As a follow on to my previous article on how to deploy HOWTO: Deploy the VMware vSphere 6.0 Platform Services Controlle r, I thought I would share a way to automate the delivery of the vSphere Platform Services Controller using PowerCLI/Powershell.
The main credit for this article goes to the information in the brilliant PowerCLI Reference 2nd Edition (see my review here ) of which my colleague Jonathan Medd ( www.jonathanmedd.net / @JonathanMedd ) was a co-author.
Written by Christopher Lewis on July 3, 2016.
Platform Services Controller PowerCLI PowerShell PSC VMware vSphere
The following instructions will help you deploy a standalone VMware vSphere Platform Service Controller.
Instructions
In the software installer directory, double-click vcsa-setup.html.
Wait for the browser to detect the Client Integration Plug-in and allow the plug-in to run on the browser when prompted.
On the Home page, click Install to start the vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard.
At the End User License Agreement screen, check the “I accept the terms of the license agreement checkbox”, and click Next.
Written by Christopher Lewis on May 23, 2016.
Being able to Power on a Virtual Machine is a PowerCLI 101 subject (right after the Connect-VIServer).
Start-VM -VM "VM Name" -Server "vCenter/ESX Server Name"
However, how about being able to choose what to do with a Virtual Machine based on its current Power Status? That is where (amongst other ways) the PowerShell Switch command comes in.
Firstly we get the
Virtual Machine Object
using Get-VM into an object called (funnily enough) $VM.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 25, 2016.
As part of my VMware home lab setup I wanted to be able to run a PowerCLI/PowerShell script to Power On/Off my hosts as required. The first objective was being able to power the hosts on using their IPMI interfaces.
Thankfully the Microsoft PowerShell has something that does the job quite nicely called Physical Computer System View (PCSV) Device Cmdlets.
Using Get-PcsvDevice
Using the Get-PcsvDevice command interactively will require you to provide an IP Address/Hostname, a protocol (such as IPMI) and a set of credentials.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 25, 2016.
HOWTO: Monitor a Process in Linux using vRealize Operations - Endpoint Operation Management - Part 4
This is Part 4 of a series on Monitoring Processes in Linux using VMware vRealize Operations Endpoint Operations Management (EPOPS).
- Creating the MultiProcess Object for a single Linux Machine
- Creating a MultiProcess Object for a Linux Machine (via Inventory Explorer)
- Creating Object Relationships
- Identifying the correct process.query string
Firstly I would highly recommend the following steps are taken within a test/lab environment. Within my lab environment I had numerous instances of core CentOS7, so if you have a more feature rich installation of Linux some of the steps may not be necessary.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 21, 2016.
Endpoint Operations Management EPOPS Linux VMware vRealize Operations
The main prerequisite information for installing the EPOPS agent is information required to populate the agent.properties file once installation is completed (but not started), this includes:
- IP or hostname of the vROps Server (
agent.setup.serverIP) - SSL Port to be used (default is 443) (
agent.setup.serverSSLPort) - Account used to register the agent in vROps (
agent.setup.serverLogin) - Password for the Registration Account (
agent.setup.serverPword) - The Certificate Thumbprint of the vROps Server (
agent.setup.serverCertificateThumbprint) - (optional) Agent Listen Port (default is 2144) if you are deploying VMware vRealize Hyperic as well (
agent.listenPort)
Note: The Certificate Thumbprint is available from the vRealize Operations Admin portal (https://vrops-server/admin) just click the gold medal icon!
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 21, 2016.
Endpoint Operations Management EPOPS Linux VMware vRealize Operations
HOWTO: Monitor a Process in Linux using vRealize Operations - Endpoint Operation Management - Part 3
This is Part 3 of a series on Monitoring Processes in Linux using VMware vRealize Operations Endpoint Operations Management.
- Creating the MultiProcess Object for a single Linux Machine
- Creating a MultiProcess Object for a Linux Machine (via Inventory Explorer)
- Creating Object Relationships
- Identifying the correct process.query string
Creating Object Relationships
If you haven’t already, log into vRealize Operations using an appropriate account.
Select Administration.
Select Object Relationships.
Under Parent Selection, select Object Types.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 20, 2016.
Endpoint Operations Management EPOPS Linux VMware vRealize Operations
HOWTO: Monitor a Process in Linux using vRealize Operations - Endpoint Operation Management - Part 2
This is Part 2 of a series on Monitoring Processes in Linux using VMware vRealize Operations Endpoint Operations Management.
- Creating the MultiProcess Object for a single Linux Machine
- Creating a MultiProcess Object for a Linux Machine (via Inventory Explorer)
- Creating Object Relationships
- Identifying the correct process.query string
Creating a MultiProcess Object for a Linux Machine (via Inventory Explorer)
Log into vRealize Operations using an appropriate account.
Select Administration.
Select Inventory Explorer.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 20, 2016.
Endpoint Operations Management EPOPS Linux VMware vRealize Operations
HOWTO: Monitor a Process in Linux using vRealize Operations - Endpoint Operation Management - Part 1
This is Part 1 of a series on Monitoring Processes in Linux using VMware vRealize Operations Endpoint Operations Management.
- Creating the MultiProcess Object for a single Linux Machine
- Creating a MultiProcess Object for a Linux Machine (via Inventory Explorer)
- Creating Object Relationships
- Identifying the correct process.query string
I have been working with a customer recently around migrating their Linux based monitoring form their incumbent monitoring tool into vRealize Operations End Point Operations Management. For those who don’t know, from VMware vRealize Operations 6.1, VMware have started to migrate some of the functionality of the (seemingly deprecated) VMware vRealize Hyperic Monitoring tool into the native functionality of VMware vRealize Operations.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 20, 2016.
Endpoint Operations Management EPOPS Linux VMware vRealize Operations
As part of the continual (re)deployment and evolution of my home lab I have created a custom ESXi image to include a VIB for my Synology SAN. Whilst I will concentrate on the steps required to complete this specifically for the Synology, the principle applies to any home lab or indeed any Production environment that needs a custom VMware vSphere ESXi Image.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 12, 2016.
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 3: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Automation
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 2: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Operations
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 1: Understanding Pricing Cards in VMware Aria
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 5
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 4