Automating configuration of VUM via PowerCLI / PowerShell? Impossible?

[stephenrhowell]

The original VUM cmdlets provided the commands "get-vumconfig" and "set-vumconfig", allowing one to register the VUM plugin and then configure (mostly) it from a script.

Can this be done? I have looked for registry entries on the vCenter (VUM is installed on a seperate server) but I can't locate any hint of the plugin config there. It's infuriating!  How can one, for example, remotely control the location of UMDS servers and enable or disable VUM patch downloads via PowerShell?

I really hope someone can shed some light on this because after 3+ days of searching I have precisely nothing.

Many thanks to whomever can help.

Stephen

[LucD]

Those cmdlets were there in the VUM PowerCLI 1.0. But they do not exist anymore in VUM PowerCLI 4.x or 5.0.

The reason is that the Update Manager concept has changed as well in the latest vSphere.

Depending if you are on vSPhere 4.x or 5.x you can download VUM PowerCLI 4 or 5.

The basic concept is quite simple; you create and assign baselines, scan and remediate.

Just like you do in the vSphere client.

Configuring VUM with cmdlets, like server(s) or repositories, is currently not available through VUM cmdlets I'm afraid.

You can only use the Get-Patch cmdlet to trigger a check and eventual download of patches.

[stephenrhowell]

Is it possible to reach these parameters via WMI calls into the Windows registry on the VUM server?  I can't believe that such a large component is closed to automation like this.

[LucD]

On the server where you installed Update Manager, there is a file called vci-integrity.xml in the %ProgramFiles(86)%\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager folder.

In that file you will find a number of the VUM settings.

I'm not aware of any WMI interface to get at the VUM settings.

[stephenrhowell]

Yeah, found that file by stumbling around myself.  It appears to hold everything but the UMDS server location and I'm guessing that changes made to the VUM service aren't instantly reflected there.  Better than nothing but it looks like we will have to wait for 5.1 to see if they expose a proper API for VUM.

Thanks for the pointers Luc.