[15690]: 82B1652031E: message-id=<20191016215802.82B1652031E@cec-esxi-mgmt>
Oct 16 16:58:02 postfix/qmgr[14472]: 82B1652031E: from=<root@*******>, size=2012, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Oct 16 16:58:02 postfix/local[15692]: 82B1652031E: to=<root@*******>, orig_to=<root>, relay=local, delay=0.01, delays=0.01/0/0/0, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (delivered to mailbox)
Oct 16 16:58:02 postfix/qmgr[14472]: 82B1652031E: removed

Still seems to be the same issue.

I also removed the installation from snap

sudo snap remove powershell

Any other possibilities?

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-17-2019

I hashed out the job in cron after experimenting awhile for a bit. I created a new one in systemctl timer.

Timer:

[Unit]
Description=Create Snapshots
[Timer]
OnCalendar=*:0/2
Persistent=true
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Service:

[Unit]
Description="ESXI Snapshot management"
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/pwsh /home/user/scripts/mirror/snapshot-mgmt

This is the error I'm getting, it seems like PowerCLI is unable to see its modules when run from an automated script:

Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt systemd[1]: Started "VM Snapshot management".
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt powershell[2296]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStart:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStart.Informational] PowerShell console is starting up
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt powershell[2296]: (6.2.3:6:80) [NamedPipeIPC_ServerListenerStarted:NamedPipe.Open.Informational] Windows PowerShell has started an IPC listening thread on process: 2296 in AppDomain: None.
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt powershell[2296]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStop:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStop.Informational] PowerShell console is ready for user input
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: Connect-VIServer : The term 'Connect-VIServer' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: At line:2 char:1
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + Connect-VIServer -Server X.X.X.X -User xxxx -Password xxxxxxxxx
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Connect-VIServer:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:08 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]:
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: New-Snapshot : The term 'New-Snapshot' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: At line:4 char:1
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + New-Snapshot -VM mirror -Name "apt-mirror-snapshot-$date"
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (New-Snapshot:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]:
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: Get-VM : The term 'Get-VM' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: At line:5 char:1
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + Get-VM mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + ~~~~~~
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Get-VM:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
Oct 17 14:43:09 vm-mgmt pwsh[2296]:

Yet when run manually, it works fine. Is there anything else I can check?

LucD · ‎10-17-2019

I suspect the module path might be missing in $env:PSModulePath.

Can you check what is in that variable?

Blog: lucd.info Twitter: @LucD22 Co-author PowerCLI Reference

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-17-2019

When run directly from PS:

PS /home/user/scripts/mirror> $env:PSModulePath
/home/user/.local/share/powershell/Modules:/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules:/opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules

When run as a script from Ubuntu Shell:

user@esxi-mgmt:~/scripts/mirror$ /usr/bin/pwsh /home/user/scripts/mirror/ModulePath
/home/user/.local/share/powershell/Modules:/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules:/opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules

When run from systemctl:

Service:

[Unit]
Description="Tests module path in PS"
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/pwsh /home/user/scripts/mirror/ModulePath

Output:

Oct 17 15:43:06 esxi-mgmt systemd[1]: Started "Tests module path in PS".
Oct 17 15:43:06 esxi-mgmt powershell[2674]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStart:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStart.Informational] PowerShell console is starting
Oct 17 15:43:06 esxi-mgmt powershell[2674]: (6.2.3:6:80) [NamedPipeIPC_ServerListenerStarted:NamedPipe.Open.Informational] Windows PowerShell has started an IPC listen
Oct 17 15:43:06 esxi-mgmt powershell[2674]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStop:PowershellConsoleStartup.WinStop.Informational] PowerShell console is ready for
Oct 17 15:43:06 esxi-mgmt pwsh[2674]: /tmp/437512a5-a1a6-429d-8076-6835cae74c74/.local/share/powershell/Modules:/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules:/opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules

LucD · ‎10-17-2019

Now the next thing to check is where are the PowerCLI modules located?
Are they in one of these folders?
Also when running from systemctl?

Blog: lucd.info Twitter: @LucD22 Co-author PowerCLI Reference

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-17-2019

For the folders that PS is looking through after initiated via systemctl:

user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /tmp/437512a5-a1a6-429d-8076-6835cae74c74/.local/share/powershell/Modules
##The Modules folder is an empty folder, also this directly only appears when running via automation over systemctl and nowhere else.
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /usr/local/share/powershell/Modules
ls: cannot access '/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules': No such file or directory
##Folder doesn't even exist.
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /usr/local/share/powershell/
Scripts
##Confirming it does not exist.
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules
Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive Microsoft.PowerShell.Management Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility PowerShellGet PSReadLine
Microsoft.PowerShell.Host Microsoft.PowerShell.Security PackageManagement PSDesiredStateConfiguration ThreadJob
##Modules exist here, this source is also present in the remaining sources

Run directly from PS or script from shell promp:

user@esxi-mgmt:~$
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /home/user/.local/share/powershell/Modules
ls: cannot access '/home/user/.local/share/powershell/Modules': No such file or directory
user@esxi-mgmt:~$
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /home/user/.local/share/powershell
ls: cannot access '/home/user/.local/share/powershell': No such file or directory
user@esxi-mgmt:~$
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /usr/local/share/powershell/Modules
ls: cannot access '/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules': No such file or directory
user@esxi-mgmt:~$
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules
-bash: /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules: Is a directory
user@esxi-mgmt:~$ ls /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/Modules
Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive Microsoft.PowerShell.Management Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility PowerShellGet PSReadLine
Microsoft.PowerShell.Host Microsoft.PowerShell.Security PackageManagement PSDesiredStateConfiguration ThreadJob

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-17-2019

Incase these modules aren't properly loading, is there a way to summon them in my script?

LucD · ‎10-18-2019

Yes, you can do an Import-Module and provide the path to the module folder.

Try something like this (path depends of course on where you installed the modules)

Import-Module -Name '/home/PowerCLI/Modules/VMware.PowerCLI'

Blog: lucd.info Twitter: @LucD22 Co-author PowerCLI Reference

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-20-2019

So the folder you mentioned seems not to exist. I did find the modules in:

~/.local/share/powershell/Modules

This is what I'm running into now:

Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: Import-Module : The specified module 'VMware.VimAutomation.sdk' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory.
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: At line:2 char:1
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + Import-Module -Name 'VMware.VimAutomation.sdk'
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + CategoryInfo : ResourceUnavailable: (VMware.VimAutomation.sdk:String) [Import-Module], FileNotFoundException
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Modules_ModuleNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportModuleCommand
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]:
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: Import-Module : The required module 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk' is not loaded. Load the module or remove the module from 'RequiredModules' in the file '/usr/local/share/powershell/Modules/VMware.PowerCLI/11.4.0.14413515/VMware.Po
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: At line:3 char:1
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + Import-Module -Name 'VMware.PowerCLI'
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + CategoryInfo : ResourceUnavailable: (/usr/local/share/po\u2026Mware.PowerCLI.psd1:String) [Import-Module], MissingMemberException
Oct 20 23:23:26 cec-esxi-mgmt pwsh[6701]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Modules_InvalidManifest,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportModuleCommand

I noticed that the folder location that it is using for the VMware.PowerCLI is a root location and not a user location. The VMware.VimAutomation.sdk is installed but its in a user location and not a root location. I copied them over from the user location to root location via basic cp command:

ls /usr/local/share/powershell/Modules/
VMware.DeployAutomation        VMware.VimAutomation.Core         VMware.VimAutomation.Srm
VMware.ImageBuilder            VMware.VimAutomation.Hcx          VMware.VimAutomation.Storage
VMware.PowerCLI                VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView VMware.VimAutomation.StorageUtility
VMware.Vim                     VMware.VimAutomation.License      VMware.VimAutomation.Vds
VMware.VimAutomation.Cis.Core VMware.VimAutomation.Nsxt         VMware.VimAutomation.Vmc
VMware.VimAutomation.Cloud     VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk          VMware.VimAutomation.vROps
VMware.VimAutomation.Common    VMware.VimAutomation.Security     VMware.VumAutomation

(before this only VMware.PowerCLI and a few others were there.)

I ran it again and came up with this:

Oct 20 23:47:54 esxi-mgmt systemd[1]: Started "ESXI Snapshot management".
Oct 20 23:47:54 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStart:PowershellCons
Oct 20 23:47:54 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:7:80) [NamedPipeIPC_ServerListenerStarted:NamedPipe
Oct 20 23:47:54 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:1:80) [Perftrack_ConsoleStartupStop:PowershellConso
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Util10.Set
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At /usr/local/share/powershell/Modules/VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk/
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + if ([VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Util10.SettingsManager]::Part
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : OperationStopped: (:) [], TypeInitiali
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException
Oct 20 23:47:55 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Import-Module : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.S
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:3 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Import-Module -Name 'VMware.PowerCLI'
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : OperationStopped: (:) [Import-Module],
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,Mic
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Provider_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.Wa
Fully Qualified Error ID = InitializeDefaultDrivesExceptio

Provider name = VimInventory


Context:
        Severity = Warning
        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 43
        Command Name =
                                                        Command Type =
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 215
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Provider_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.Wa
Fully Qualified Error ID = InitializeDefaultDrivesExceptio

Provider name = VimInventory


Context:
        Severity = Warning
                                                        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 43
        Command Name =
                                                        Command Type =
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 216
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Provider_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.Wa
Fully Qualified Error ID = InitializeDefaultDrivesExceptio

Provider name = VimDatastore

Context:
                                                        Severity = Warning
        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
                                                        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 43
                                                        Command Name =
        Command Type =
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 217
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
                                                        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Provider_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.Wa
Fully Qualified Error ID = InitializeDefaultDrivesExceptio

                                                Provider name = VimDatastore

Context:
        Severity = Warning
        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
                                                        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 43
                                                        Command Name =
        Command Type =
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 218
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
                                                        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Command_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.War
Fully Qualified Error ID = System.TypeInitializationExcept

Context:
        Severity = Warning
                                                        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 1
        Command Name = Connect-VIServer
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 222
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell


User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Connect-VIServer : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomatio
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:4 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Connect-VIServer -Server 9.3.254.14 -User root -Password pinkz
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Connect-VIServer],
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMw
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: New-Snapshot : Cannot process argument transformation on paramet
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:6 char:18
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + New-Snapshot -VM pkgs-mirror -Name "-snapshot-$d
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: +                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-Snapshot], Param
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentTransformationError,V
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt powershell[6797]: (6.2.3:9:80) [Command_Health:ExecutePipeline.Exception.War
Fully Qualified Error ID = System.TypeInitializationExcept


Context:
        Severity = Warning
        Host Name = ConsoleHost
        Host Version = 6.2.3
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
                                                        Pipeline ID = 1
        Command Name = Get-VM
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 263
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
                                                        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Get-VM : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Inte
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:7 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Get-VM pkgs-mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-VM], TypeInitia
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMw
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
lines 639-661/661 (END)
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 1
        Command Name = Get-VM
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 263
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Get-VM : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Inte
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:7 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Get-VM pkgs-mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-VM], TypeInitia
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMw
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
~
lines 639-661/661 (END)

        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pwsh.dll /home/user/scripts/mirror/-snapshots
                                                        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 1
                                                        Command Name = Get-VM
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 263
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
                                                        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Get-VM : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Interop.V1.CoreServiceFactory' threw an exception.
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:7 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Get-VM pkgs-mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-VM], TypeInitializationException
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Commands.GetVM
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
~
lines 639-661/661 (END)
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pwsh.dll /home/user/scripts/mirror/-snapshots
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 1
        Command Name = Get-VM
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
                                                        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 263
        User = esxi-mgmt\root
                                                        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

                                                User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Get-VM : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Interop.V1.CoreServiceFactory' threw an exception.
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:7 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Get-VM pkgs-mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-VM], TypeInitializationException
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Commands.GetVM
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:
~
lines 639-661/661 (END)
        Host ID = 30ac0891-3fbd-48b9-91e6-547a3fae12ff
        Host Application = /opt/microsoft/powershell/6/pws
        Engine Version = 6.2.3
        Runspace ID = 70caa35c-dcb5-4277-9705-93215de3db06
        Pipeline ID = 1
        Command Name = Get-VM
        Command Type = Cmdlet
        Script Name =
        Command Path =
        Sequence Number = 263
                                                        User = esxi-mgmt\root
        Connected User =
        Shell ID = Microsoft.PowerShell

User Data:
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: Get-VM : The type initializer for 'VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Inte
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: At line:7 char:1
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + Get-VM pkgs-mirror | Get-Snapshot |
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-VM], TypeInitia
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]: + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeInitializationException,VMw
Oct 20 23:47:56 esxi-mgmt pwsh[6797]:

I'm kind of confused as to whats happening but it seems like when its run under the script via systemctl or cron it is attempting to execute via root and there seems to be a huge mismatch of module locations between a local user and the root user.

MikeAW2010 · ‎10-20-2019

I think I finally fixed it, after realizing the path discrepancies between the local user and root when executing powershell, I decided to use a non sudo crontab -e - so basically just a crontab -e instead of sudo crontab -e as to keep pathing all under the local user and it executed and created the snapshot as intended.

Thanks for your help all!

All