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[Darryl201110141]

We have an multi datacenter environment with linked vCenters.  I'm trying to build a PowerCLI script to create a csv report listing all VMs with PowerState, ToolsVersion and ToolsStatus.

I've made it that far (by digging through these forums 😀 ), but I also want to include Datacenter and Cluster for the VMs so the report can be sorted/filtered in a spreadsheet by those values.  I'm a PowerCLI noob so I'm getting a bit lost.

Here's what I have so far... the script does a connect-viserver to each of the vCenters and then runs this and pipes it to Export-CSV:

Get-VM | % { get-view $_.id } | select name, @{Name="PowerState"; Expression={$_.Runtime.PowerState}}, @{Name=“ToolsVersion”; Expression={$_.config.tools.toolsversion}}, @{ Name=“ToolStatus”; Expression={$_.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus}}

Any help in getting the datacenter and cluster info in there would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Darryl

[LucD]

Instead of getting the Datacenter and Cluster from the VM, I would suggest looping through Datacenters and Clusters.
With the SearchRoot parameter you can restrict where Get-View looks for objects.

Get-View -ViewType Datacenter -PipelineVariable dc |
ForEach-Object -Process {
    Get-View -ViewType ClusterComputeResource -SearchRoot $dc.MoRef -PipelineVariable cluster |
    ForEach-Object -Process {
        Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -SearchRoot $cluster.MoRef |
        select Name, 
            @{Name="PowerState"; Expression={$_.Runtime.PowerState}}, 
            @{Name=“ToolsVersion”; Expression={$_.config.tools.toolsversion}}, 
            @{ Name=“ToolStatus”; Expression={$_.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus}},
            @{N='Datacenter';E={$dc.Name}},
            @{N='Cluster';E={$cluster.Name}}
    }
}

[Darryl201110141]

Nice!  So then, if I just add a pipe to Export-csv to the end like so, I should be good to go right?

Get-View -ViewType Datacenter -PipelineVariable dc |
ForEach-Object -Process {
    Get-View -ViewType ClusterComputeResource -SearchRoot $dc.MoRef -PipelineVariable cluster |
    ForEach-Object -Process {
        Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -SearchRoot $cluster.MoRef |
        select Name, 
            @{Name="PowerState"; Expression={$_.Runtime.PowerState}}, 
            @{Name=“ToolsVersion”; Expression={$_.config.tools.toolsversion}}, 
            @{ Name=“ToolStatus”; Expression={$_.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus}},
            @{N='Datacenter';E={$dc.Name}},
            @{N='Cluster';E={$cluster.Name}}
    }
} |
Export-Csv -Path "E:\VMware\Reporting\VMTools_$((Get-Date).ToString('dd-MMM-yyyy')).csv"

[LucD]

Correct

[Darryl201110141]

Something went wrong.  The output lists many VMs in the wrong datacenter, ie: VM1 in DatacenterA - Cluster1 is showing as VM1 in DatacenterB - Cluster1.  Seems like some data got mixed up in the pipelining.

[LucD]

I have no idea how this could happen.
The SearchRoot parameter normally limits the search, and via the PipelineVariable you should see the correct Datacenter and Cluster.

[wesley_yalipu]

Also, I would recommend using the excellent module "ImportExcel" to quickly format your results.
https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/ImportExcel

Replace "export-csv ...." with "Export-Excel -AutoSize -TableStyle Medium10 -AutoFilter -FreezeTopRow -Show -WorksheetName 'My Report'" for example.

[Darryl201110141]

It is strange, there is definitely something wrong with the way the nested ForEach loops are saving the results.

[LucD]

Can you try this alternative, without the Pipelinevariable.

Get-View -ViewType Datacenter |
ForEach-Object -Process {
    $dc = $_
    Get-View -ViewType ClusterComputeResource -SearchRoot $dc.MoRef |
    ForEach-Object -Process {
        $cluster = $_
        Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -SearchRoot $cluster.MoRef |
        select Name, 
            @{Name="PowerState"; Expression={$_.Runtime.PowerState}}, 
            @{Name=“ToolsVersion”; Expression={$_.config.tools.toolsversion}}, 
            @{ Name=“ToolStatus”; Expression={$_.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus}},
            @{N='Datacenter';E={$dc.Name}},
            @{N='Cluster';E={$cluster.Name}}
    }
}

[Darryl201110141]

Same thing.  It looks like it's getting the clusters right but mixing up some of the datacenters.

[LucD]

Sorry, works for me.
I have no clue why it doesn't work for you.

[Darryl201110141]

No problem, it doesn't make sense to me either.  It should work.

I'll have to do some more experimenting or find another alternate method.

Thanks,
Darryl

[LucD]

One more thing you could check, disconnect from all vCenters.
And then connect to only 1 vCenter

[Darryl201110141]

That just returns the VMs under the vCenter I'm connected to, so only the one datacenter.

[LucD · Accepted solution]

Ok, then try the following when you are connected to all your vCenters.

$global:defaultVIServers |
ForEach-Object -Process {
    $vc = $_
    Get-View -ViewType Datacenter -Server $vc |
    ForEach-Object -Process {
        $dc = $_
        Get-View -ViewType ClusterComputeResource -SearchRoot $dc.MoRef -Server $vc |
        ForEach-Object -Process {
            $cluster = $_
            Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -SearchRoot $cluster.MoRef -Server $vc |
            select Name, 
                @{Name = "PowerState"; Expression = { $_.Runtime.PowerState } }, 
                @{Name = “ToolsVersion”; Expression = { $_.config.tools.toolsversion } }, 
                @{ Name = “ToolStatus”; Expression = { $_.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus } },
                @{N = 'Datacenter'; E = { $dc.Name } },
                @{N = 'Cluster'; E = { $cluster.Name } }
        }
    }
}

[Darryl201110141]

I think we have a winner!!  Did a few spot checks of the results and all looks to be in the right place.

Thanks so much for the help!

Regards,
Darryl

[LucD]

The issue might have been related to your vCenters being in linked-mode.