This article is about a script for OVA deployment from ESXi  local data store. This idea came to my mind after working on one project where i had to deploy OVAs on around 250 ESXi clusters.

Here i used VMware OVFTool and Selenium webdriver. You can Download  both software from the links mentioned below. Import-Vapp command from powercli doesn’t support HTTPS source for OVA deployment from ESXi local data store. You can check its help section for more information.

Import-v App script can be found here OVA Deployment via PowerCLI

OVFTOOL Download

Selenium

Explanation Line by Line-

1 – Path to OVFtool exe.

3-5 –  I have added Selenium binary or DLL using Add-type method.

7 – Path to chrome driver to open ESXi local data store webpage and fetch the HTTPS link

8 -9  – We would need ESXi root credentials here

11- Enter the v Center details

13 – Location of the OVA which needs to be uploaded to local data store

15 – Folder which we will create inside local data store to store OVA

17-30 – Code to upload OVA on local data store of first ESXi inside Cluster

30 -36 – v Switch and port group information to create VMKernel on ESXi hosts.

42-52 – Collecting IP setting for the OVAs

54 – 60 – Collect Names for the OVAs

63 – 68 – Port group and local data store information.

72-83 –  Use of Selenium and Chrome driver to access ESXi local datastore and fetch HTTPS source path

86 – 115 –  Commands to deploy OVA on ESXi hosts with OVFTOOL and VMKernel creation commands.

$ovftool =  "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware OVF Tool\ovftool.exe"

Add-Type -Path 'C:\Users\TKMAMIL\Desktop\OVFTOOL\Vipal\selenium-dotnet-3.14.0\dist\WebDriver.dll'
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Users\TKMAMIL\Desktop\OVFTOOL\Vipal\selenium-dotnet-3.14.0\dist\WebDriver.Support.dll'
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Users\TKMAMIL\Desktop\OVFTOOL\Vipal\selenium-dotnet-3.14.0\dist\Selenium.WebDriverBackedSelenium.dll'

$chromedriver =  'C:\Users\vipal\Desktop\user\selenium-dotnet-3.14.0\dist\chromedriver.exe'
$esxpassword = Read-Host -Prompt 'Enter password'

$users = "root"
Connect-VIServer vcenter -User username -Password password

$clusters = Get-Cluster '0673'

$filername = "C:\Users\TKMAMIL\Desktop\RP_for_VMs_5.1.SP1.P5_Installation_Kit_md5_1c01d803b1e6917d3f5e657057955c46\RP_for_VMs_5.1.SP1.P5_Installation_Kit_md5_\EMC_RecoverPoint_vRPA-RP4VMs_rel5.1.SP1.P5_d.246_md5_cf06f6f4b7d0166dc9add0d2926eaccc.ova"

$tgt = 'RP4VM'

foreach ($clus in (Get-Cluster $clusters| sort Name)){

######### Upload OVA to local datastore#######################

$ds = Get-Cluster $clus | Get-VMHost | sort Name | select -First 1 | Get-Datastore | where {$_.name -like "*local*"}

New-PSDrive -Location $ds -Name vg -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root "\" > $null

$position = 0

if(!(Test-Path -Path "vg:/$($tgt)")){

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "vg:/$($tgt)" > $null
}

$position ++ 

Write-Progress -Activity "Copying OVA to $ds" -Status "Copying File $filername" -PercentComplete (($position/$filername.count)*100)
 
Copy-DatastoreItem -Item $filername -Destination "vs:/$($tgt)" 

Remove-PSDrive -Name vg -Confirm:$false 
 #################################################################3

 $vswitch = 'vSwitch5'

$pg = 'RP4VM_VMKernel'
$port = 'vRPA_Data'
$subnet = 'subnet'
$subnetprefix = 'x.x.x'
$ipperserver = 1
$firstip = 40
#################################################

#########################################


## collect IP information #########
$IPS = @()
$ucsip = Get-Cluster $clus | Get-VMHost | select -First 1 | Get-VMHostNetwork | select DnsAddress

$split = $ucsip.dnsaddress

$IPbyte = $split[0].Split(".")
$newucsip = ($IPByte[0]+"."+$IPByte[1]+"."+$IPByte[2])

$startip = "103"
$endip = "104"
$gateway = "254"

$netmask = "subnet"

$ucsipaddress = "$newucsip.$($startip+$_)"
$ucsipaddress1 = "$newucsip.$($endip+$_)"
$ucsgateway = "$newucsip.$($gateway+$_)"

$IPS += $ucsipaddress
$IPS += $ucsipaddress1

$internet = 0
#########################################

###########Collect VM name##################

#$VMNAME = @()

#$vm = "Prod$($clus)_vRPA1"
#$vm1 = "Prod$($clus)_vRPA2"

#$VMNAME += $vm
#$VMNAME += $vm1

$i = 1

#################################


########## Select PortGroup #############

$portgoup = get-cluster $clus | Get-VMHost|select -First 1 | Get-VirtualPortGroup |where {$_.name -like "*VMN*"}

###########################
$esx = Get-cluster $clus|Get-VMHost|sort Name | select -First 1

$localdata = $esx | Get-Datastore | where {$_.name -like "*Local*"}

########collect  Source path#######


$options = New-Object -TypeName "OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome.ChromeOptions"
$options.AcceptInsecureCertificates = $true

$driver = New-Object -TypeName "OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome.ChromeDriver($options, $chromedriver)"

$driver.Url = 'https://' + $users + ':' + $esxpassword + '@' + $esx + '/folder'

sleep -Seconds 5

$driver.FindElementByLinkText('ha-datacenter').click()

sleep -Seconds 5

$driver.FindElementByLinkText($localdata).click()

sleep -Seconds 5

#$driver.FindElementByLinkText('iSCSI').click()


$driver.FindElementByLinkText('RP4VM/').click()

sleep -Seconds 5

$source = $driver.FindElementByXPath('/html/body/table[2]/tbody/tr[4]/td[1]/a')

$link = $source.GetAttribute('href')


###################################
    
foreach ($esxhost in (Get-cluster $clus | Get-VMHost | sort Name )){
$virtual = "Prod$($clus)_vRPA" + $i
$datastore = get-cluster $clus | Get-Datastore | where {$_.name -like "$($clus)0" + $i }
$i ++

$protocol = $IPS[$internet]
$internet ++

#$ucsdatastore = $Data[$datastoreloop]
#$datastoreloop ++

Start-Process $ovftool -ArgumentList --X:logFile=ovftool.log, --X:logLevel=trivia,  --acceptAllEulas,--noSSLVerify,--disableVerification,--allowExtraConfig, --poweron, --deploymentOption=Med+, --datastore=$datastore, --network=$portgoup, --prop:ip=$protocol, --prop:netmask=$netmask, --prop:gateway=$ucsgateway, --name=$virtual, $link, vi://tkmamil:abc12DEFghi@vcenter:443/Stores/$clus/host/$clus -NoNewWindow -Wait -RedirectStandardOutput C:\Users\TKMAM\Desktop\output.txt

##### Create Portgroup for vRPA ##############################

Get-VirtualSwitch -VMHost $esxhost -Name $vswitch | New-VirtualPortGroup -Name $port

Get-VirtualSwitch -VMHost $esxhost -Name $vswitch | New-VirtualPortGroup -Name $pg

###############################################################

0..$($ipperserver-1) | %{

$ipaddress = "$subnetprefix.$($firstip + $_)"
$firstip += $ipperserver
New-VMHostNetworkAdapter -VMHost $esxhost -VirtualSwitch $vswitch -IP $ipaddress -SubnetMask $subnet -PortGroup $pg
}
}
$driver.Close()
$driver.Dispose()
$driver.Quit()
}

Hope you liked the OVA deployment from ESXi local datastore script.  Please change the script based on your requirements and share your thoughts.

Recently i had to run some commands on 250 linux servers in one of my project. So i decided to use plink.exe from windows machine. This section will help you how to use plink to run linux command from windows on multiple server

plink.exe without sudo privilege 

plink.exe -ssh -t -pw <password> -l <user>@<host>  -m <script> <IP Address of host>

syntax –
-m – create filename called “script.txt” or the name you want and place it under folder where plink.exe is located
-pw – password of remote host
-l – user id to login to remote host
ip address of host
-t – it will open pseudo shell

lets say script.txt include,
hostname
pwd
ls /tmp

Above command will show output on your local windows machines cmd.exe or powershell

if the host key was not cached in the registry yet, you would get an interactive prompt saying “Store key in cache? (y/n)” which would not be conducive to a batch script.
And once again, the way around this is to pipe a “y” to stdin, which makes the command:
cmd.exe /c echo y | plink.exe -ssh -t -pw myP4ss -l myuser@trusty1 -m script.txt <IP Address of host?

plink and sudo with password prompt

In the above example we dealt with simple commands that required no input and no privilege escalation with sudo (hostname, pwd).  But many times the commands we want to run in batch processes require sudo, which throws up an interactive prompt for a password.

Sudo password echoed and embedded inside plink script

Make sure you call plink with “-t” so that a tty is setup.  Then sudo to a shell and echo the password into stdin before running the command you want with sudo.

/bin/echo -e "myP4ss\n" | sudo -S /bin/bash
sudo apt-get update

Or you can echo the password directly to the command you want to run as sudo

/bin/echo -e "myP4ss\n" | sudo apt-get update

Run the command on number of hosts using powershell

First you need to create one text file with list of remote server IPS or FQDN (if DNS is configured properly) in the text file and place it under same folder where plink.exe is located

get-content .\linux_Server.txt | foreach {invoke-command -command {& echo y | .\plink.exe $_ -l <username> -pw <password> -m <file with list of command>; write-host -fore “$_ host finished”}}

This command will ssh in to each host under .\linux_Server.txt and execute set of commands defined in <file with list of command>

Hope this helps… feel free to comment with  suggestion,

Recently i came across a situation where i had to create and assign IP to vmkernel portgroup (for vmotion) for 3300 ESX host. So i wrote one basic powercli script to assign IP on each host in ESX Cluster.

============================================================

PowerCLI Script to create VMKernel portgroup and assign IP on each host in cluster 

#  Note – Replace respective name wherever applicable.  Below sample is for one cluster, you can customize for all cluster in vcenter.

$vmhost = get-cluster 0000 | get-vmhost | sort Name

$pg = $vmhost[0] | get-virtualportgroup | where {$_.name -like ‘vSphere*’}

$subnetprefic=’xxxx’     # e.g. ‘192.168.10’
$ipperserver = 1
$startip = 4

foreach ($esx in $vmhost){

0..$($ipperserver-1)|%{
$ipaddress = “$subnetprefix.$($startip + $_)”
$startip += $ipperserver

new-vmhostnetworkadapter -vmhost $esx -virtualswitch $vdswitch -ip $ipaddress -subnet $subnet -portgroup $pg
}
}

Hope this short script helps.. Happy reading!!

Recently i was working on project where i had to deploy RP4VM OVA on more than 400 ESXi hosts. So i decided to write article for  OVA deployment via PowerCLI

Initially i faced a lot of issue like  Deployment was stuck during ‘validation’, i couldn’t run simultaneous deployment in vcenter because of existing vcenter issue etc.

We used naming convention like VxRAIL(DC name)_vRPA1. You can change it if required.

We had to create VMKernel port on esxi hosts for other use, this is also included in last section of the script.

Here is the powercli code which i wrote, explained line by line

1 –  It will load all PowerCLI module if you want to run script from PowerShell

3- Enter the vCenter name and username, password

5 – Please mention path to ova

 7 – Please mention cluster name where you want to deploy OVA

11 – 19 – We used naming convention e.g . VxRail(Clustername)_vRPA1.

You can change as per your need.

23-26 – IP Settings for VMKernel port on ESXi hosts

29-51 – IP setting for OVA

54-81 –  Loop for OVA deployment on ESXi host in cluster

85-99 – Port group and switch info  for VMkernel assignment on ESXi.

Newer version of script available here

& 'C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\PowerCLI\Scripts\Initialize-PowerCLIEnvironment.ps1'

Connect-VIServer vcenter -User username -Password password

$filername = "path to OVA"

$storenumber = 'number / name'

#####################################################

$VMNAME = @()

$vm = "VxRail$($storenumber)_vRPA1"
$vm1 = "VxRail$($storenumber)_vRPA2"

$VMNAME += $vm
$VMNAME += $vm1

$i = 0

######################################################3

$subnet = 'subnet'
$subnetprefix = 'x.x.x'
$ipperserver = 1
$firstip = 40
#################################################

## collect IP information #########
$IPS = @()
$vxrailip = Get-Cluster $storenumber | Get-VM | where {$_.name -like "VxRail*"} | Select Name, @{N="IPAddress";E={@($_.guest.IPAddress[0])}}

$split = $vxrailip.IPAddress

$IPbyte = $split.Split(".")
$newucsip = ($IPByte[0]+"."+$IPByte[1]+"."+$IPByte[2])

$startip = "111"
$endip = "112"
$gateway = "126"

$netmask = "subnet"

$ucsipaddress = "$newucsip.$($startip+$_)"
$ucsipaddress1 = "$newucsip.$($endip+$_)"
$ucsgateway = "$newucsip.$($gateway+$_)"

$IPS += $ucsipaddress
$IPS += $ucsipaddress1

$internet = 0

###########################################################3
foreach ($esxhost in (Get-cluster $storenumber | Get-VMHost | sort Name )) {

$portgoup = $esxhost | Get-VirtualPortGroup |where {$_.name -like "Management*"}

$datastore = $esxhost | get-datastore | where {$_.name -like "VxRail*"}


###########################################

$virtual = $VMNAME[$i]
$i ++

$protocol = $IPS[$internet]
$internet ++

#####################################################

$ovfconfig = Get-OvfConfiguration -Ovf $filername

$ovfconfig.Common.ip.Value = $protocol
$ovfconfig.Common.netmask.Value = $netmask
$ovfconfig.Common.gateway.Value = $ucsgateway
$ovfconfig.DeploymentOption.Value = 'Med'
$ovfconfig.IpAssignment.IpProtocol.Value = 'IPv4'
$ovfconfig.NetworkMapping.RecoverPoint_Management_Network.Value = $portgoup
#################################################

$esxhost | Import-VApp -Source $filername -datastore $datastore -OvfConfiguration $ovfconfig -Name $virtual -DiskStorageFormat Thin -Force | Start-VM  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue


###########################################################
$vswitch = Get-VMHost $esxhost | Get-VDSwitch


$pg = Get-VDswitch -VMHost $esxhost | get-VirtualPortGroup | where {$_.name	-like "vSphere*"}
###############################################################

0..$($ipperserver-1) | %{

$ipaddress = "$subnetprefix.$($firstip + $_)"
$firstip += $ipperserver
New-VMHostNetworkAdapter -VMHost $esxhost -VirtualSwitch $vswitch -IP $ipaddress -SubnetMask $subnet -PortGroup $pg  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}

}
New-DrsRule -KeepTogether:$false -Name vRPAAntiafffinity -Enabled:$true -Cluster $storenumber -VM VxRail$($storenumber)* -Confirm:$false  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Hope this helps… feel free to comment !!

This article provides vCenter upgrade detailed procedure for windows based virtual center.

Please refer Pre-Check section for validation which needs to be done before upgrade

1. Upgrade of vcenter / SSO Server (if external)

Login to SSO with service account if applicable (As mentioned in Pre-  check section)

Note – Reboot the server if its not rebooted since long time.

Go to My Computer –> CD Drive –> R.click on Auto run –> Run as administrator

Accept the license agreement

2. Follow the same procedure for virtual center.

Login to virtual center with service account (if applicable) –> go to cd-rom and run as administrator

Here you might face some issue, please check Issue

3.   Login to Update manager server via RDP with service account

Select “Server” under vSphere update manager server and follow the required steps

Enter the SSO user password

This does not require reboot, but it would be great if you reboot the server.

Hope this helps, happy reading.  Feel free to leave your comment or suggestions.