Introduction to PowerCLI

PowerCLI is a snapin for PowerShell that is intended for use with a VMware environment.  It can be found at:

http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vsphere/automationtools/powercli

Once launched, help can be found using the Get-VICommand commandlet or the Get-PowerCLIHelp commandlet.

To connect to a ESX/ESXi host, use the Connect-VIServer commandlet.  An example would be:

Connect-VIServer –Server IP address –Protocol https –User root –Password passwordvalue

Once connected, a message should be displayed:

Once connected to a host, commandlets such as Get-VM and Get-VMHost can be used.

The | format-list option can provide additional details.

More details can be displayed using the | Select-Object * option as well.

The Get-VMGuest commandlet will offer some additional details on a particular VM:

The Get-HardDisk commandlet pulls storage information:

The Get-DataStore commandlet can offer details on items such as free disk space available.

The Disconnect-VIServer commandlet will remove the connection to the host: