How to search for all VMX files in all datastores and register them into VC ?

001	function Register-VMX {

002	param($entityName = $null,$dsNames = $null,$template = $false,$ignore = $null,$checkNFS = $false,$whatif=$false)

003

004	function Get-Usage{

005	Write-Host "Parameters incorrect" -ForegroundColor red

006	Write-Host "Register-VMX -entityName  -dsNames [,...]"

007	Write-Host "entityName   : a cluster-, datacenter or ESX hostname (not together with -dsNames)"

008	Write-Host "dsNames      : one or more datastorename names (not together with -entityName)"

009	Write-Host "ignore       : names of folders that shouldn't be checked"

010	Write-Host "template     : register guests ($false)or templates ($true) - default : $false"

011	Write-Host "checkNFS     : include NFS datastores - default : $false"

012	Write-Host "whatif       : when $true will only list and not execute - default : $false"

013

}

014

015	if(($entityName -ne $null -and $dsNames -ne $null) -or ($entityName -eq $null -and $dsNames -eq $null)){

016

Get-Usage

017

break

018

}

019

020	if($dsNames -eq $null){

021	switch((Get-Inventory -Name $entityName).GetType().Name.Replace("Wrapper","")){

022	"Cluster"{

023	$dsNames = Get-Cluster -Name $entityName | Get-VMHost | Get-Datastore | where {$_.Type -eq "VMFS" -or $checkNFS} | % {$_.Name}

024

}

025	"Datacenter"{

026	$dsNames = Get-Datacenter -Name $entityName | Get-Datastore | where {$_.Type -eq "VMFS" -or $checkNFS} | % {$_.Name}

027

}

028

"VMHost"{

029	$dsNames = Get-VMHost -Name $entityName | Get-Datastore | where {$_.Type -eq "VMFS" -or $checkNFS} | % {$_.Name}

030

}

031

Default{

032

Get-Usage

033

exit

034

}

035

}

036

}

037

else{

038	$dsNames = Get-Datastore -Name $dsNames | where {$_.Type -eq "VMFS" -or $checkNFS} | Select -Unique | % {$_.Name}

039

}

040

041	$dsNames = $dsNames | Sort-Object

042	$pattern = "*.vmx"

043	if($template){

044	$pattern = "*.vmtx"

045

}

046

047	foreach($dsName in $dsNames){

048	Write-Host "Checking " -NoNewline; Write-Host -ForegroundColor red -BackgroundColor yellow $dsName

049	$ds = Get-Datastore $dsName | Select -Unique | Get-View

050	$dsBrowser = Get-View $ds.Browser

051	$dc = Get-View $ds.Parent

052	while($dc.MoRef.Type -ne "Datacenter"){

053	$dc = Get-View $dc.Parent

054

}

055	$tgtfolder = Get-View $dc.VmFolder

056	$esx = Get-View $ds.Host[0].Key

057	$pool = Get-View (Get-View $esx.Parent).ResourcePool

058

059	$vms = @()

060	foreach($vmImpl in $ds.Vm){

061	$vm = Get-View $vmImpl

062	$vms += $vm.Config.Files.VmPathName

063

}

064	$datastorepath = "[" + $ds.Name + "]"

065

066	$searchspec = New-Object VMware.Vim.HostDatastoreBrowserSearchSpec

067	$searchspec.MatchPattern = $pattern

068

069	$taskMoRef = $dsBrowser.SearchDatastoreSubFolders_Task($datastorePath, $searchSpec)

070

071	$task = Get-View $taskMoRef

072	while ("running","queued" -contains $task.Info.State){

073	$task.UpdateViewData("Info.State")

074

}

075	$task.UpdateViewData("Info.Result")

076	foreach ($folder in $task.Info.Result){

077	if(!($ignore -and (&{$res = $false; $folder.FolderPath.Split("]")[1].Trim(" /").Split("/") | %{$res = $res -or ($ignore -contains $_)}; $res}))){

078	$found = $FALSE

079	if($folder.file -ne $null){

080	foreach($vmx in $vms){

081	if(($folder.FolderPath + $folder.File[0].Path) -eq $vmx){

082	$found = $TRUE

083

}

084

}

085	if (-not $found){

086	if($folder.FolderPath[-1] -ne "/"){$folder.FolderPath += "/"}

087	$vmx = $folder.FolderPath + $folder.File[0].Path

088	if($template){

089	$params = @($vmx,$null,$true,$null,$esx.MoRef)

090

}

091

else{

092	$params = @($vmx,$null,$false,$pool.MoRef,$null)

093

}

094	if(!$whatif){

095	$taskMoRef = $tgtfolder.GetType().GetMethod("RegisterVM_Task").Invoke($tgtfolder, $params)

096	Write-Host "`t" $vmx "registered"

097

}

098

else{

099	Write-Host "`t" $vmx "registered" -NoNewline; Write-Host -ForegroundColor blue -BackgroundColor white " ==> What If"

100

}

101

}

102

}

103

}

104

}

105	Write-Host "Done"

106

}

107

}

108

109	# Register-VMX -entityName "MyDatacenter"

110	# Register-VMX -dsNames "datastore1","datastore2"

111	# Register-VMX -dsNames "datastore1","datastore2" -template:$true

112	# Register-VMX -entityName "MyDatacenter" -ignore "SomeFolder"

113	# Register-VMX -dsNames "datastore3","datastore4" -ignore "SomeFolder" -checkNFS:$true

114	# Register-VMX -entityName "MyDatacenter" -whatif:$true

Annotations

Line 15: both parameters (entityName and dsNames) can not be used together.

Line 20-36: if an entityName was given the switch will retrieve the list of datastores.

Line 37-39: if dsNames was used add or remove NFS datastores (depending on the checkNFS switch)

Line 42-67: retrieval of the required parameters for the SearchDatastoreSubFolders_Task and RegisterVM_Task methods

Line 56: if the datastore is shared between several ESX/ESXi servers, the script will take the first server

Line 67-69: the VMConfigFileQuery seems to have a problem finding VMX files on some datastores. That’s why the script uses the MatchPattern property.

Line 71-74: this loop waits for the SearchDatastoreSubFolders_Task to finish. To make sure it looks at the actual value of the Result property, the script calls the UpdateViewData method.

Line 77: this line takes care of folders that should be ignored. Update 5: for nested folders, the script checks each folderpath qualifier against the -ignore parameter.

Line 86: when you’re connected to an ESX/ESXi host the FolderPath property doesn’t have a forward slash as the last character. This line corrects that.

Line 88-93: the RegisterVM_Task method needs different parameters if it is called for a guest or for a template

Line 88 & 91: the RegisterVM_Task method should use the DisplayName field from the VMX file for the name of the VM that will be registered. Unfortunately you can’t pass a $null value for a parameter that is defined as a String. This bypasses that limitation.

Line 94-100: these lines take care of the -whatif switch

Line 109-114: some sample calls to the Register-VMX function

Usage

The function Register-VMX can be called as follows

1. With the -entityName parameter, where you can pass a datacentername, a clustername or an ESX hostname
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyCluster”
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyDatacenter”
   • Register-VMX -entityName “esx1.test.local”
2. With the -dsNames parameter, where you can pass one or more datastorenames.
   • Register-VMX -dsNames “datastore1″
   • Register-VMX -dsNames “datastore1″,”datastore2″,”datastore3″
3. With the -template parameter which allows you to specify if you want to register guests ($false) or templates ($true). The default is to register guests.
   • Register-VMX -dsNames “datastore1″,”datastore2″,”datastore3″ -template:$true
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyCluster” -template:$false
4. With the -ignore parameter which allows you to specify that scripts should not look in specific folders for unregistered VMX files. The default is to look in all folders.
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyCluster” -ignore “Folder1″,”Folder2″
5. With the -checkNFS switch which allows you to specify if NFS datastores should be checked as well. The default is to not check NFS datastores.
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyCluster” -CheckNFS:$true
   • Register-VMX -dsNames “datastore1″,”datastore2″,”datastore3″ -CheckNFS:$true
6. With the -whatif switch set to $true the script will only show the actions and not actually execute them. The default is $false, which means the found .VMX (or .VMTX) files will be registered.
   • Register-VMX -entityName “MyCluster” -whatif:$true