Hello everyone
Taking as a reference the Top 10 VMware Admin Tools
list, this time I am going to show you how to use the vDiagram
tool that has the #6 position in the list of the most used tools by VMware infrastructure administrators. In essence this PowerShell script captures and draws a VMware vSphere infrastructure using Microsoft Visio. Originally this tool was created by Alan Renouf @alanrenouf
and currently the project is maintained by Tony Gonzalez @vDiagram_Tony
.
To use this tool, the following requirements must be met:
- PowerShell >= 5.1
- PowerCLI module (
Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI) - Microsoft Visio 2013+
Once all the requirements are fulfilled, proceed to download the PowerShell code. To download the application, click on the following link:
https://github.com/Tony-SouthFLVMUG/vDiagram2.0
Once the package is downloaded proceed to unpack the contents.
PS C:\> Expand-Archive -LiteralPath .\vDiagram2.0-master.zip -DestinationPath .
PS C:\> ls vD*
Directory: C:\Users\jocolon\Downloads
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 8/26/2021 11:15 AM vDiagram2.0-master
-a---- 7/21/2021 9:37 AM 12470234 vDiagram2.0-master.zip
PS C:\>
Move to the unzipped folder and validate the content with the ls or dir command.
PS C:\> cd .\vDiagram2.0-master\
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master> ls
Directory: C:\vDiagram2.0-master
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM archived
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 66 .gitattributes
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 5771 README.md
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 109288 vDiagram.ico
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 673926 vDiagram_2.0.11.ps1
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 985128 vDiagram_2.0.11.vssx
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 116398 vDiagram_Scheduled_Task_2.0.11.ps1
-a---- 2/15/2021 5:29 PM 254037 vDiagram_Standard.png
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master>
Use the Unblock-File command that allows us to execute files that have been downloaded from the Internet.
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master> Unblock-File .\vDiagram_2.0.11.ps1
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master>
In this step with the $PSVersionTable command confirm the PowerShell version locally installed. Reviewing the requirements section above you can see that in order to use the vDiagram tool you need to have a PowerShell version 5.1.x or higher. In the example below you can see that my computer has version 5.1.19041.1151.
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master> $PSVersionTable
Name Value
---- -----
PSVersion 5.1.19041.1151
PSEdition Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion 10.0.19041.1151
CLRVersion 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master>
Additionally, you must validate the PowerCLI module. With the Get-Module command you can validate the PowerCLI installed version.
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master> Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name 'VMware.PowerCLI' | Sort-Object -Property Version -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
Directory: C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules
ModuleType Version Name ExportedCommands
---------- ------- ---- ----------------
Manifest 12.3.0.... VMware.PowerCLI
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master>
After all requirements are met you can run the script by calling file .vDiagram_2.0.11.ps1.
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master>
PS C:\vDiagram2.0-master> .\vDiagram_2.0.11.ps1
[08/24/2021 10:45:16] VMware PowerCLI Module(s) 12.3.0.17860403 11.5.0.14912921 found on this machine.
Once the program finishes running you can see in the Prerequisites tab a summary of all the dependencies and their status. In the below example all dependencies are shown in green color, which indicates that they are installed.
Following the steps as shown in the Directions tab, it is necessary to enter the IP/FQDN address of the vCenter and the credentials. It is important to mention that a read only account is the only needed privileges needed to connect and extract the required information.
Once the vCenter information is filled in, proceed to validate the connection by pressing the Connect to vCenter button. As you can see in the below image the button changes to green indicating that there was a successful connection to vCenter with the provided credentials.
The next step would be to select the Capture CSVs for Visio tab and specify the folder where the reports will be saved. In the below example I used the <Desktop/Output> folder.
It is important to mention that for each selected value a file will be created with the information of the respective element.
Then proceed to Click on Collect CSV Data to start the data collection process.
Once the data collection process ends, select the Draw Visio tab and configure the Select CSV Input Folder option.
Next, the folder where the previously collected data was stored is selected. In the following example it would be the <Desktop/Output> folder that I used in the Capture CSVs for Visio section.
It is now important to verify that all the information needed to build the diagram has been provided by clicking on the CSV Validation Complete button.
In the following step it is required to specify a folder where the diagram will be saved once it has been generated. To do so, click on Select Visio output folder and then select the folder to be used for this purpose. In the following example I have selected <Desktop/Output>.
In the Visio Output Folder area select the multiple options available to generate the diagram. Once you have selected the Output folder you can generate the diagram by clicking on the Draw Visio button.
At this step click OK in the notification about the diagram creation.
To view the generated diagram of our virtual infrastructure, click on the Open Visio Diagram button.
Finally, here are some sample images of the diagrams generated using my HomeLab virtual infrastructure as an example.
Summary
In this lab a tool called vDiagram is demonstrated, which allows us to make a logical representation of how the components of our virtual infrastructure are related. The good thing about this tool is that it is available for free. I hope you liked this lab. If you have any doubts or questions about this lab, leave them in the comments. Hasta Luego!!!!