Van den Nieuwendijk R. - Learning PowerCLI: A practical guide to get you started with automating VMware vSphere via PowerCLI

Learning PowerCLI A practical guide to get you started with automating VMware vSphere via PowerCLI Robert van den Nieuwendijk BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI Learning PowerCLI Copyright 2014 Packt Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals.

However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. First published: February 2014 Production Reference: 1050214 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK. ISBN 978-1-78217-016-7 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by John M. Quick (john.m.quick@gmail.com) Credits AuthorProject Coordinator Robert van den Nieuwendijk Joel Goveya ReviewersProofreader Chris Halverson Stephen Copestake Timothy J. Patterson Indexers Victoria Peterson Monica Ajmera Mehta Philip Sellers Rekha Nair Brian Wuchner Tejal Soni Acquisition EditorsGraphics Sam Birch Yuvraj Mannari Gregory Wild Abhinash Sahu Content Development EditorProduction Coordinator Madhuja Chaudhari Manu Joseph Technical EditorsCover Work Tanvi Bhatt Manu Joseph Akashdeep Kundu Shiny Poojary Copy Editors Roshni Banerjee Brandt D'Mello Adithi Shetty About the Author Robert van den Nieuwendijk is an IT veteran from the Netherlands with over 25 years of experience in the IT industry.

He holds a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering. After working for a few years as a programmer of air traffic control and vessel traffic management systems for a company that is now called HITT, he started his own company Van den Nieuwendijk Informatica in 1988. Since then he has worked as a freelance systems administrator for OpenVMS, Windows Server, Linux, and VMware vSphere systems, mainly for Dutch governmental organizations. Currently, he is a VMware vSphere administrator at Wageningen UR (University and Research centre). During winter, he is also a ski and snowboard instructor at an indoor ski school. With his background as a programmer, he always tries to make his job easier by writing programs or scripts to perform repetitive tasks.

In the past, he used the C programming language, OpenVMS DCL, Visual Basic Script, and KiXtart to do this. Since Windows PowerShell 1.0, he uses Windows PowerShell and VMware vSphere PowerCLI for all of his scripting work. Robert is a member of the Dutch VMware User group (VMUG) Customer Council and a frequent contributor and moderator at the VMware VMTN Communities. In 2012 and 2013, VMware awarded him the vExpert title for his "significant contributions to the community and a willingness to share his expertise with others". He has his own blog at http://rvdnieuwendijk.com where he has shared his knowledge since 2011. He writes mainly about VMware vSphere PowerCLI, Windows PowerShell, and VMware vSphere.

If you want to get in touch with Robert, you can find him on Twitter. His username is @rvdnieuwendijk. I would like to thank my wife, Ali, for supporting me in writing this book and all the hours she had to spend alone while I was writing. About the Reviewers Chris Halverson is the co-leader of his local VMUG and the principal consultant at Darus Consulting (www.darus.ca). He has been working in the IT industry for over 14 years and specifically 7 years in virtualization. He has worked hard to increase his skill in the automation and cloud realm over that point of time, thanks to his enjoyment in the PowerShell scripting arena.

He excels in architecture and design space helping others conceptualize and design the ideal layout and performance for the company's infrastructure. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and four children and participating in his local Tae Kwon Do Dojang. Timothy J. Patterson is a Cloud and Virtualization Systems Engineer, currently working at ProQuest based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Focused primarily on Amazon Web Services and VMware technologies, he is currently in possession of the VCAP5-DCA, VCAP5-DCD, VCP5-DCV technical certifications from VMware, as well as the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification from Amazon. Additionally, he is a Bachelor of Science from Saginaw Valley State University in Computer Information Systems and is a Novell Certified Linux Engineer.

Throughout his career, Tim has gained over 10 years of direct hands-on experience working with VMware products and AWS with a passion towards cloud architecture, design, and automation technologies. He is currently a VCDX hopeful and is always looking ahead for the next challenge. I would like to thank my wife, Danielle, for her never-ending support and love. I also want to mention my two little girls, Molly and Amelia, because without them I would not be complete. My family serves as a constant source of inspiration, driving me to succeed in both my personal and professional goals. Additionally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the individuals I have had the pleasure of working with throughout my professional career.

I have learned a lot from each and every one of you. I look forward to what the future has in store for us as the technology we work with every day continues to evolve. Victoria Peterson is originally from Scotland and is now based in the Netherlands. She has more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry. Her expertise is mainly focused on systems monitoring, automation, and integration. She has extensive knowledge and experience of design and implementation of monitoring solutions and development of custom monitoring based on System Center Operations Manager.

She is currently a System Center Monitoring Specialist at Wageningen UR. Her product skill set includes technologies such as SCOM, SCCM, SCSM, Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL, Citrix XenApp, VMware vSphere, Unicenter NSM, and automation of various tasks using PowerShell scripting. Victoria has MCSE (legacy) and MCDBA certifications and she additionally holds other non-Microsoft certifications such as Citrix Certified Administrator (XenApp 6.5) and Certified Unicenter Specialist Engineer for Unicenter NSM. Philip Sellers is a Senior Systems Administrator based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with 15 years of experience. Primarily focused in Microsoft and VMware technologies, he is the virtualization lead for Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC) and works extensively with core technology platforms such as vSphere, Active Directory, and Exchange. Prior to his current role, he served as a trusted IT consultant for medical, legal, and hospitality companies administering their infrastructure and systems.

Philip is an active blogger, covering vSphere, Microsoft software, and HP hardware platforms. He is a VMware vExpert for 2013, and he has recognizing contributions to the VMware community and advocacy of the vSphere platform. He also participates with the VMware User Groups in his area. To find out more about Philip, you may follow his blog at http://tech.philipsellers.com and on Twitter, @pbsellers.