Windows Server 2025 “Preview” deployment with Packer

As Windows Server 2025 Preview is officially released, I wanted to test a  automated build of the Windows Server 2025 Preview release. So that I can deploy this in my home lab and going to test the new features if I can find the time….

About Hashicorp Packer

Hashicorp Packer is a self-contained executable producing quick and easy operating system builds across multiple platforms. Using Packer and a couple of HCL2 files, you can quickly create fully automated template(s) with latest Windows Updates en VMware Tools. When you schedule a fresh builds after patch Tuesday  you have always an up-to-date and fully secured template.

When using VMware customization tools. You can spin up vm’s in minutes.

Automated Windows Server 2025 “Preview” Build

Files you need?
The files and versions I am using at the time of this writing are as follows:

Outside of downloading both Packer and Windows Server 2022 Preview build, you will need the following files:

  • windowsserver2025.auto.pkrvars.hcl – houses the variable values you want to define.
  • windows2025.json.pkr.hcl – the Packer build file
  • Answer file – Generated with Windows System Image Manager (SIM) you can download the file below
  • Custom script file(s) – optional

Other considerations and tasks you will need to complete:

  • Copy the Windows Server 2025 ISO file to a vSphere datastore

Windows Server 2025 unattend Answer file for the automated Packer Build

Like other automated approaches to installing Windows Server, the automated Windows Server 2025 Packer build requires an answer file to provide answers to the GUI automatically and other installation prompts that you normally see in a manual installation of Windows Server.

You will find the scripts here: https://github.com/WardVissers/Packer-Win2025

The only problem that I had was: Switching from Nic from Public to Private

# Set network connections profile to Private mode.

Write-Output ‘Setting the network connection profiles to Private…’

do {

    $connectionProfile = Get-NetConnectionProfile

    Start-Sleep -Seconds 10

} while ($connectionProfile.Name -eq ‘Identifying…’)

Set-NetConnectionProfile -Name $connectionProfile.Name -NetworkCategory Private

Windows Server 2025 Preview (Build: Canary 26052)

I had some time to check out the new version of Server 2025.

For the full upcomming features check: https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/f3901190-1154-45e3-9726-d2498c26c2c9?source=sessions

Download Server 2025 Preview: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewserver

Server 2025 will come with a lot of features (My Top 20+):

  • General – Server 2022 upgrade to .vNext (Controled bij GPO)
  • Hot Patching (Arc Enabled, Monthly Subscription)
  • Active Directory – 32k page
  • Active Directory – Numa
  • Active Directory – LDAP TLS 1.3
  • Active Directory – Improved Security for Confidential Attributes
  • Active Directory – Active Directory LDAP prefers Encryption bij Default
  • Active Directory – Kerberos Support for AES/SHA256/384
  • Active Directory – Changes to Default behavior of legacy SAM RPC Spassword change methods
  • Active Directory – Kerberos en KPINT Support cryptographic agility
  • Active Directory – New AD Forest en Domein Level (Minimal Server 2016 requirement)
  • Storage – NVME 70%/90% peformance increase
  • File Server – SMB over Internet (Quick Protocol)
  • File Server – More Control over SLTM
  • File Server – SMB Limitor (Enabeld bij Default)
  • File Server – Signing by Default
  • File Server – Minimum version SMB
  • File Server – More Secure Bij Default (Netbios disabled bij default)
  • RDS – M365 Apps stil supported for every Windows Server release 2-3 years
  • Finance – General support and Pay-as-you-go Support

Need to find some time to dig in

Handy link: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-server-insiders/announcing-windows-server-preview-build-26040/m-p/4040858

Deploy Windows Core Server 2022 with Server Core App Compatibility Feature on Demand with Packer

I while ago I started with parker to create simple templates for use in my homelab.

It take some time to find the rights scripts and learning en understanding the HCL2 coding

But in related to Security reasons I want to use a Windows Core Server the smaller footprint.

What is Server Core App Compatibility Feature on Demand: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/server-core-app-compatibility-feature-on-demand

Installing Features on Demand through Powerschell contains a bug. You may see “failure to download files”, “cannot download”, or errors like “0x800F0954” or file not found.

To Solve that I created I powerschell script to run the install twice: featuresondemand.ps1

You can find al the needed files on my Public Github Packer repository: https://github.com/WardVissers/Packer-Public

When running is showing like this:

A blue screen with white squares

Description automatically generated

It works for now, but there is one thing that would the hole thing a quiet nicer.
Passwords encrypted in a separate file.

VCF 5.0 running inside Nested ESXi server with only 64GB Memory

So I interested to trying to deploy latest release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.0 on my Windows 11 Home PC witch have 128GB and 16 core intel cpu.

William Lee wrote a nice artikel about VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0 running on Intel NUC

Disclaimer: This is not officially supported by VMware, please use at your own risk.

Requirements:

  • VMware Cloud Builder 5.0 OVA (Build 21822418)
  • VCF 5.0 Licenses Through VMUG ADVANTAGE
  • Home PC (Not Special Hardware)
    – 128GB Memory
    – Intel 12600 CPU
    – 4TB of NVME Storage
  • Windows 11 with VMware Workstation 17

Setup

Virtual Machines

  • DC02 (Domain Controller, DNS Server) (4GB 2vcpu)
  • VCF-M01-ESX01 (ESXi 8.0 Update 1a) (64GBGB 1x140GB 2x600NVME 2x NIC) (Every Thin Provisiond)
  • VCF-M01-CB01 (4GB and 4CPU) Only needed through First Deploment

Network settings on my PC

  • 1 IP In my home network
  • 172.16.12.1 (To Fool Cloudbuilder)
  • 172.16.13.1 (To Fool Cloudbuilder)

Procedure:

Install en Configure ESXi

Step 1 – Boot up the ESXi installer from de iso mount and then perform a standard ESXi installation.

Step 2 – Once ESXi is up and running, you will need to minimally configure networking along with an FQDN (ensure proper DNS resolution), NTP and specify which SSD should be used for the vSAN capacity drive. You can use the DCUI to setup the initial networking but recommend switching to ESXi Shell afterwards and finish the require preparations steps as demonstrated in the following ESXCLI commands:

esxcli system ntp set -e true -s pool.ntp.org
esxcli system hostname set –fqdn vcf-m01-esx01.wardvissers.nl

Note: Use vdq -q command to query for the available disks for use with vSAN and ensure there are no partitions residing on the 600GB disks.
Don’t change time server pool.ntp.org.

To ensure that the self-signed TLS certificate that ESXi generates matches that of the FQDN that you had configured, we will need to regenerate the certificate and restart hostd for the changes to go into effect by running the following commands within ESXi Shell:

/bin/generate-certificates
/etc/init.d/hostd restart

Cloudbuilder Config

Step 3 – Deploy the VMware Cloud builder in a separate environment and wait for it to be accessible over the browser. Once CB is online, download the setup_vmware_cloud_builder_for_one_node_management_domain.sh setup script and transfer that to the CB system using the admin user account (root is disabled by default).

Step 4 – Switch to the root user and set the script to have the executable permission and run the script as shown below

su –
chmod +x setup_vmware_cloud_builder_for_one_node_management_domain.sh
./setup_vmware_cloud_builder_for_one_node_management_domain.sh

The script will take some time, especially as it converts the NSX OVA->OVF->OVA and if everything was configured successfully, you should see the same output as the screenshot above.

A screenshot of a computer

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Step 4 – Download the example JSON deployment file vcf50-management-domain-example.json and and adjust the values based on your environment. In addition to changing the hostname/IP Addresses you will also need to replace all the FILL_ME_IN_VCF_*_LICENSE_KEY with valid VCF 5.0 license keys.

Step 5 – The VMnic in the Cloud Builder VM will acked als a 10GB NIC so I started the deployment not through powershell but normal way in Cloud Builder GUI.

Your deployment time will vary based on your physical resources but it should eventually complete with everything show success as shown in the screenshot below. (I have one retry for finish)
A screenshot of a computer

Description automatically generated A screenshot of a cloud support

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Here are some screenshots VCF 5.0 deployment running on my home PC.

A screenshot of a computer

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A screenshot of a computer

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Problems

Check this if you have problems logging in NSX:
https://www.wardvissers.nl/2023/07/26/nsx-endless-spinning-blue-cirle-after-login/

Next Steps.

1. Reploy with use of the Holo-Router https://core.vmware.com/resource/holo-toolkit-20-deploy-router#deploy-holo-router

2. Testing if can deploy Single Host VCF Workload Domain, on same way by following this blog post HERE! 😁
A screenshot of a computer

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If I can start another 64GB ESXi Server.

Powercli Delete Orphaned Edge Transport Nodes

I made a little mistake on my Lab Environment. There fore it was required to clean up my last unremoveable edge server.

Sow i made a little powercli script

RemoveOrphanedEdge.ps1

# https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/892835
# https://virtuallyjason.blogspot.com/2020/11/using-nsx-t-api.html

$nsxfqdn = Read-Host “Give the IP of the FQDN from your NSX Server”
if (!($creds)){

$creds = Get-Credential -Message "NSX-T Administrative Credentials:"

}
$base64Creds = [Convert]::toBase64String([System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes(“$($creds.username):$($creds.GetNetworkCredential().password)”))
$header = @{Authorization = “Basic $base64Creds”}
$uri = “https://$nsxserver”

# Check API Connection

invoke-webrequest -uri “$uri/api/v1/spec/openapi/nsx_api.json” -headers $header -SkipCertificateCheck

# Clean Stale Entries

invoke-webrequest -uri “$uri/api/v1/transport-nodes?action=clean_stale_entries” -headers $header -Method ‘POST’ -SkipCertificateCheck

Packer – Vmware Tools + Windows Server + VMTools service not installing correctly

I had a frustrating issue with Packer, specifically with VMware Tools installation.

During the Packer install, I load up a script and have VMware Tools 12.1.5 installed. It seems to install successfully, But I noticed that the VMTools service is not running. I have to re-run setup64.exe via the GUI and do a repair, then I see the service exist and runs, and Packer can discover the IP address of the VM to finish it.

The Solution

I used a older autounattend.xml which i never checked the time zone.
Setting the correcting time zone the trick:

<TimeZone>W. Europe Standard Time</TimeZone>

NSX-T 3.1 Home lab – Part 2

With all the Fabric configuration done we can test our setup.

I’m creating two overlay segments in NSX connected to a Tier-1 gateway, and after that we’ll create a Tier-0 gateway and connect the T1 gateway to it to get North/South connectivity to the overlay resources

Two VMs will be deployed, one VM in each of the two overlay segments

Create a Tier-1 Gateway

The Tier-1 Gateway will initially not be connected to a Tier-0 Gateway (I haven’t configured a T0 gw yet) or an Edge Cluster.

Tier-1 Gateway

Tier-1 Gateway

Create Logical segments

We need two logical segments, both using the Overlay Transport Zone. I’m defining different subnets on them, 10.0.1.0/24 and 10.0.2.0/24.

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Segments

Add VMs to Logical segments

We have two Photon VMs which should be added to the logical segments.

Two Photon VMs

Test connectivity

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Now let’s verify that the two VMs can ping each other

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Don’t forget to enable the echo rule on the Windows Firewall….

Connectivity test

This shows that the overlay is working, and note again that the Edge VMs are not in use here.

External connectivity

Traffic is flowing between VMs running on Logical segments inside the NSX-T environment, but what if we want to reach something outside, or reach a VM inside a NSX-T overlay?

Then we need to bring a Tier-0 Gateway in to the mix.

The T-0 gateway can be configured with Uplinks that are connected to the physical network. This is done through a segment which can reach the physical network, normally through a VLAN.

To configure the uplink interfaces we need to have Edge VMs so finally we get to bring those into play as well.

Create segment for uplinks

First I’ll create a segment mapped to VLAN 99 in my lab. Note that I select the VLAN transport zone, and I do not connect the segment to a gateway

Create Uplink VLAN segment

Create Uplink VLAN segment

Create Tier-0 gateway

Now we’ll create a Tier-0 gateway, note that I now also select my Edge cluster.

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Create T0 gateway

Static route

To be able to forward traffic out of the NSX-T environment the T0 gateway needs to know where to send queries for IPs it doesn’t control. Normally you would want to configure a routing protocol like BGP or OSPF so that the T0 gateway could exchange routes with the physical router(s) in your network.

I’ve not set up BGP or any other routing protocol on my physical router, so I’ve just configured a default static route that forwards to my physical router. The next hop is set to the gateway address for the Uplink VLAN 99, 192.168.99.1

Static route

Static route

Link T1 gateway to T0 gateway

We’ve done a lot of configuring now, but still we’ve not got connectivity in or out for our VMs. The final step is to connect the Tier-1 gateway to the Tier-0 gateway, and we’ll also activate Route Advertisement of Connected Segments and Service Ports

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Tier-1 Gateway

Test connectivity

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Verify North/South connectivity

Yes!

Test Distributed Firewall

Let’s also do a quick test of the Distributed Firewall feature in NSX-T.

First we’ll create a rule blocking ICMP (ping) from any to my test vm and publish the rule

Afbeelding met tekst, schermafbeelding, monitor, binnen

Automatisch gegenereerde beschrijving ICMP firewall rule

ICMP firewall rule

Now let’s test pinging from from my pc to nested Windows 2016 server. With the rule not enabled en enabled.

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Ping blocked

Summary

Hopefully this post can help someone, if not it has at least helped me.

Now we have working environment so we can go testing some things.
Also scripting/automation against a nsx environment I will look in to!

Ultimate Cross vCenter Script

Last year i attend the Dutch VMUG (NLVMUG) i followed session from

Michael Wilmsen that was: Migrate your datacenter without downtime.

I must also move al lot of VM’s from different datacenters to other datacenters.
I use the script from Michael Wilmsen to move the VM’s. But along the way I counter some problems with this script. So I begon tweaking and tweaking and tweaking this script to create for me the ultimate Cross vCenter PowerCLI Script.

Coolfeatures:
– Info through Whattsapp (Default not enabled)
– Dryrun (Test Run)
– Logging
– Selection through GUI
– Multiple Nic support maximum of 4.
– Datastore en Host selection based on Free space en Free Memory
– Check of Destination Host or Datastore in Maintance
– Destination Store exist in Destination Cluster

MoveVM.ps1:
#Filename: MoveVM.ps1
#Author: M. Wilmsen / W. Vissers
#Source: http://virtual-hike.com/nlvmug-2018/
#Version: 2.0
#Date: 21-10-2018
#ChangeLog:
# V0.9 – M. Wilmsen First Version
# V1.0 – Fixed Multiple Nics to maximium of 4 nics
#      – Logfile name VM name
# V1.1 – Destination Cluster not the first Host
# V1.2 – Selected Destination host based on memory used
# V1.3 – Fixed folder location and VirtualPortGroup
# V1.4 – Fixed Datastore in Maintance
# V1.5 – Using Get-VICredentialStoreItem + Logpath Fixt
# V1.6 – Fixed Log in Hours in 24 uurs
# V1.7 – Fixed Using DatastoreCluster name based on Cluster name!
# V1.8 – Check if Destination has the same datastore
#          – Ask know for input
#          – VM selection with VMhost
#          – Fixed Ping Check
# v1.9 – Added Destination Store exist in Destination Cluster
# v2.0 – Fixed Destination Store exist in Destination Cluster
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Script to migrate a virtual machine
.DESCRIPTION
Script to migrate compute and storage from cluster to cluster. Log will be in current dir [VM]-[-timestamp].log

.EXAMPLE
MoveVM.ps1
#>
################################## INIT #################################################
#Set WebOperation timeout
# set-PowerCLIConfiguration -WebOperationTimeoutSeconds 3600
#Define Global variables
$location = “D:\xmovewhattsapp”
$LogPath = “.\”
$DataStoreClusterPrefix = “SAN-“
$SourceVC = Read-Host “Give Source vCenter”
$DestinationVC = Read-Host “Give Destination vCenter”
$DRSRecommendation = $true
$Dryrun = $false
$SendWhatsApp = $false
$WhatsAppNumbers = “0123456789”
$WhatsAppGroup = “Namehireyourwhattsgroup”
$instanceId = “23” #chang this line
$clientId = “demo@demo.nl” #change this line
$clientSecret = “Puthiersecretid” #change this line
################################## PASSWORD STORE ##############################################
#Username
# Check if credentials exist in credential store if not ask for credentials and put them in credential store

If ((Get-VICredentialStoreItem).host -notcontains $SourceVC) {New-VICredentialStoreItem -Host $SourceVC -User $env:USERNAME -Password ((get-credential).GetNetworkCredential().Password)}
If ((Get-VICredentialStoreItem).host -notcontains $DestinationVC) {New-VICredentialStoreItem -Host $DestinationVC -User $env:USERNAME -Password ((get-credential).GetNetworkCredential().Password)}

# Remove-VICredentialStoreItem * -Confirm:$false

################################## END INIT #################################################
################################## FUNCTIONS #################################################
#Define log function
Function LogWrite
{
    Param ([string]$logstring)
    #Add logtime to entry
    $LogTime = Get-Date -Format “MM-dd-yyyy_HH-mm-ss”
    $logstring = $LogTime + ” : ” + $logstring
    #Write logstring
    Add-content $LogFile -value $logstring
    Write-Host $logstring
}
#Define SendWhatsApp function
Function SendWhatsApp
{
   Param ([string] $message)
  
   if ( $SendWhatsApp ) {
     $LogTime = Get-Date -Format “MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss”
     $message = $logtime + ” : ” + $message
    
     foreach ( $number in $WhatsAppNumbers )
     {
        $jsonObj = @{‘group_admin’=$number;
                     ‘group_name’=$WhatsAppGroup;
                     ‘message’=$message;}
       Try {
         $res = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri “http://api.whatsmate.net/v2/whatsapp/group/message/$instanceId” `
                           -Method Post   `
                           -Headers @{“X-WM-CLIENT-ID”=$clientId; “X-WM-CLIENT-SECRET”=$clientSecret;} `
                           -Body (ConvertTo-Json $jsonObj)
         LogWrite “WhatsMate Status Code: ”  $res.StatusCode
         LogWrite $res.Content
       }
       Catch {
         $result = $_.Exception.Response.GetResponseStream()
         $reader = New-Object System.IO.StreamReader($result)
         $reader.BaseStream.Position = 0
         $reader.DiscardBufferedData()
         $responseBody = $reader.ReadToEnd();

        Write-host “Status Code: ” $_.Exception.Response.StatusCode
         Write-host $message
         }
     }
   }
}

function Get-VmSize($vm)
{
     #Initialize variables
     $VmDirs =@()
     $VmSize = 0
     $searchSpec = New-Object VMware.Vim.HostDatastoreBrowserSearchSpec
     $searchSpec.details = New-Object VMware.Vim.FileQueryFlags
     $searchSpec.details.fileSize = $TRUE
     Get-View -VIObject $vm | % {
         #Create an array with the vm’s directories
         $VmDirs += $_.Config.Files.VmPathName.split(“/”)[0]
         $VmDirs += $_.Config.Files.SnapshotDirectory.split(“/”)[0]
         $VmDirs += $_.Config.Files.SuspendDirectory.split(“/”)[0]
         $VmDirs += $_.Config.Files.LogDirectory.split(“/”)[0]
         #Add directories of the vm’s virtual disk files
         foreach ($disk in $_.Layout.Disk) {
             foreach ($diskfile in $disk.diskfile){
                 $VmDirs += $diskfile.split(“/”)[0]
             }
         }
         #Only take unique array items
         $VmDirs = $VmDirs | Sort | Get-Unique
         foreach ($dir in $VmDirs){
             $ds = Get-Datastore ($dir.split(“[“)[1]).split(“]”)[0]
             $dsb = Get-View (($ds | get-view).Browser)
             $taskMoRef  = $dsb.SearchDatastoreSubFolders_Task($dir,$searchSpec)
             $task = Get-View $taskMoRef
             while($task.Info.State -eq “running” -or $task.Info.State -eq “queued”){$task = Get-View $taskMoRef }
             foreach ($result in $task.Info.Result){
                 foreach ($file in $result.File){
                     $VmSize += $file.FileSize
                 }
             }
         }
     }
     return $VmSize
}
################################## END FUNCTIONS #################################################
#Login to vCenter servers
if (($global:DefaultVIServers).Name -notcontains $SourceVC -or $DestinationVC) {

#SourceVC
$ConnectVC = Connect-VIServer $SourceVC
$Message = “Connecting to ” + $ConnectVC  + ” as ” + $env:USERNAME
#Logwrite $Message
#DestionationVC
$ConnectVC = Connect-VIServer $DestinationVC
$Message = “Connecting ” + $ConnectVC + ” as ” + $env:USERNAME
#Logwrite $Message

# Disconnect-VIServer * -Confirm:$false

}
Set-Location $location

$cluster=Get-Cluster -Server $SourceVC  | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Source Cluster”
$vmtomigrate =Get-Cluster $cluster -Server $SourceVC | Get-VM | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select VM”
$DestinationCluster = Get-Cluster -Server $DestinationVC | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Destination Cluster”
$vmfolder=Get-folder -Server $DestinationVC | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Folder”

#Main Script

    #Set $MigError to false befor migration
     $MigError = $false
     #Get VM variables
     $vm = get-vm $vmtomigrate
    
     #Define LogFile with time stamp
     $LogTime = Get-Date -Format “MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss”
    
     if([IO.Directory]::Exists($LogPath))
     {
     #Do Nothing!!
     }
     else
     {
     New-Item -ItemType directory -Path $LogPath
     }
     $LogFile = $LogPath+$VM+”-“+$LogTime+”.log”
    
     # LogWrite Gebruiker
    
     Logwrite $env:USERNAME

    # Get-VM Info   
    
     $VMHDDSize = Get-VmSize($vm)
     $VMHDDSize = [Math]::Round(($VMHDDSize / 1GB),2)

    Logwrite “Start Virtual Machine Move”
     #If WhatsApp make notice
     if ( $SendWhatsApp ) { LogWrite “Notifications will be send using WhatsApp to WhatsApp Group: $WhatsAppGroup” }
     #If DryRun make Notice
     if ( $Dryrun ) {
     Logwrite “Start move virtual machines $vm Disksize $VMHDDSize GB (DryRun)”
     SendWhatsApp “Start move virtual machines $vm Disksize $VMHDDSize GB(DryRun)”
     }
     else {
     Logwrite “Start move virtual machines $vm Disksize $VMHDDSize GB”
     SendWhatsApp “Start move virtual machines $vm Disksize $VMHDDSize GB”
     }
     $SourceCluster = get-vm $vm | Get-Cluster | select name
     $vmip = $vm  | Select @{N=”IP Address”;E={@($_.guest.IPAddress[0])}}
     $vmip = $vmip.”ip address”
     $VMHDDSize = Get-VmSize($vm)
     $VMHDDSize = [Math]::Round(($VMHDDSize / 1GB),2)
     $NetworkAdapter = Get-NetworkAdapter -VM $vm -Server $SourceVC
     $SourceVMPortGroup = Get-NetworkAdapter -vm $vm | Select NetworkName
     $switchname = $DestinationCluster
    

     $Datastore = Get-VM $vm | Get-DataStore -Server $sourceVC | Select @{N=”Name”;E={@($_.Name)}}
     $Datastore = $Datastore.Name
     $DatastoreExistinOthervCenter = Get-Cluster $DestinationCluster | Get-DataStore -Server $DestinationVC | ? {$_.Name -like “*$Datastore*”}

     if ($DatastoreExistinOthervCenter )
      {
      LogWrite  “Datastore exsist $DestinationCluster in  destination vCenter $DestinationVC “
      $destinationDatastore = $DatastoreExistinOthervCenter }
      Else
      {
      LogWrite  “Datastore does not exsist in $DestinationCluster destination vCenter $DestinationVC”
      # Select DataStore with the most free space and not in maintance
      $DatastoreCluster = “$DataStoreClusterPrefix”+”$DestinationCluster”
      $destinationDatastore = Get-DatastoreCluster $DatastoreCluster | Get-Datastore | Where {$_.State -ne “Maintenance”} | Sort-Object -Property FreeSpaceGB -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
      }

     $destinationDatastoreFreeSpace = $destinationDatastore | Select Name,@{N=”FreeSpace”;E={$_.ExtensionData.Summary.FreeSpace}}
      $destinationDatastoreFreeSpace = [Math]::Round(($destinationDatastoreFreeSpace.”FreeSpace” / 1GB),2)

    # Select the host with the less used memory
   
     $DestinationHost = Get-Cluster –Name $DestinationCluster –Server $DestinationVC | Get-VMhost -State Connected | Sort-Object -Property MemoryUsageGB | Select-Object -First 1
            
     # Change Here if you have a vm with multiple Network Cards (Remove the # for the multiple nics)
    
     if ($NetworkAdapter.Count-eq 1) {
         $DestinationVMPortgroup =@()
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic1”
      }
     elseif ($NetworkAdapter.Count-eq 2) {
         $DestinationVMPortgroup =@()
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic1”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic2”
     }
     elseif ($NetworkAdapter.Count-eq 3) {
         $DestinationVMPortgroup =@()
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic1”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic2”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic3”
     }
     elseif ($NetworkAdapter.Count-eq 4) {
         $DestinationVMPortgroup =@()
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic1”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic2”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic3”
         $DestinationVMPortgroup += Get-VirtualPortGroup -Server $DestinationVC -Vmhost $DestinationHost | Out-GridView -OutputMode Single -Title “Select Nic4”
     }

    LogWrite “Start move: $vm”
     Logwrite “VM IP: $vmip”
     Logwrite “VM Disk Used (GB): $VMHDDSize”
     Logwrite “VM Folder: $vmfolder”
     Logwrite “Source vCenter: $SourceVC”
     Logwrite “VM Source Cluster: $SourceCluster”
     Logwrite “Destination vCenter: $DestinationVC”
     Logwrite “VM Destination Cluster: $DestinationCluster”
     Logwrite “Destination host: $DestinationHost”
     LogWrite “VM Source PortGroup: $SourceVMPortGroup”
     LogWrite “VM Destination Portgroup: $DestinationVMPortgroup”
     Logwrite “VM Destination Datastore: $destinationDatastore”
     LogWrite “Destination Datastore FreeSpace GB: $destinationDatastoreFreeSpace “
     if ( $Dryrun ) {
       $FreespaceAfterMigration = $destinationDatastoreFreeSpace – $VMHDDSize
       if ( $FreespaceAfterMigration -lt 0 ) { Logwrite “ERROR: Datastore $destinationDatastore does not have sufficient freespace! Virtual Machine needs $VMHDDSize. Only $destinationDatastoreFreeSpace available.” }
       else { Logwrite “Virtual Machine will fit on datastore $destinationDatastore. Freespace after migration is: $FreespaceAfterMigration GB” }
     }
    #Test if VM responsed to ping
    if ($vmip -eq $null) {
     LogWrite “Virtual Machine ip address not known”
     Logwrite “No ping check will be performed after moving the Virtual Machine”
     }
    else {
         Test-Connection -comp $vmip -quiet
         LogWrite “Virtual Machine $vm response to ping before being moved. Virtual machine will be checked after being moved”
         $PingVM = $true
     }
      
     #if ( $VMHDDSize -eq
     if ( -NOT $Dryrun) {
       #Migrate VM to cluster
       LogWrite “Move $vm to vCenter $DestinationVC and datastore $DestinationDatastore”
       Try {
         $Result = Move-VM -VM $vm `
                            -Destination $DestinationHost `
                            -Datastore $DestinationDatastore `
                            -NetworkAdapter $NetworkAdapter `
                            -PortGroup $DestinationVMPortgroup `
                            -ErrorAction Stop
           }
       Catch {
         $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
         LogWrite “ERROR: Move of $vm to cluster $DestinationHost failed!!!”
         Logwrite “ERROR: Move Status Code:  $ErrorMessage”
         SendWhatsApp “ERROR: Move of $vm failed!!! $ErrorMessage”
         $MigError = $true   
       }
       #Migrate VM to folder
       LogWrite “Move $vm to vCenter $vmfolder”
       Try {
         $VMtemp = get-vm $vm
         $Result = Move-VM -VM $vmtemp -InventoryLocation $vmfolder -ErrorAction Stop
           }
       Catch {
         $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
         LogWrite “ERROR: Move of $vm to folder $vmfolder failed!!!”
         Logwrite “ERROR: Move Status Code:  $ErrorMessage”
         SendWhatsApp “ERROR: Move of $vm failed!!! $ErrorMessage”
         $MigError = $true   
         }
       }
    
     $MigError = $false
     #Test if VM is running on destination cluster
     if ( -NOT $MigError -AND -NOT $Dryrun ) {
       LogWrite “Check $vm is registered in $DestinationVC”
       try {
         $CheckVM = get-vm -name $vm -server $DestinationVC -ErrorAction Stop
 
         if ( $CheckVM ) {
           Logwrite “$vm registered in $DestinationVC”
         }
         else {
           Logwrite “ERROR: $vm not found in $DestinationVC”
         }
       }
       catch {
         $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
         Logwrite “ERROR: $vm not found in $DestinationVC”
         Logwrite “ERROR: $ErrorMessage”
         SendWhatsApp “ERROR move: $vm not found in $DestinationVC”
       }
     }
     #Test is VM response to ping, if $PingVM = $True
     if ($PingVM) {
       if (Test-Connection -comp $vmip -quiet) {
         LogWrite “Virtual Machine $vm response to ping after move”
         SendWhatsApp “Virtual Machine $vm response to ping after move”
       } 
     }
     sleep 1
     SendWhatsApp “Finished move action: $vm from $SourceVC to $DestinationVC”
     Logwrite “Finished move action: $vm from $SourceVC to $DestinationVC”

if ($DRSRecommendation)
  {
   Get-DrsRecommendation -Cluster $DestinationCluster -Server $DestinationVC | Apply-DrsRecommendation
   Logwrite “DRS Recommendatation applyed”
  }
Else
  {
  Logwrite “No DRS Recommendatation applyed”
  Write-Host “No DRS Recommendatation applyed”
  }  
 

#Disconnect from vCenter servers
Logwrite “Disconnect from vCenter servers $SourceVC $DestinationVC”
Disconnect-viserver $SourceVC -Confirm:$false
Disconnect-viserver $DestinationVC -Confirm:$false
Logwrite “Finished moving virtual machines, exiting…..”
SendWhatsApp “Finished moving virtual machines, exiting…..”

Deploy Multi VM’s based on Windows Template

I love powershell. I created a little script to deploy multi VM based on a Windows Template throug CSV file.

It’s create a computer account at the specfified ou. He greates also a Domain Local Group for management. (It used in the customization not specified here)

TempVMlist.csv

server,cpu,memory,DestinationCluster,OSCustomizationSpec,VMtemplate,adgroup

WARDTEST01,2,8,CLUSTER01,W2012R2_Demo,TPL_W2012R2_STD,ServerAdmin

MultiVM.ps1

#Filename: MultiVM.ps1

#Author: W. Vissers

#Source:

#Version: 1.1

#Date: 08-05-2018

#ChangeLog:

# V1.0 – Module Active Directory

#      – Module VMware PowerCli

#      – Active Directory Computer Account, Group

#      – Host Selected from Cluster with Least Memory

#      – Storage selection based on volume with most free space

# V1.1 – Added Harddisk 1&2

#      – Changed porte group other vlan

#

<#

.SYNOPSIS

Script to create a virtual machine from template

.DESCRIPTION

Script to create a virtual machine from template

.EXAMPLE

MultiVM.ps1

#>

################################## INIT #################################################

# LoadModule Active Directory

if (!(Get-Module “activedirectory”)) {Import-module activedirectory}

Else {Write-Host “Module Active Directory is al ready loaded”}

# LoadModule VMware PowerCLI

# if (!(Get-Module “VMware.PowerCLI”)) {

#    Find-Module VMware.PowerCLI

#    Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser

#}

#Else

# {

# Write-Host “Module PowerCLI is al ready loaded”

# }

#Config

$ouservers=”OU=Servers,DC=wardvissers.nl,DC=nl”

$ougroup=”OU=GroepObjecten,DC=wardvissers,DC=nl”

$folder=”Applicatie Servers”

$DestinationVC =”vcenter01.wardvissers.nl

#Username

if (!$username ) { $username = Read-Host “Give vCenter username ‘wardvissers\admin'”}

#Password

if ( -NOT $Password ) {

$PasswordSec = Read-Host “Give vCenter password” -AsSecureString

$Password = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto([Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($PasswordSec))

}

#Connect vCenter

$ConnectVC = Connect-VIServer $DestinationVC -Username $Username -Password $Password -AllLinked

$AllVMs = @()

$AllVMs = Import-Csv “D:\TempVMlist.csv”

foreach ($vm in $AllVMs) {

#Haal De Gegevens op

$server=$($vm.server)

$memory=$($vm.memory)

$cpu=$($vm.cpu)

$DestinationCluster=$($vm.DestinationCluster)

$OSSpec=”$($vm.OSCustomizationSpec)”

$VMtemplate=$($vm.VMtemplate)

$group=$($vm.adgroup)

$harddisk1=$($vm.harddisk1)

$harddisk2=$($vm.harddisk2)

Write-Host “$server heeft $memory GB memory en $cpu cpu(‘s)”

if ($server.length -gt 15) {

Write-Output “Hostname cannot contain more than 15 characters.”

$server = Read-Host “Re-enter hostname for host $server”}

Else

{

Write-Host “Server is umc server”

#Maak AD Groep aan en Computer Account

New-ADComputer -Name $server -Path $ouservers -Enabled $true

New-ADGroup -Name “DLG.$server” -SamAccountName “DLG.$server” -GroupCategory Security -GroupScope DomainLocal -DisplayName “DLG.$server” -Path $ougroup

Add-ADGroupMember -Identity “DLG.$server” -Members $group

}

# Rol server uit van Template

# Select the host with the less used memory

$DestinationHost = Get-Cluster –Name $DestinationCluster –Server $DestinationVC | Get-VMhost -State Connected | Sort-Object -Property MemoryUsageGB | Select-Object -First1

# Select DataStore with the most free space and not in maintance

$destinationDatastore = Get-Cluster $DestinationCluster | Get-Datastore | Where {$_.State -ne “Maintenance”} | Sort-Object -Property FreeSpaceGB -Descending | Select-Object -First 1

# Finally, I deploy my VM with the New-VM cmdlet using my template and OS specs. I place the VM on the ESXi host and store the VM on the datastore.

New-VM -Name $server -Template $VMTemplate -OSCustomizationSpec $OSSpec -VMHost $DestinationHOST -Datastore $DestinationDatastore -Location $folder

Get-VM $server | Set-VM -NumCpu $cpu -MemoryGB $memory -Confirm:$false

if ($harddisk1 -gt 60){Get-HardDisk -vm $server | Where {$_.Name -eq “Hard disk 1”} | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB $harddisk1 -Confirm:$false}

if ($harddisk2 -gt 20) {Get-HardDisk -vm $server | Where {$_.Name -eq “Hard disk 2”} | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB $harddisk2 -Confirm:$false}

Get-VM $server | Start-VM -Confirm:$false

Get-VM $Server | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -Connected $true -Confirm:$false

}

RVtools 3.10 Released

Version 3.10 (February, 2018)
– Upgraded RVTools solution to Visual Studio 2017
– Upgraded RVTools to .Net Framework version 4.6.1
– Upgraded Log4net to version 2.0.8, Waffle.AD to version 1.8.3
and NPOI to version 2.3.0
– Connection error when TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1 are disabled and only TLSv1.2 is
enabled is solved by using .Net Framework 4.6.1
– vInfo tab page new columns: The latency-sensitivity setting of the virtual
machine, Change Block Tracking (CBT) and disk.EnableUUID values
– vDisk tab page new columns: SCSI label, unit number and sharedBus
– vHost tab page new columns: Assigned License(s), ATS heartbeat, ATS locking
values. 0 = disabled 1 = enabled, Host Power Policy shortname, CPU Power
Management current policy and CPU power hardware support
– When Export to xlsx is executed a metadata worksheet with version number of
RVTools and date time stamp is added to the output xlsx file
– All columns in the RVTools export xlsx file(s) now have a filter
– When export to csv newline characters are replaced by spaces
– When started from cli and login fails an error message and login box was
displayed. Now RVTools will exit with exit code -1, without showing the error
message and login form.
– Added an example PowerShell script with which you can merge RVTools export
xlsx files
– Added a example PowerShell script to start Export all to xlsx for multiple vCenters
– vDatastore tab page: For NFS datastores the address column is now filled with
remote host and path info
– vDatastore tab page new columns: Datastore Cluster Name, Cluster capacity and
Cluster free space
– The upper limit on the Health check for number of VMs on a datastore is now
9999
– vHealth tab page: new column “message type” which can be used as a filter in
Excel
– vHealth tab page: hbrdisk.RDID files are no longer reported as possible zombie
files
– vHealth tab page: low disk space messages no also show the free space in MB.
– All tab pages: Refresh or auto-refresh will respect your sort order
– CLI export2xls parameters changed to export2xlsx (old parameter will still work)
– Bug Fix: invalid “Horizontal Alignment” value in xlsx style sheet.
– Bug Fix: Calculation of total snapshot size was not always correct
– Bug Fix: Child snapshot hierarchy was not always correct
– Default installation directory is changed to C:\Program Files
(x86)\RobWare\RVTools without the version number

Documentation

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