Get-VMHost - How to obtain version information?

[aharden]

We're in the middle of our ESX 3.0 -> 3.5 conversion and I was hoping to whip up a script to quickly display our list of hosts with their version/build info. I can't find a way to get at the version/build information. Does anyone know if this can be done with the current beta Toolkit? Thanks.

[LucD]

Via the AboutInfo object.

$fld = new-object System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection

$fld.Add("name", "")

$tfld = find-entityview -viewtype HostSystem -filter $fld

$tfld.Config.Product.Version

$tfld.Config.Product.Build

For the other fields in the object see http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk25pubs/ReferenceGuide/vim.AboutInfo.html

[aharden]

Thanks. Completely over my head. But it works. :smileywink:

Seems like it would be a lot easier to get at this information from Get-VMHost directly.

[LucD]

For the nitty-gritty of this have a look at Carter's post called "How To: Accessing the entire Virtual Infrastructure API from PowerShell"

[halr9000]

I agree, these items should be easier to get. But here is an easier way to do it:

Get-VMHost | % { (Get-View $_.ID).Config.Product }

P.S. Now that the Get-View(s) & Find-EntityView(s) cmdlets have been collapsed into the same snapin as the others, and they share the same server connection, you can use the ID property which exists on EVERY VI object as a reference. Saves much work.

Hal Rottenberg

Co-Host, PowerScripting Podcast (http://powerscripting.net)

[halr9000]

Here's how to get the hostname in there:

$FullName = @{ Label = "Product Full Name"; Expression = { (Get-View $_.ID).Config.Product.fullname } }
Get-VMHost | ft name,$fullname

Name                                       Product Full Name
----                                       -----------------
host1.domain.com                       VMware ESX Server 3.5.0 build-64607
host2.domain.com                       VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 build-52542
host3.domain.com                       VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 build-52542

Hal Rottenberg

Co-Host, PowerScripting Podcast (http://powerscripting.net)

[aharden]

Beautiful. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks to both Hal and Luc.

BTW, I changed the last line to sort the hosts by name:

Get-VMHost | Sort-object name | ft name,$fullname

[AGFlora]

Hi Hal

How would you pipe this to an hml file.

Here's my code:

#HTML format

$a = "<style>"

$a = $a + "BODY{background-color:peachpuff;}"

$a = $a + "TABLE{border-width: 1px;border-style: solid;border-color: black;border-collapse: collapse;}"

$a = $a + "TH{border-width: 1px;padding: 0px;border-style: solid;border-color: black;background-color:thistle}"

$a = $a + "TD{border-width: 1px;padding: 0px;border-style: solid;border-color: black;background-color:palegoldenrod}"

$a = $a + "</style>"

$FullName = @{ Label = "Product Full Name"; Expression = { (Get-View $_.ID).Config.Product.fullname } }

Get-VMHost | Sort-object name | ft name,$fullname | ConvertTo-Html -head $a -body "<H2>VMHosts</H2>" | Out-File d:\buildinfo.htm

All I get in the htm file is the header and jibberish.

Thanks

Tony