VMware Cloud Community
sachink0312
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

script to check a setting in a vmx file for specific entry

HI Friends,

I am wondering if it is possible to check the specific entry in VMX file through powercli script. Actually i wanted to search set of VMs which has "scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true" in VMX file. Can you guys please help me.

Sachin
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Sure, try something like this

$vmName = "VM*"
$tgtFolder = "C:\Temp\VMX\"
$tgtString = 'scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true"'

Get-VM -Name $vmName | %{
 
$dsName,$vmxPath = $_.ExtensionData.Config.Files.VmPathName.Split()
 
$dsName = $dsName.Trim('[]')
 
$ds = Get-Datastore -Name $dsName
 
New-PSDrive -Location $ds -Name DS -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root "\" | Out-Null
 
Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder
 
Remove-PSDrive -Name DS -Confirm:$false
}

Get-ChildItem -Path $tgtFolder -Filter "*.vmx" |
Where {Get-Content -Path $_.FullName | Select-String -Pattern $tgtString} |
Select Name

It will display the name of each VMX file in which the string 'scsi0:1.writeThrough="True"'  is found.


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

View solution in original post

29 Replies
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

You can always check the content of a VMX file by copying it to local storage on your client with the Copy-DatastoreItem cmdlet.

Once you have the file on local storage, use Get-Content to "read" the content.


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

sachink0312
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

All those VMs are running, is it possible to copy vmx file even VM is running? there are more than 100 VMs that I need to check for the scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true" entry. Is it possible to check this entry in vmx file using script like we check for advance config entry of VM?

Sachin
Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Yes, you can copy the VMX file while the VM is running.

With a script it will not matter if you do it for 1 or 100 VMs.


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

sachink0312
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Issue is, because of scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true" in vmx file for 2 HDD, whenever VM migrated to ESXi 5.1 2nd HDD disappear within OS and we have to migrate it back to ESXi 4.1 to resolve the issue. after investigation we found that those VMs were deployed using the BMC orchestrator  automation and 2 HDD was added at the time of VM deployment. Now if we remove and re-add the 2nd HDD above entry goes away from vmx file and then VM works fine on ESXi 5.1.

Now Issue is I need to find out the VMs those have scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true" entry in VMX file so that we can remove this entry from vmx file and upgrade the HOSTS to ESXi 5.1. Our upgrade project is stuck because of this issue.

Sachin
Reply
0 Kudos
sachink0312
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Thanks Luc for the help... could you please show me how to use Copy-DatastoreItem to get the VMX files

Sachin
Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Sure, try something like this

$vmName = "VM*"
$tgtFolder = "C:\Temp\VMX\"
$tgtString = 'scsi0:1.writeThrough = "true"'

Get-VM -Name $vmName | %{
 
$dsName,$vmxPath = $_.ExtensionData.Config.Files.VmPathName.Split()
 
$dsName = $dsName.Trim('[]')
 
$ds = Get-Datastore -Name $dsName
 
New-PSDrive -Location $ds -Name DS -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root "\" | Out-Null
 
Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder
 
Remove-PSDrive -Name DS -Confirm:$false
}

Get-ChildItem -Path $tgtFolder -Filter "*.vmx" |
Where {Get-Content -Path $_.FullName | Select-String -Pattern $tgtString} |
Select Name

It will display the name of each VMX file in which the string 'scsi0:1.writeThrough="True"'  is found.


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

sachink0312
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Thanks a lot Luc....it worked perfectly... Thanks a lot... Smiley Happy

Sachin
Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

I know this is a really old post but hopefully my reply will alert someone. Also, fair warning, I'm very bad with PowerCLI/Powershell/Scripting in general.

I'm trying to do the same thing as OP did, but with a different target string and across my entire vSphere environment. I'm not sure if I'm just doing something wrong or if the versions of PowerCLI/PowerShell are different enough to where some parameters/variables/cmdlets are different from the original posting.

The specific error(s) I'm running into are during the 'Copy-DatastoreItem' and 'Get-ChildItem' pieces, and both are presenting errors that my path to my datastore doesn't exist. It seems to be defaulting to a local mapped drive on my workstation, and then looking for the datastore there.

I modified the original script to target only a single VM for testing reasons, as well as a target folder of a VSAN datastore where the VM in question currently resides.

$vmName = "VM"

$tgtFolder = "datastore"

$tgtString = 'sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"'

In the following error message, "X:\" is the mapped drive on my workstation.

Copy-DatastoreItem : The specified destination folder 'X:\datastore' does not exists. Use the Force parameter to force

operation.

At line:10 char:3

+   Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

+   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Copy-DatastoreItem], PathException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Provider.Exceptions.PathException,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdl

   ets.Commands.CopyDatastoreItem

Get-ChildItem : Cannot find path 'X:\d_tst_cl1_vsan\VM' because it does not exist.

At line:14 char:1

+ Get-ChildItem -Path $tgtFolder -Filter "*.vmx" |

+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (X:\datastore\VM:String) [Get-ChildItem], ItemNotFoundException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand

Hopefully my explanation isn't too confusing. Thanks in advance for any help!

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

The problem seems to be with what you have in $tgtFolder.
Is that a local, full path?
In other words something like <Drive-letter>:\<FolderName>

In that location the script will offload the VMX files.

The 2nd error is probably a result of the 1st error.

Since the files was not copied, there is nothing there.

You would need to provide a bit more information on the location where you want to store the VMX files.
And also on the DisplayName of the VM you are testing with.
Easiest would be to provide the full script as you are using it (including your changes)


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

Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

I realize my first mistake. I thought that $tgtFolder would be the datastore that the VM(s) resided on.

Now that I have corrected that, i'm getting two different errors that you see below.

Copy-DatastoreItem : 11/14/2019 2:32:12 PM VimDatastore Download of file

'https://phdvc01/folder%2fdpacsorat01%2fdpacsorat01.vmx?dcPath=DBD+DC&dsName=dxi0827_tst_cl2_lun017' failed. Error message: The

remote server returned an error: (404) Not Found.

At line:10 char:3

+   Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

+   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Copy-DatastoreItem], VimException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Client20_StorageServiceImpl_DownloadFile_DownloadFailed,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Commands.C

   opyDatastoreItem

Copy-DatastoreItem : Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

At line:10 char:3

+   Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

+   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Copy-DatastoreItem], NullReferenceException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.NullReferenceException,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Commands.CopyDatastoreItem

Full script is below. All I did was change $tgtFolder, $tgtString, and I specified a single VM as to not run it against the entire environment (yet)

$vmName = "dpacsorat02"

$tgtFolder = "D:\TEMP\VMX\"

$tgtString = 'sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"'

Get-VM -Name $vmName | %{

  $dsName,$vmxPath = $_.ExtensionData.Config.Files.VmPathName.Split()

  $dsName = $dsName.Trim('[]')

  $ds = Get-Datastore -Name $dsName

  New-PSDrive -Location $ds -Name DS -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root "\" | Out-Null

  Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

  Remove-PSDrive -Name DS -Confirm:$false

}

Get-ChildItem -Path $tgtFolder -Filter "*.vmx" |

Where {Get-Content -Path $_.FullName | Select-String -Pattern $tgtString} |

Select Name

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Do you actually have a '+' character in your datacentername, as the URI in the 1st error message seems to say?


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

Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

No, but there is a space in the name.

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Ok, that is probably where the '+' is coming from.


You could have a look in the vpxd log to check if there any more clues why the Copy-DatastoreItem fails.


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

Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

This particular VM is on a VSAN datastore. Not sure if that would make a difference or not.

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Just tested this with a VM on a VSAN datastore, works as well for me.

Does the script work for you when you test with a VM that is not on a VSAN datastore?


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

Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Nope. Same error. vpxd.log shows the following. Looking into this now.

2019-11-15T15:50:04.283Z info vpxd[04810] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=req=00007f84182d4e30-af] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR session[52fa64f6-1fdf-c947-9c69-6f5f997c1070]521aafb6-a7a4-bc0f-232e-6c7ac778cc09 -- datastoreBrowser-datastore-1525140 -- vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.search: vim.fault.FileNotFound:

--> Result:

--> (vim.fault.FileNotFound) {

-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

-->    faultMessage = <unset>,

-->    file = "[dxi0827_prd_cl1_lun035]2fdpacsdicmp01"

-->    msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<cs p:00007f840c101220, TCP:dprd01esx08.txhealth.org:443>]: searchDatastore

--> "

--> }

--> Args:

-->

--> Arg datastorePath:

--> "[dxi0827_prd_cl1_lun035]2fdpacsdicmp01"

--> Arg searchSpec:

--> (vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.SearchSpec) {

-->    query = (vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.Query) [

-->       (vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.FolderQuery) {

-->       },

-->       (vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.Query) {

-->       }

-->    ],

-->    details = (vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.FileInfo.Details) {

-->       fileType = true,

-->       fileSize = false,

-->       modification = false,

-->       fileOwner = false

-->    },

-->    searchCaseInsensitive = <unset>,

-->    matchPattern = (string) [

-->       "dpacsdicmp01\.vmx"

-->    ],

-->    sortFoldersFirst = <unset>

--> }

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

This is strange (and I didn't expect it in the vpxd log).

-->    matchPattern = (string) [

-->       "dpacsdicmp01\.vmx"

-->    ],

It looks as if you are doing the Get-ChildItem on the datastore.
That should be on the folder where the VMX was downloaded.

Can you check if the following downloads the VMX file?

$vmName = "pacsdicmp01"

$tgtFolder = "C:\Temp\VMX\"


Get-VM -Name $vmName | %{

  $dsName,$vmxPath = $_.ExtensionData.Config.Files.VmPathName.Split()

  $dsName = $dsName.Trim('[]')

  $ds = Get-Datastore -Name $dsName

  New-PSDrive -Location $ds -Name DS -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root "\" | Out-Null

  Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

  Remove-PSDrive -Name DS -Confirm:$false

}


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

Reply
0 Kudos
life4dummies
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

It's something to do with the "%2f" getting added in there. Powershell error:

Copy-DatastoreItem : 11/15/2019 10:00:25 AM VimDatastore Download of file

'https://phdvc01/folder%2fdpacsdicmp01%2fdpacsdicmp01.vmx?dcPath=DBD+DC&dsName=dxi0827_prd_cl1_lun035' failed. Error message: The remote server

returned an error: (404) Not Found.

At D:\Scripts\SearchVMX.ps1:10 char:3

+   Copy-DatastoreItem -Item "DS:$vmxPath" -Destination $tgtFolder

+   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Copy-DatastoreItem], VimException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Client20_StorageServiceImpl_DownloadFile_DownloadFailed,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Cmdlets.Commands.CopyDatastoreItem

vpxd.log message:

2019-11-15T15:50:04.283Z info vpxd[04810] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=req=00007f84182d4e30-af] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR session[52fa64f6-1fdf-c947-9c69-6f5f997c1070]521aafb6-a7a4-bc0f-232e-6c7ac778cc09 -- datastoreBrowser-datastore-1525140 -- vim.host.DatastoreBrowser.search: vim.fault.FileNotFound:

--> Result:

--> (vim.fault.FileNotFound) {

-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

-->    faultMessage = <unset>,

-->    file = "[dxi0827_prd_cl1_lun035]2fdpacsdicmp01"

-->    msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<cs p:00007f840c101220, TCP:dprd01esx08.txhealth.org:443>]: searchDatastore

--> "

--> }

--> Args:

Reply
0 Kudos
LucD
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

I don't think so.
The 0x2F is just a way to encode the '/' character in the URI


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

Reply
0 Kudos