Powercli NSX module not loading expression for a group?

[s7464dghd]

I am trying to modify objects in NSXT using the newer VMware.Sdk.Nsx.Policy from Powercli. I am on v13 and when loading a group either via Invoke-ListGroupForDomain or Invoke-ReadGroupForDomain, the Expression is not fully shown/pulled down and thus I can't actually modify group properties and push it back up. For example, below is the condition seen from the REST API:

{
    "expression": [
        {
            "member_type": "VirtualMachine",
            "key": "ComputerName",
            "operator": "STARTSWITH",
            "value": "adtest1",
            "resource_type": "Condition",
            "id": "steven-test-2",
            "path": "/infra/domains/default/groups/test-steven/condition-expressions/steven-test-2",
            "relative_path": "steven-test-2",
            "parent_path": "/infra/domains/default/groups/test-steven",
            "marked_for_delete": false,
            "overridden": false,
            "_protection": "NOT_PROTECTED"
        }
    ],
    "extended_expression": [],
    "reference": false,

Now., using the Powershell cmdlets, the expression is only partially loaded it seems:

$g = Invoke-ReadGroupForDomain -DomainId default -GroupId "test-steven"
$g


GroupType          :
State              :
Expression         : {steven-test-2}
ExtendedExpression : {}
Reference          : False
Children           :
MarkedForDelete    : False
Overridden         : False
ParentPath         : /infra/domains/default
Path               : /infra/domains/default/groups/test-steven
RealizationId      :
RelativePath       : test-steven
UniqueId           : 0c1301c2-d842-4bc6-bc05-17342591e035
CreateTime         : 1675273711221
CreateUser         : SANITIZED
LastModifiedTime   : 1675281827900
LastModifiedUser   : SANITIZED
Protection         : NOT_PROTECTED
SystemOwned        : False
Description        :
DisplayName        : test-steven3
Id                 : test-steven
ResourceType       : Group
Tags               : {VMware.Bindings.Nsx.Policy.Model.Tag}
Revision           : 4
Links              :
Schema             :
Self               :

$g.Expression

ResourceType     : Condition
Children         :
MarkedForDelete  : False
Overridden       : False
ParentPath       : /infra/domains/default/groups/test-steven
Path             : /infra/domains/default/groups/test-steven/condition-expressions/steven-test-2
RealizationId    :
RelativePath     : steven-test-2
UniqueId         :
CreateTime       : 0
CreateUser       :
LastModifiedTime : 0
LastModifiedUser :
Protection       : NOT_PROTECTED
SystemOwned      : False
Description      :
DisplayName      :
Id               : steven-test-2
Tags             :
Revision         : 0
Links            :
Schema           :

Any ideas what's going on? This is making editing groups kind of worthless for this project.

[LucD]

Does using the -IncludedFields parameter on the Invoke-ListGroupForDomain cmdlet make any difference?

Instead of using these from a Swagger file generated cmdlets you could try calling the REST API directly with for example Invoke-RestMethod.
See if that makes a difference.
At least you will know if it is a cmdlet issue or an API issue.

[s7464dghd]

I did the invoke-rest method and it correctly retrieves expression, just like postman did. Definitely a cmdlet/powershell specific issue.

[LucD]

Then an SR might be the best way to proceed (although it will not solve your immediate problem).

If GSS claims PowerCLI is not supported without a Developer Support contract, point them to Online Documentation - PowerCLI 12.3.0 User’s Guide - VMware {code}

[s7464dghd]

Appreciate the quick reply and will do that.

As a sidenote, even their doc generation is a bit broken...if you notice the latest docs have random instances of "null" before the command names 🙂

[LucD]

Yes, that caused me a serious headache yesterday evening 😂

Perhaps something the UX Team is cooking up.

[s7464dghd]

So contacted support and VMWare doesn't seem to actually care that their PowerCLI functions don't work.

the rep said I needed to submit a ticket against SDK and not NSX (and couldn't automatically do that for me either 😒) and VMWARE SDK isn't an option in the product list. I sent them the link you sent and they mentioned that didnt apply to 13.

So, whatever...

[LucD]

That is (again) the same BS you get from GSS.
Did you point the GSS person to the document I referred to earlier?

[s7464dghd]

Yeah they said that’s for 12.6 and they’re on v13 now. And those details seem to be gone from the v13 page. 

[knikolov · Accepted solution]

What GSS have told you is not true. Here is the PowerCLI support information from the current PowerCLI user guide: https://developer.vmware.com/docs/15315//GUID-0F835722-E667-4177-A8EF-51AB15FA837E.html. Can you please PM me the GSS rep details and the SR number, so that I can update them on the PowerCLI support policy?

As far as the issue itself is concerned this is a known issue and is due to the fact that NSX supports different expression types, but at the API level only the base type is defined as a return type. As a result PowerCLI tries to deserialize the information in this base type and is losing some of the properties. We're still considering how to fix this polymorphism issue.