md5checksum with Powershell

I had a problem that I was sure PowerShell and a Google search could handle. I needed to be able to verify the check sum for some downloaded files. The problem was that we didn’t have any approved software on our network to use. I found this script here. Just thought I would pass on the info.

</code>

<code>param
(
$file
)

$algo = [System.Security.Cryptography.HashAlgorithm]::Create("MD5")
$stream = New-Object System.IO.FileStream($file, [System.IO.FileMode]::Open)

$md5StringBuilder = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder
$algo.ComputeHash($stream) | % { [void] $md5StringBuilder.Append($_.ToString("x2")) }
$md5StringBuilder.ToString()

$stream.Dispose()</code>

<code>

Open powershell and CD to where you saved the ps1 file

To run the script type

./md5checker.ps1 PathToMyISOorEXEtocheck

So the command would look like this after I cd into the directory where the script is. You can also type the full path to the script to run it if you want. The ./ just says to run the script from the current directory.

C:\PowershellScripts> ./md5Checker.ps1 C:\Downloads\VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0.update1-348481.x86_64.iso

And the output looks like this.

d68d6c2e040a87cd04cd18c04c22c998

Hope this helps someone

Disabling ESXi services with PowerCLI

In an effort to secure our infrastructure that is spread out in many remote locations, but managed by a center vCenter server or servers, I needed a fast way to disable some services. I wanted to be able to run through all of my hosts and ensure that the DCUI (Direct Console User Interface), TSM (TechSupport Mode), and TSM-SSH (Remote Tech Support Mode) were all configured the way that I wanted them. I wanted to be sure that the service was stopped as well as set to only be manually started. I didn’t want a reboot to start the services up again without me knowing about it. So I thought that PowerCLI would be the way to go. Anything that I have to do more than once needs to be scripted in my opinion. Plus I like working with and learning Powershell. . This is what I came up with. As always test this and all scripts in a lab before using them on a production network.

connect-viserver $vCenterServer

foreach($vh in get-vmhost){

$policies=get-vmhost | get-vmhostservice |where {$_.key -eq "DCUI" -or $_.key -eq "TSM" -or $_.key -eq "TSM-SSH"}

foreach ($policy in $policies){

if($policy.policy -eq "on" -or $policy.policy -eq "automatic")
    {$policy|set-vmhostservice -Policy off}
    else {write-host "Nothing to do $policy Service is already set to Manual"}

if($policy.running)
    {$policy |stop-vmhostservice -confirm:$false}
    else{write-host "Nothing to do for $policy Service it is already stopped"}

    }
  }

Using PowerCLI to configure many vCenter Clusters and Folders

In our organization we are preparing for the full rollout of a large and extremely distributed virtual infrastructure. We will have twelve plus vCenters to manage this widely distributed infrastructure. Having to configure this many vCenters along with the large number of clusters and all of the security that needs to be implemented I decided to script much of the configuration of these vCenters. One of the nice things is that we are able to keep the majority of the configuration settings standard across the clusters and folder structure we have designed. One of the driving forces to ensure this standardization is the ease of management for the O&M office. This way when managing or troubleshooting a site/cluster it will not be like walking into a new jungle that has not yet been explored by the team. PowerCLI was our choice to accomplish this.

The script that I have posted below is an example of what a virtual administrator can use to rapidly stage a vCenter. It is by no means an exhausted example of what can be done but I hope that it may help others or provide some ideas of what can be done. There very well may be, and probably is, a cleaner way of doing this. But, here is what I have come up with. Of course with the help from my colleagues and VMTN.

The first portion of the script gathers information from the administrator . Most are obvious but the reason for asking for the Domain name is that the top-level folder in the VM and Template view in VC has been configured with the name of the folder.

##Gathering data for use in the script
$vc=read-host "Enter the FQDN of the VirtualCenter you want to Connect to"
$datacenter=read-host "Enter the name of the datacenter on this VC where you want to add the Cluster"
$domain=read-host "Enter the Domain that this VC Manages"
$vcCred=get-credential

So now that the requisite data has been gathered the script will now connect to the vCenter and begin the configuration. One thing to note is that we are currently using a text file that contains the names of the sites that will be used for the cluster names as well as folder names.

 

##Connect to the vCenter Server
Connect-viserver $vc -Credential $vcCred
foreach ($item in get-content c:\sites.txt) {
$sitename=$item
$cluster="$sitename Cluster"
#Create a folder for the new site
New-Folder -Name $Sitename -Location $datacenter -Confirm:$false
#Create a cluster for the new site
New-Cluster -Name $cluster -Location $sitename -HAEnabled:$true -DrsEnabled:$true -DrsAutomationLevel fullyautomated -confirm:$false
#Set HA Advanced Configuration option to extend Failure detection time to 60 seconds
$optionValue = New-Object Vmware.Vim.OptionValue$optionValue.Key = "das.failuredetectiontime"$optionValue.Value = "=60000"

$getcluster = get-cluster -Name $cluster     # Get the cluster
$clusterview = get-view $getcluster.Id
# Get the SDK object from the PowerCli object MO
$spec = New-Object Vmware.Vim.ClusterConfigSpecEx
$spec.dasConfig = New-Object Vmware.Vim.ClusterDasConfigInfo   # New VMware HA config
$spec.dasConfig.option = $optionValue      # Add the array of optionValues
$clusterview.ReconfigureComputeResource($spec, $true)    # Modify the configuration. When configuring clusters, can be a ClusterConfigSpecEx object
#Set the DRS Migration threshhold 1 is most aggressive and 5 is the most conservative
$rate = 2
$clusSpec = New-Object VMware.Vim.ClusterConfigSpecEx
$clusSpec.drsConfig = New-Object VMware.Vim.ClusterDrsConfigInfo
$clusSPec.drsConfig.vmotionRate = $rate
$clusterview.ReconfigureComputeResource_Task($clusSpec, $true)
}

 

Now we are going to configure the Folders in the VM and Template view. We use these folders to organize the VMs but also to allow for the access control that we need to implement for the vCenter. For now due to the limited amount of concurrent connections to vCenter we have the different support and business units access vCenter through the web interface. It is unfortunate for us that the web access is no longer going to be developed after vCenter 4.1. This is stated in the release notes for vSphere 4.1.

foreach ($item in get-content c:\sites.txt) {

$sitename=$item

new-folder -Name $Sitename -Location (get-folder $Domain)

new-folder -Name "Domain Controlers" -Location (get-folder $sitename |where {$_.ID -like "Folder-group-v*"})

new-folder -Name "Exchange" -Location (get-folder $sitename |where {$_.ID -like "Folder-group-v*"})

new-folder -Name "SMS" -Location (get-folder $sitename |where {$_.ID -like "Folder-group-v*"})

}

Please feel free to use what you like from this script and post any constructive comments. And as usual any use of this script in part or whole is done at the users own risk and no guarantees are given. Good luck and I hope that this will help someone.

In a future post I may show how we automate the access controls for these folders. If anyone is interested in hearing about that let me know.

-SNA

Lets Get this Started

I am not really sure where to begin. I guess I can start with letting everyone know a little about where I see this Blog going. I am not a big writer or long-winded. This may because even though I have been in IT for about six years now (yea that’s it) and I still can’t type very well. Or, It could be because I generally like to be to the point, say what I have to say and move on. I hope that you will be able to find useful information here on this site and add helpful comments as well. I will do my best to give credit where it is due but if I forget to give someone credit or where I found the information I will just say sorry in advance.

I will add some PowerCLI/Powershell scripts that have helped in my daily work and for the organization that I work for here soon as well. Many of them have been completed with the help of some PowerCLI rock stars that can be found on VMTN. Other portions have polished up with the help of my colleagues. And all of them have been completed while learning to use these great tools.

I don’t foresee all of the posts dealing solely with Virtualization but a good number of them will.

That’s all for now but I will hopefully have a post with some valuable content soon.

-SNA