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59 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
59 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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series: Scripts
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date: "2020-09-16T08:34:30Z"
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header:
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teaser: assets/images/posts-2020/LJOcy2oqc.png
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tags:
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- vmware
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- powercli
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title: Logging in to Multiple vCenter Servers at Once with PowerCLI
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---
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I manage a large VMware environment spanning several individual vCenters, and I often need to run [PowerCLI](https://code.vmware.com/web/tool/12.0.0/vmware-powercli) queries across the entire environment. I waste valuable seconds running `Connect-ViServer` and logging in for each and every vCenter I need to talk to. Wouldn't it be great if I could just log into all of them at once?
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I can, and here's how I do it.
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### The Script
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The following Powershell script will let you define a list of vCenters to be accessed, securely store your credentials for each vCenter, log in to every vCenter with a single command, and also close the connections when they're no longer needed. It's also a great starting point for any other custom functions you'd like to incorporate into your PowerCLI sessions.
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```powershell
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# PowerCLI_Custom_Functions.ps1
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# Usage:
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# 0) Edit $vCenterList to reference the vCenters in your environment.
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# 1) Call 'Update-Credentials' to create/update a ViCredentialStoreItem to securely store your username and password.
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# 2) Call 'Connect-vCenters' to open simultaneously connections to all the vCenters in your environment.
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# 3) Do PowerCLI things.
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# 4) Call 'Disconnect-vCenters' to cleanly close all ViServer connections because housekeeping.
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Import-Module VMware.PowerCLI
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$vCenterList = @("vcenter1", "vcenter2", "vcenter3", "vcenter4", "vcenter5")
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function Update-Credentials {
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$newCredential = Get-Credential
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ForEach ($vCenter in $vCenterList) {
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New-ViCredentialStoreItem -Host $vCenter -User $newCredential.UserName -Password $newCredential.GetNetworkCredential().password
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}
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}
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function Connect-vCenters {
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ForEach ($vCenter in $vCenterList) {
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Connect-ViServer -Server $vCenter
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}
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}
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function Disconnect-vCenters {
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Disconnect-ViServer -Server * -Force -Confirm:$false
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}
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```
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### The Setup
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Edit whatever shortcut you use for launching PowerCLI (I use a tab in [Windows Terminal](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal) - I'll do another post on that setup later) to reference the custom init script. Here's the commandline I use:
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```powershell
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powershell.exe -NoExit -Command ". C:\Scripts\PowerCLI_Custom_Functions.ps1"
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```
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### The Usage
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Now just use that shortcut to open up PowerCLI when you wish to do things. The custom functions will be loaded and waiting for you.
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1. Start by running `Update-Credentials`. It will prompt you for the username+password needed to log into each vCenter listed in `$vCenterList`. These can be the same or different accounts, but you will need to enter the credentials for each vCenter since they get stored in a separate `ViCredentialStoreItem`. You'll also run this function again if you need to change the password(s) in the future.
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2. Log in to all the things by running `Connect-vCenters`.
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3. Do your work.
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4. When you're finished, be sure to call `Disconnect-vCenters` so you don't leave sessions open in the background.
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