In this blog I will be showing you how to install the PowerCLI tool specifically on the ArchLinux operating system. Archlinux is an advanced Linux distribution that is characterized by being simple and lightweight. Additionally, it offers the user full control in managing and modifying everything related to the system.
Well, to install and use PowerCLI we have to install Powershell first. PowerShell is a cross-platform automation and configuration tool. PowerShell has a large number of commands oriented to system administration. But at the same time, PowerShell is a full-featured programming language that allows writing functional programs. There are many Powershell-based administration tools from different manufacturers such as:
- VMware PowerCLI
- Cisco UCS PowerTool
- NetApp PowerShell Toolkit
- DELL\EMC Unity-Powershell
- Amazon AWS Tools for PowerShell
As you can see Powershell is a tool highly used by infrastructure manufacturers and is offered as a method for automation or rapid deployment of software-based infrastructure. Powershell is my second preferred programming language with Python at the top of my list.
The first thing we have to do is to install Powershell and for this I will use the program yay which is a tool in Archlinux to install programs from the unofficial repository Arch User Repository. With the command yay -S powershell-bin we can install the Powershell program to the system.
yay -S powershell-bin
[rebelinux@blabla ~]$ yay -S powershell-bin
:: Checking for conflicts...
:: Checking for inner conflicts...
[Aur:1] powershell-bin-7.1.3-1
:: Downloaded PKGBUILD (1/1): powershell-bin
1 powershell-bin (Installed) (Build Files Exist)
==> Diffs to show?
==> [N]one [A]ll [Ab]ort [I]nstalled [No]tInstalled or (1 2 3, 1-3, ^4)
==>
:: (1/1) Parsing SRCINFO: powershell-bin
==> Making package: powershell-bin 7.1.3-1 (Sat 05 Jun 2021 08:08:03 PM AST)
==> Retrieving sources...
-> Downloading powershell_7.1.3-1.ubuntu.18.04_amd64.deb...
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 647 100 647 0 0 1473 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 1473
100 65.1M 100 65.1M 0 0 1182k 0 0:00:56 0:00:56 --:--:-- 1201k
==> Validating source files with sha256sums...
powershell_7.1.3-1.ubuntu.18.04_amd64.deb ... Passed
==> Making package: powershell-bin 7.1.3-1 (Sat 05 Jun 2021 08:09:00 PM AST)
==> Checking runtime dependencies...
==> Checking buildtime dependencies...
==> Retrieving sources...
-> Found powershell_7.1.3-1.ubuntu.18.04_amd64.deb
==> Validating source files with sha256sums...
powershell_7.1.3-1.ubuntu.18.04_amd64.deb ... Passed
==> Removing existing $srcdir/ directory...
==> Extracting sources...
-> Extracting powershell_7.1.3-1.ubuntu.18.04_amd64.deb with bsdtar
==> Sources are ready.
==> Making package: powershell-bin 7.1.3-1 (Sat 05 Jun 2021 08:09:01 PM AST)
==> Checking runtime dependencies...
==> Checking buildtime dependencies...
==> WARNING: Using existing $srcdir/ tree
==> Entering fakeroot environment...
==> Starting package()...
==> Tidying install...
-> Removing libtool files...
-> Purging unwanted files...
-> Compressing man and info pages...
==> Checking for packaging issues...
==> Creating package "powershell-bin"...
-> Generating .PKGINFO file...
-> Generating .BUILDINFO file...
-> Adding install file...
-> Generating .MTREE file...
-> Compressing package...
==> Leaving fakeroot environment.
==> Finished making: powershell-bin 7.1.3-1 (Sat 05 Jun 2021 08:09:05 PM AST)
==> Cleaning up...
[sudo] password for rebelinux:
loading packages...
warning: powershell-bin-7.1.3-1 is up to date -- reinstalling
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Packages (1) powershell-bin-7.1.3-1
Total Installed Size: 170.21 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 0.00 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
(1/1) checking keys in keyring [########################################################################################] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity [########################################################################################] 100%
(1/1) loading package files [########################################################################################] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts [########################################################################################] 100%
(1/1) checking available disk space [########################################################################################] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) reinstalling powershell-bin [########################################################################################] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/1) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
[rebelinux@blabla ~]$
There is another more advanced installation method that also allows you to install Powershell from the command line. I leave here the required commands.
Manual installation of Powershell
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/powershell-bin.git
cd powershell-bin
makepkg -si
To access the Powershell application the pwsh command is used to call the interpreter. From the interpreter we can run Powershell commands that are commonly called Cmdlets.
[rebelinux@blabla ~]$ pwsh
<strong>PowerShell 7.1.3</strong>
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
https://aka.ms/powershell
Type 'help' to get help.
PS /home/rebelinux>
The next step to run PowerCLI is to install its module by using the Install-Module -name VMware.PowerCLI command from the Powershell interpreter.
PS /home/blabla> Install-Module -name VMware.PowerCLI
Untrusted repository
You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from 'PSGallery'?
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"): A
PS /home/blabla>
To connect to the vCenter we use the cmdlet Connect-VIServer specifying the IP address or DNS name of the server.
PS /home/blabla> Connect-VIServer vcenter-01v.zenprsolutions.local -Verbose -Username administrator@vsphere.local -Password XXXXXX
Name Port User
---- ---- ----
vcenter-01v.zenprsolutions.local 443 VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator
PS /home/blabla>
I will use a basic command to do connection testing against vCenter. In this test I will use the Get-Cluster command to check the currently created clusters.
PS /home/blabla> Get-Cluster
Name HAEnabled HAFailover DrsEnabled DrsAutomationLevel
Level
---- --------- ---------- ---------- ------------------
RegionA01-EDGE False 1 True FullyAutomated
RegionHQ-MGMT False 1 True FullyAutomated
RegionA01-COMP True 1 True FullyAutomated
PS /home/blabla>
Another basic example is to use the Get-Datastore command to validate which datastores currently exist in the virtual DataCenter. In the output of the Get-Datastore command you can see the free and used space in the datastores configured in the DataCenter.
PS /home/blabla> Get-Datastore
Name FreeSpaceGB CapacityGB
---- ----------- ----------
SSD-VM-HIGH-CAPACITY-PERF-KN 173.708 894.000
NVME-VM-HIGH-PERF-01 0.017 476.750
SSD-VM-HIGH-CAPACITY-PERF-MK 251.536 931.250
HDD-VM-MED-PERF-02 2,232.268 3,726.000
HDD-VM-MED-PERF-01 2,509.246 3,726.000
esx-00f 110.801 111.750
NVME-VFLASH-01 0.840 238.250
HDD-VM-ISO-LOW-PERF 606.936 931.250
NFS_SNAP_OFFLOAD 29.258 50.000
SRM_PlaceHolder 97.170 99.750
SERVER_DATASTORE 92.444 99.750
PS /home/blabla>