Get-Datastore can't handle wildcards very well

[halr9000]

Check this out. Note that I don't have a VMhost named bob.

PS > Get-Datastore -VMHost bob
Get-Datastore : 8/2/2008 5:32:52 PM    Get-Datastore        Could not find VMHost with name 'bob'.
At line:1 char:14
+ Get-Datastore <<<<  -VMHost bob
Get-Datastore : Could not find all of the objects specified by name.
At line:1 char:14
+ Get-Datastore <<<<  -VMHost bob
PS > Get-Datastore -VMHost bob*

Name                               FreeSpaceMB      CapacityMB
----                               -----------      ----------
SCSI_ESX1_VOL1                           11609           26880
SCSI_ESX2_VOL1                            2552           26880
SCSI_ESX1_VOL2                           69327           69888
ISCSI_OPENFILER                           3436            3840

I tested this with the VM parameter and also got the same "liberal interpretation" of the wildcard. Conversely, "get-vm -name foo*" does not list all of my VMs (as I would expect).

Please fix this...it's the sort of thing that is going to really mess up a script.

Author of the upcoming book: Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell

Co-Host, PowerScripting Podcast (http://powerscripting.net)

[halr9000]

I'm finding also that other filters which fail will result in the returning of every datastore. For example, take this invalid search on Entity:

PS > Get-Datastore -Entity ( Get-VM fudgeapp01 | Get-Snapshot )
WARNING: 'Entity' parameter only accepts objects of type VirtualMachine, VMHost, and
Datacenter. Skipping a parameter of type 'SnapshotImpl'.)
WARNING: 'Entity' parameter only accepts objects of type VirtualMachine, VMHost, and
Datacenter. Skipping a parameter of type 'SnapshotImpl'.)

Name                               FreeSpaceMB      CapacityMB
----                               -----------      ----------
SCSI_ESX1_VOL1                           11609           26880
SCSI_ESX2_VOL1                            2552           26880
SCSI_ESX1_VOL2                           69327           69888
ISCSI_OPENFILER                           3436            3840

P.S. Seems to me the entity param is 100% redundant, as there are params for each of the types mentioned in the warning message. Is that the case (and it will be removed in a future build), or am I missing something?

Author of the upcoming book: Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell

Co-Host, PowerScripting Podcast (http://powerscripting.net)

[admin]

Hi Hal,

The first example '

PS > Get-Datastore -VMHost bob

' fails because your host name is probably hal.mydomain.com. The second example passes because bob* will match the whole name. To check if this is correct just run 'Get-VMHost bob'

As for your second example 'Get-Datastore -Entity ( Get-VM fudgeapp01 | Get-Snapshot )' will get the datastore where the VM fudgeapp01 is. The Warning you see is because snapshot is not a valid entity object for Get-Datastore. That is the reason you get Warning and result.

Regards,

Georgi Rusev

[hugopeeters]

I think what Hal means is this:

1. Instead of returning no datastores because there is no VMHost that matches bob*, the cmdlet returns ALL datastores (as if the filter was *).

2. He knows the argument is invalid. But áfter getting back an error, the cmdlet returns ALL datastores (as if no argument was supplied at all).

This is very risky behaviour for a cmdlet!

[admin · Accepted solution]

Thank you for clarifying this to me Hugo. I confirmin this case this is a bug that will be fixed in future release. Will log it into database

Thank you Hal and Hugo for pointing that.

[admin]

For now you can workarround this problem if you use this notation:

get-vmhost bob* | Get-datastore

[halr9000]

Thanks Hugo for elaborating and thanks Georgi for tracking the bug.

Author of the upcoming book: Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell

Co-Host, PowerScripting Podcast (http://powerscripting.net)