Update Linux VMs with PowerCLI thanks to Invoke-VMScript

 
I created a new PowerCLI function to update the Linux Guest OS via PowerCLI. Be sure you use the check-vmware-tools script posted before: https://ict-freak.nl/2009/12/21/bash-script-auto-configure-vmware-tools-at-boot-time/

The function below will check if the VM is running Linux, if the VMware Tools are up to date and running, and last but not least it will determine the linux distribution so it will run the correct update command:

Function Update-LinuxVM{
 param($virtualmachine)
 $vm = Get-VM $virtualmachine
 $os = (Get-VM $vm | Get-View).Summary.Config.GuestFullName
 $toolsStatus = (Get-VM $vm | Get-View).Guest.ToolsStatus
 if($vm.powerstate -eq "PoweredOn"){
    if($toolsStatus -eq "toolsOk"){
        # Determining Linux Distro
        if($os -match 'Red Hat Enterprise Linux'){
            Write-Host "RedHat or CentOS installation found" -fore Yellow 
            $update = "yum clean all && yum update -y"
        }
        elseif($os -match 'Debian GNU'){
            Write-Host "Debian installation found" 
            $update = "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y"
        }    
        else{Write-Host "No update possible" -fore Red}
        
        # ifconfig
        if($ifconfig -ne ""){
        Write-Host "Configuring IP settings $ifconfig" -fore Yellow
        $vm | Invoke-VMScript -HostCredential $hc -GuestCredential $gc $ifconfig
        }

        # route
        if($route -ne ""){
        Write-Host "Setting default gateway route $route" -fore Yellow
        $vm | Invoke-VMScript -HostCredential $hc -GuestCredential $gc $route
        }
        
        # Update command
        Write-Host "Running $update command" -fore Yellow
        $vm | Invoke-VMScript -HostCredential $hc -GuestCredential $gc $update
        }
        else{Write-Host $vm "VMware Tools are out off date or not running" -fore Red }
    }
 else{Write-Host $vm "is not running" -fore Red }
}

You can use this function with the following parameters:

$hc = Get-Credential
$gc = Get-Credential
$ifconfig = ""
$route = ""

$hc will save the Host Credentials. These are the credentials you need to authenticate with the ESX Host

$gc will save the Guest Credentials. These are the credentials you need to authenticate with the Linux Guest OS.

$ifconfig can be used to set a temporary ip address. Example: ifconfig eth0 192.168.123.166 netmask 255.255.255.0

$route can be used to set a temporary gateway address: route add default gw 192.168.123.254

The following command will start the script:

Update-LinuxVM <vmname>

The Function in action: