PowerCLI: Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) info v2: Analyze data with Excel

October 11, 2009 15 Comments

In my previous post about this subject I created a script to view the information on the PowerCLI console. With the v2 script you are able to export the data to a CSV file.

$myCol = @()
$vms = get-view -ViewType VirtualMachine  | Where-Object `
{-not $_.config.template}
foreach($vm in $vms){
    foreach($dev in $vm.config.hardware.Device){
    $MYInfo = "" | Select-Object VMName, DeviceLabel, `
    FileName, DiskMode, ThinProvisioned

       $MYInfo.VMName = $vm.Name

           if($dev.GetType().Name -eq "VirtualDisk"){
                   $MYInfo.DeviceLabel = $dev.DeviceInfo.Label
                $MYInfo.FileName = $dev.Backing.FileName
                $MYInfo.DiskMode = $dev.Backing.DiskMode
                if($dev.Backing.ThinProvisioned){
                $MYInfo.ThinProvisioned = "True"}
                else{$MYInfo.ThinProvisioned = "False"}

                $myCol += $MYInfo
               }
       }
}
$myCol | Export-CSV -NoTypeInformation "D:\scripts\vmdkinfo.csv"

When the script is finished, you can import the CSV file into Excel. After the import, we can analyze the data with just a simple filter. With a few clicks, you’re able to view al the VM’s without Thin Provisioned disks.

Now we have a list with all the VM’s with Thin Provisioned disks:

So with a small PowerCLI script and the help of Microsoft Excel, you’re able to generate a report with just the information you need. The best part is that it will only cost you couple of minutes of your time .

Filed under VMware Tagged with Excel, PowerCLI, Thin Provisioning, VMDK

15 Responses to PowerCLI: Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) info v2: Analyze data with Excel

Hal Rottenberg says:

October 11, 2009 at 17:33

A quick trick to get this straight into Excel:

; ii filename.csv

Or:

| export-csv -notype -file file.csv; ii file.csv

Reply
Rash says:

December 3, 2009 at 23:41

Great code,
I have few more additions to do, but don’t know how
How to get Filesize for that filename
and which ESX host that VM belongs

VM-Host gives me that, but how do I extend this CSV files so I have everything in online.

VMNAME, Device Label, FileName, FileSize, ESXHost, DiskMode, ThinProvisioned

Reply
- Ingimar says:
  
  December 15, 2009 at 15:40
  
  @Rash:
  
  Have you found this out? I was exactly looking for info on adding host and VMDK size to the list and am not yet confident enough in scripting to add it myself.
  
  PS: Found the script in Virtu-Al.net VESI pack.
Ingimar says:

December 24, 2009 at 11:28

Have found out how to add the filesize to this list or at least the version of this script that comes with the Virtu-Al.net VESI pack. Shouldn’t be much difference.

One line needs to be changes, and one line is added.

Add “CapacityInKB” into the Select-Object list:

$MYInfo = “” | Select-Object VMName, DeviceLabel, `
FileName, CapacityInKB, DiskMode, ThinProvisioned

And add this line after the “$MYInfo.FileName = $dev.Backing.FileName” line:

$MYInfo.CapacityInKB = $dev.CapacityInKB

Thanks go to the VESI Script Editor, it provides a great detail into the objects you can work with in Powershell. Great debugging tool!

Hope this helps!

Reply
Zak says:

February 23, 2010 at 17:28

Really fast and great script.
How can this work only for a list of servers in a text file?

Thanks in advance.

Reply
afokkema says:

February 23, 2010 at 19:28

Change the line $vms = Get-View Viewtype……. to

$vms = get-content D:\vms.txt
foreach($i in $vms){
$vm = Get-VM $i | Get-View

vms.txt will look like this:

vm1
vm2
vm3
etc.

Good luck

Reply
Zak says:

February 24, 2010 at 10:16

That helped but didn’t work.
I modified it to this and its ok now.
$vms = get-content “h:\scripts\Vmlist.txt”|foreach-object {Get-VM $_ | Get-View}

A little slow, I’m thinking it would be quicker to do a Get-View once as you do before, and then operate the rest of the script if the name exists in the list.

Thanks lot for help nevertheless.

Reply
- afokkema says:
  
  February 24, 2010 at 11:06
  
  The solution above was a quick and dirty solution. This solution is a lot faster:
  
  $vms = Get-Content “X:\vms.txt”
  foreach($name in $vms){
  $vm = Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -Filter @{“Name” = $name}
  
  Good luck!
Zak says:

February 24, 2010 at 12:22

The output has just one vm, when I have 5. Its last one in foreach list.

Had another tinker around and ended up with this, it takes only a couple seconds to complete now.

$vmlist = Get-Content “h:\scripts\Vmlist2010.txt”
$vms=$vmlist|foreach { Get-View -ViewType VirtualMachine -Filter @{“name” = “$_”}}

Now i want to add more objects, like mem/cpu etc. Will check the Vesi Editor. Is that the best place to find them?

Thanks again, you really got me on the right track!

Reply
Jeff says:

September 2, 2010 at 00:47

How hard would it be to add a column to tell if the disk is an RDM or VMDK

Reply
Cnidus says:

October 14, 2010 at 09:40

Thanks for the script, with some pretty heavy wrapping and customization for my purposes, I’ve got it exporting object-oriented, per-VM XML instead of a flat CSV.

I can send you my version if you like.

Jeff: It shouldnt be too hard to add information on RDM info, I’ll see if I can work that out tomorrow.

-Doug (Cnidus)

Reply
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Cnidus says:

October 25, 2010 at 13:02

Hi Arne,

I decided to get off my butt and start my own blog. The first post is my modified version of your script.

http://blog.cnidus.net/2010/10/25/dump-virtual-machine-info-as-xml-powershell/

If you have any feedback on either the script or my blog, I’d appreciate it.

Thanks,
Doug

Reply
Jay says:

May 17, 2011 at 18:37

This is a nice utility. Ran across 3 vCenters and about 24 ESX/ESXi Hosts in two physical datacenters in just a few seconds. Thanks.

Reply
Ryan P says:

December 13, 2011 at 20:43

Is there a way I can also get the in-use size too?

Reply