Tag: horizon

PowerCLI Script to Horizon Desktop Pool machine counts & provisioning type

  By , , , , , ,

A long time ago in a galaxy far way I used to be a freelancer for ControlUp creating Script Actions and that actually helped me in securing a job with this great company. One of the first SBA’s that I made was one to change the amount of machines in a desktop pool. Recently one of our customers asked if it was possible to also control the minimum amount and powered on machines. Today I have updated this sba and it will be published shortly (if it hasn’t been published when you read this hit me up for a preview sba xml file). I took it a step further though and added the option to change the provisioning type. With a small security piece in place to prevent you from accidentally changing the type. Besides this being published as an sba I have also published a script that can be used from any computer using PowerCLI.

To be clear: this script uses PowerCLI with the SOAP api’s so it should work with almost all Horizon Versions since 7.5. If I find the time I will create a REST version but that will only work with Horizon 8 2111 and above.

The parameters:

  • Credentials : This optional parameter needs a credential object from get-credential. If you don’t supply it you will get a popup for credentials
  • HVDesktopPoolname: Required parameter with the name of the Desktop Pool to change
  • HVConnectionServerFQDN: Required parameter with the FQDN for a connection server to connect to
  • Provisioningtype: Optional Parameter if you want to change the provisioning type. Has to be either UP_FRONT or ON_DEMAND
  • ChangeProvisioningtype: optional parameter that needs either $true or $false and defaults to $false if not provided. The script will error if you set this to false while the provisionintype is different from the current one.
  • maxNumberOfMachines: required parameter with the maximum amount of machines
  • minNumberOfMachines: required parameter when using ON_DEMAND as provisioning type for the minimum amount of machines. Validation is done later in the script so it will not ask for an amount if not provided.
  • numberOfSpareMachines: required parameter when using ON_DEMAND as provisioning type for the minimum amount of powered on machines. Validation is done later in the script so it will not ask for an amount if not provided.

Usage:

Set-Desktoppoolmachinecountandtype.ps1 -Credentials $creds  -HVDesktopPoolname Pod01-Pool02 -HVConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Provisioningtype ON_DEMAND -maxNumberOfMachines 10 -minNumberOfMachines 3 -ChangeProvisioningtype $true -numberOfSpareMachines 4

or

Set-Desktoppoolmachinecountandtype.ps1 -Credentials $creds  -HVDesktopPoolname Pod01-Pool02 -HVConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Provisioningtype UP_FRONT -maxNumberOfMachines 10 -ChangeProvisioningtype $false

there’s an option to add -verbose for a bit more visibility, I will use this in my screenshots:

Changing the count for an pool that provisions all desktops up front

Changing the count & type but not setting the changeprovisioningtype to $true

Corrected changeprovisioningtype

As usual the script is available on Github or down below

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Changes the amount of Desktops in a Horizon Desktop Pool

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script changes the amount of Desktops in a Horizon Desktop Pool.

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password. If not supplied the script will ask for user and password.

    .PARAMETER HVDesktopPoolname
    Name of the Desktop Pool to update

    .PARAMETER Provisioningtype
    Use ON_DEMAND to provision all desktops up front (will ignore minNumberOfMachines and numberOfSpareMachines

    .PARAMETER ChangeProvisioningtype
    User either True or False to enable or disable the changing of the provisioning type

    .PARAMETER maxNumberOfMachines
    Maximum number of desktops in the pool

    .PARAMETER minNumberOfMachines
    Minimum number of desktops in the pool

    .PARAMETER numberOfSpareMachines
    Minimum number of powered on desktops in the pool

    .PARAMETER HVConnectionServerFQDN
    FQDN for a connectionserver in the pod the pool belongs to.

    .EXAMPLE
    Set-Desktoppoolmachinecountandtype.ps1 -Credentials $creds  -HVDesktopPoolname Pod01-Pool02 -HVConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Provisioningtype ON_DEMAND -maxNumberOfMachines 10 -minNumberOfMachines 3 -ChangeProvisioningtype $true -numberOfSpareMachines 4
    
    .EXAMPLE
    Set-Desktoppoolmachinecountandtype.ps1 -Credentials $creds  -HVDesktopPoolname Pod01-Pool02 -HVConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Provisioningtype UP_FRONT -maxNumberOfMachines 10 -ChangeProvisioningtype $false

    .EXAMPLE
    Set-Desktoppoolmachinecountandtype.ps1 -Credentials $creds  -HVDesktopPoolname Pod01-Pool02 -HVConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -maxNumberOfMachines 10

    .NOTES
    This script requires VMWare PowerCLI to be installed on the machine running the script.
    PowerCLI can be installed through PowerShell (PowerShell version 5 or higher required) by running the command 'Install-Module VMWare.PowerCLI -Force -AllowCLobber -Scope AllUsers' Or by using the 'Install VMware PowerCLI' script.
    Credentials can be set using the 'Prepare machine for Horizon View scripts' script.

    Modification history:   12/12/2019 - Wouter Kursten - First version
                            26/03/2022 - Wouter Kursten - Added options for on demand provisioning

    .LINK
    https://code.vmware.com/web/tool/11.3.0/vmware-powercli


    .COMPONENT
    VMWare PowerCLI

#>

[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credentials,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Name of the Desktop Pool'
    )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $HVDesktopPoolname,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='FQDN for the connection server'
    )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $HVConnectionServerFQDN,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$false,
        HelpMessage='Provisioning type'
    )]
    [ValidateSet("UP_FRONT","ON_DEMAND")]
    [string] $Provisioningtype,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$false,
        HelpMessage='Change Provisioning type?'
    )]
    [ValidateSet("True","False")]
    [bool] $ChangeProvisioningtype = $false,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Maximum number of machines in the desktop.'
    )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [int] $maxNumberOfMachines,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName = 'ondemand',
        HelpMessage='The minimum number of machines to have provisioned if on demand provisioning is selected. Will be ignored if provisioningtype is set to UP_FRONT.'
    )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [int] $minNumberOfMachines,

    [Parameter(
        Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName = 'ondemand',
        HelpMessage='Number of spare powered on machines. Will be ignored if provisioningtype is set to UP_FRONT.'
    )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [int] $numberOfSpareMachines
)

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Load-VMWareModules {
    <# Imports VMware modules
    NOTES:
    - The required modules to be loaded are passed as an array.
    - In versions of PowerCLI below 6.5 some of the modules can't be imported (below version 6 it is Snapins only) using so Add-PSSnapin is used (which automatically loads all VMWare modules)
    #>

    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The VMware module to be loaded. Can be single or multiple values (as array).")]
        [array]$Components
    )

    # Try Import-Module for each passed component, try Add-PSSnapin if this fails (only if -Prefix was not specified)
    # Import each module, if Import-Module fails try Add-PSSnapin
    foreach ($component in $Components) {
        try {
            $null = Import-Module -Name VMware.$component
        }
        catch {
            try {
                $null = Add-PSSnapin -Name VMware
            }
            catch {
                write-error 'The required VMWare modules were not found as modules or snapins. Please check the .NOTES and .COMPONENTS sections in the Comments of this script for details.'
                exit
            }
        }
    }
}

function Connect-HorizonConnectionServer {
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The FQDN of the Horizon View Connection server. IP address may be used.")]
        [string]$HVConnectionServerFQDN,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The PSCredential object used for authentication.")]
        [PSCredential]$Credential
    )
    # Try to connect to the Connection server
    try {
        Connect-HVServer -Server $HVConnectionServerFQDN -Credential $Credential
    }
    catch {
        write-error "There was a problem connecting to the Horizon View Connection server: $_."
        exit
    }
}

function Disconnect-HorizonConnectionServer {
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The Horizon View Connection server object.")]
        [VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView.Impl.V1.ViewObjectImpl]$HVConnectionServer
    )
    # Try to connect from the connection server
    try {
        Disconnect-HVServer -Server $HVConnectionServer -Confirm:$false
    }
    catch {
        write-error  "There was a problem disconnecting from the Horizon View Connection server: $_"
        exit
    }
}

function Get-HVDesktopPool {
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
        HelpMessage = "Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
        [string]$HVPoolName,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
        HelpMessage = "The Horizon View Connection server object.")]
        [VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView.Impl.V1.ViewObjectImpl]$HVConnectionServer
    )
    # Try to get the Desktop pools in this pod
    try {
        # create the service object first
        [VMware.Hv.QueryServiceService]$queryService = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryServiceService
        # Create the object with the definiton of what to query
        [VMware.Hv.QueryDefinition]$defn = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryDefinition
        # entity type to query
        $defn.queryEntityType = 'DesktopSummaryView'
        # Filter oud rds desktop pools since they don't contain machines
        $defn.Filter = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryFilterEquals -property @{'memberName'='desktopSummaryData.displayName'; 'value' = "$HVPoolname"}
        # Perform the actual query
        [array]$queryResults= ($queryService.queryService_create($HVConnectionServer.extensionData, $defn)).results
        # Remove the query
        $queryService.QueryService_DeleteAll($HVConnectionServer.extensionData)
        # Return the results
        if (!$queryResults){
            write-error  "Can't find $HVPoolName, exiting"
            exit
        }
        elseif (($queryResults).desktopsummarydata.type -eq "MANUAL"){
            write-output  "This a manual Horizon View Desktop Pool, cannot change the amount of desktops"
            exit
        }
        elseif (($queryResults).desktopsummarydata.source -eq "VIRTUAL_CENTER"){
            write-output  "This a Full Clone Horizon View Desktop Pool, if the amount of desktops has been reduced the extra systems need to be removed manually"
            return $queryResults
        }
        else {
            return $queryResults
        }
    }
    catch {
        write-error  "There was a problem retreiving the Horizon View Desktop Pool: $_"
        exit
    }
}

function get-hvpoolspec{
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "ID of the Desktop Pool.")]
        [VMware.Hv.DesktopId]$HVPoolID,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The Horizon View Connection server object.")]
        [VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView.Impl.V1.ViewObjectImpl]$HVConnectionServer
    )
    try {
        $HVConnectionServer.ExtensionData.Desktop.Desktop_Get($HVPoolID)
    }
    catch {
        write-error "There was a problem retreiving the desktop pool details: $_"
        exit
    }
}

function Set-HVPool {
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "ID of the Desktop Pool.")]
        [VMware.Hv.DesktopId]$HVPoolID,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
        HelpMessage = "Provisioning type UP_FRONT or ON_DEMAND")]
        [ValidateSet("UP_FRONT","ON_DEMAND")]
        [string] $Provisioningtype,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "Desired amount of desktops in the pool.")]
        [int]$maxNumberOfMachines,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
        HelpMessage = "Desired amount of spare desktops in the pool.")]
        [int]$numberOfSpareMachines,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
        HelpMessage = "Desired minimum amount of desktops in the pool.")]
        [int]$minNumberOfMachines,
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
            HelpMessage = "The Horizon View Connection server object.")]
        [VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView.Impl.V1.ViewObjectImpl]$HVConnectionServer
    )
    if($Provisioningtype -eq "UP_FRONT"){
        try {
            # First define the Service we need
            [VMware.Hv.DesktopService]$desktopservice=new-object vmware.hv.DesktopService
            # Fill the helper for this service with the application information
            $desktophelper=$desktopservice.read($HVConnectionServer.extensionData, $HVPoolID)
            # Change the state of the application in the helper
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setMaxNumberOfMachines($maxNumberOfMachines)
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setProvisioningTime("UP_FRONT")
            # Apply the helper to the actual object
            $desktopservice.update($HVConnectionServer.extensionData, $desktophelper)
        }
        catch {
            write-error "There was a problem changing the desktop count: $_"
            exit
        }
    }
    else{
        try {
            # First define the Service we need
            [VMware.Hv.DesktopService]$desktopservice=new-object vmware.hv.DesktopService
            # Fill the helper for this service with the application information
            $desktophelper=$desktopservice.read($HVConnectionServer.extensionData, $HVPoolID)
            # Change the state of the application in the helper
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setminNumberOfMachines($minNumberOfMachines)
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setMaxNumberOfMachines($maxNumberOfMachines)
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setnumberOfSpareMachines($numberOfSpareMachines)
            $desktophelper.getAutomatedDesktopDataHelper().getVmNamingSettingsHelper().getPatternNamingSettingsHelper().setProvisioningTime("ON_DEMAND")
            # Apply the helper to the actual object
            $desktopservice.update($HVConnectionServer.extensionData, $desktophelper)
        }
        catch {
            write-error "There was a problem changing the desktop count: $_"
            exit
        }
    }
}

write-verbose "Script will change this Desktop Pool: $HVDesktopPoolName"
write-verbose "Script will connect to this Connection Server: $HVConnectionServerFQDN "
if($Provisioningtype){
    write-verbose "Provisioningtype was set to $Provisioningtype"
}
else{
    write-verbose "No ProvisioningType was provided"
}

write-verbose "ChangeProvisioningtype was set to $ChangeProvisioningtype"
write-verbose "New Maximum Desktop Count is $maxNumberOfMachines "
if($minNumberOfMachines){
    write-verbose "minNumberOfMachines was set to $minNumberOfMachines"
}
else{
    write-verbose "No minNumberOfMachines was provided"
}

if($numberOfSpareMachines){
    write-verbose "numberOfSpareMachines was set to $numberOfSpareMachines"
}
else{
    write-verbose "No numberOfSpareMachines was provided"
}

if($Credentials){
    $creds = $credentials
}
else{
    $creds = get-credential
}



# Connect to the Horizon View Connection Server

[VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView.Impl.V1.ViewObjectImpl]$objHVConnectionServer = Connect-HorizonConnectionServer -HVConnectionServerFQDN $HVConnectionServerFQDN -Credential $creds

# Retreive the desktop pool
$HVPool=Get-HVDesktopPool -HVPoolName $HVDesktopPoolname -HVConnectionServer $objHVConnectionServer
write-verbose  "Retreived information about $HVDesktopPoolname"

# But we only need the ID
$HVPoolID=($HVPool).id

# Retreive the pool spec
$hvpoolspec=Get-HVPoolSpec -HVConnectionServer $objHVConnectionServer -HVPoolID $HVPoolID
$ProvisioningTime=($hvpoolspec).AutomatedDesktopData.VmNamingSettings.PatternNamingSettings.ProvisioningTime
write-verbose "Current provisioningtype = $ProvisioningTime"
write-verbose "Checking if provisioningtype matches the current setting and if I am allowed to change it."
if($Provisioningtype){
    if($ProvisioningTime -ne $provisioningtype -and $changeprovisioningtype -eq $False){
        write-error "Provisioningtype of $provisioningtype does not match the current provisioningtype. Set changeprovisioningtype to True to change the provisioningtype"
        exit
    }
    elseif($ProvisioningTime -ne $provisioningtype -and $changeprovisioningtype -eq $true){
        $Provisioningtype=$Provisioningtype.toupper()
        write-verbose "Changing Provisioningtype to $Provisioningtype"
    }
}
else{
    $Provisioningtype = $ProvisioningTime
}

if($Provisioningtype -eq "ON_DEMAND"){
    write-verbose "Checking if numberOfSpareMachines or minNumberOfMachines is missing"
    if(!$minNumberOfMachines -or !$numberOfSpareMachines){
        write-error "numberOfSpareMachines and minNumberOfMachines are required when using provisioningtype: $provisioningtype"
        exit
    }
}

# We cannot change manual pools so we give a warning about this and exit the script.
if ($hvpoolspec.Type -eq "MANUAL"){
    write-error "Could not execute, this a manual Horizon View Desktop Pool, cannot change the amount of desktops."
    exit
}

# When not all vm's are provisioned up front the max amount of machines can't be lower that the minimum amount or the number of spare machines.
if ($Provisioningtype -eq "ON_DEMAND"){
    if ($numberOfSpareMachines -ge $maxNumberOfMachines -or $minNumberOfMachines -ge $maxNumberOfMachines){
        write-error "Could not execute, the number of desktops cannot be smaller than the minimum amount of desktops or the number of spare desktops"
        exit
    }
}

# Change the desktop count in the pool

if($Provisioningtype -eq "UP_FRONT"){
    write-verbose "Provisioningtype is $Provisioningtype so ignoring minNumberOfMachines and numberOfSpareMachines if they have been added."
    write-verbose  "Trying to change $HVDesktopPoolname to $maxNumberOfMachines desktops."
    Set-HVPool -HVConnectionServer $objHVConnectionServer -HVPoolID $HVPoolID -maxNumberOfMachines $maxNumberOfMachines -Provisioningtype $Provisioningtype
    write-output  "Changed $HVDesktopPoolname to $maxNumberOfMachines desktops all provisioned up front."
}
else{
    write-verbose "Provisioningtype is $Provisioningtype so using minNumberOfMachines and numberOfSpareMachines."
    write-verbose  "Trying to change $HVDesktopPoolname to $maxNumberOfMachines desktops with a minimum of $minNumberOfMachines machines and $numberOfSpareMachines spares."
    Set-HVPool -HVConnectionServer $objHVConnectionServer -HVPoolID $HVPoolID -maxNumberOfMachines $maxNumberOfMachines -Provisioningtype $Provisioningtype -minNumberOfMachines $minNumberOfMachines -numberOfSpareMachines $numberOfSpareMachines
    write-output  "Changed $HVDesktopPoolname to $maxNumberOfMachines desktops with a minimum of $minNumberOfMachines machines and $numberOfSpareMachines spares."
}

# Disconnect from the connection server
Disconnect-HorizonConnectionServer -HVConnectionServer $objHVConnectionServer

 

Powershell script to push a new RDS Farm image

  By , , , , , ,

For those of you who haven’t seen my demo last week at the VMUG EUC day I have created a new script that will push a new Golden Image to a RDS farm. The same API call can also be used to schedule a recurring maintenance but that will have to wait for a future post.

What you need to run it are the following parameters:

-Credentials: credentials object from get-credential

-ConnectionServerURL: Full url to the connection server https://pod1cbr01.loft.lab for example

-vCenterURL : Full url to the vCenter Server: https://pod1vcr1.loft.lab

-DataCenterName : name of the Datacenter in vCenter

-BaseVMName : VM name of the new golden image

-BaseSnapShotName : name of the snapshot to be used

-FarmName : name of the RDS farm to push the image to

-StoponError : Boolean $True or $False to stop on error or not. Defaults to $true

-logoff_policy : String in capitals to wait for the users to logoff (WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF) or to forcefully log them off (FORCE_LOGOFF). Defaults to WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF

-Scheduledtime : datetime object for the time to schedule the image push. If not provided it will push the image immediately.

In my Lab I have this RDS Farm:

The last Image push actually failed

And It’s using this Golden Image with the Created by Packer Snapshot

With the following command I will push the new image:

D:\git\Various_Scripts\Horizon_Rest_Push_Image_RDS.ps1 -Credentials $creds -vCenterURL https://pod1vcr1.loft.lab -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -DataCenterName Datacenter_Loft -BaseVMName "srv2019-gi-2021-11-12-14-16" -BaseSnapShotName "VM Snapshot 2%2f24%2f2022, 7:02:07 PM" -Scheduledtime ((get-date).adddays(1)) -logoff_policy WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF -StoponError $true -farmname  "Pod01-Farm01"

And you see that it’s pushing the new image for tomorrow ( I am writing this on Thursday)

The script itself looks like this and can be found on my Github:

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Pushes a new Golden Image to a Desktop Pool

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon rest api's to push a new golden image to a VMware Horizon Desktop Pool

    .EXAMPLE
    .\Horizon_Rest_Push_Image.ps1 -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Credentials $creds -vCenterURL "https://pod1vcr1.loft.lab" -DataCenterName "Datacenter_Loft" -baseVMName "W21h1-2021-09-08-15-48" -BaseSnapShotName "Demo Snapshot" -DesktopPoolName "Pod01-Pool02"

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password. If not supplied the script will ask for user and password.

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Default: String
    URL of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER vCenterURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Username of the user to look for

    .PARAMETER DataCenterName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER BaseVMName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER BaseSnapShotName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER FarmName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER StoponError
    Mandatory: No
    Boolean to stop on error or not

    .PARAMETER logoff_policy
    Mandatory: No
    String FORCE_LOGOFF or WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF to set the logoff policy.

    .PARAMETER Scheduledtime
    Mandatory: No
    Time to schedule the image push in [DateTime] format.

    .NOTES
    Minimum required version: VMware Horizon 8 2012
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 13-02-2022

    .COMPONENT
    Powershell Core
#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credentials,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "URL of the vCenter to look in i.e. https://vcenter.domain.lab")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$vCenterURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Datacenter to look in.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DataCenterName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Golden Image VM.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseVMName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Snapshot to use for the Golden Image.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseSnapShotName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the RDS Farm.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$FarmName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "True or false for stop on error.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [bool]$StoponError = $true,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "Use WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF or FORCE_LOGOFF.")]
    [ValidateSet('WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF','FORCE_LOGOFF', IgnoreCase = $false)]
    [string]$logoff_policy = "WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF",

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "DateTime object for the moment of scheduling the image push.Defaults to immediately")]
    [datetime]$Scheduledtime
)
if($Credentials){
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}
else{
    $credentials = Get-Credential
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}

$BSTR = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($password) 
$UnsecurePassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($BSTR)

function Get-HRHeader(){
    param($accessToken)
    return @{
        'Authorization' = 'Bearer ' + $($accessToken.access_token)
        'Content-Type' = "application/json"
    }
}
function Open-HRConnection(){
    param(
        [string] $username,
        [string] $password,
        [string] $domain,
        [string] $url
    )

    $Credentials = New-Object psobject -Property @{
        username = $username
        password = $password
        domain = $domain
    }

    return invoke-restmethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/login" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($Credentials | ConvertTo-Json)
}
function Close-HRConnection(){
    param(
        $accessToken,
        $ConnectionServerURL
    )
    return Invoke-RestMethod -Method post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/logout" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($accessToken | ConvertTo-Json)
}

try{
    $accessToken = Open-HRConnection -username $username -password $UnsecurePassword -domain $Domain -url $ConnectionServerURL
}
catch{
    throw "Error Connecting: $_"
}

$vCenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/monitor/v2/virtual-centers" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$vcenterid = ($vCenters | where-object {$_.name -like "*$vCenterURL*"}).id
$datacenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/datacenters?vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$datacenterid = ($datacenters | where-object {$_.name -eq $DataCenterName}).id
$basevms = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-vms?datacenter_id=$datacenterid&filter_incompatible_vms=false&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basevmid = ($basevms | where-object {$_.name -eq $baseVMName}).id
$basesnapshots = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-snapshots?base_vm_id=$basevmid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basesnapshotid = ($basesnapshots | where-object {$_.name -eq $BaseSnapShotName}).id
$farms = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/inventory/v2/farms" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$farmid = ($farms | where-object {$_.name -eq $FarmName}).id
$startdate = (get-date -UFormat %s)
$datahashtable = [ordered]@{}
$datahashtable.add('logoff_policy',$logoff_policy)
$datahashtable.add('maintenance_mode',"IMMEDIATE")
if($Scheduledtime){
    $starttime = get-date $Scheduledtime
    $epoch = ([DateTimeOffset]$starttime).ToUnixTimeMilliseconds()
    $datahashtable.add('next_scheduled_time',$epoch)
}
$datahashtable.add('parent_vm_id',$basevmid)
$datahashtable.add('snapshot_id',$basesnapshotid)
$datahashtable.add('stop_on_first_error',$StoponError)
$json = $datahashtable | convertto-json
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/farms/$farmid/action/schedule-maintenance" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -body $json

 

Sending messages to Horizon Sessions using Powershell & REST api’s

  By , , , , ,

Today I got the question from someone that they where trying to send messages to users but had issues with adding the session id’s to the json. I decided to make a quick and nice script that’s able to send a message to all sessions. This uses the standard functions that I always use, the standard Get-HorizonRestData function that I created in this blog post and two custom functions that I created for this script.

The first new function is get-horizonsessions this function gets all local sessions utilizing the get-horizonrestdata function. As you can see pretty basic nothing fancy about it.

function get-horizonsessions(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken
    )

    try{
        Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -RestMethod "/inventory/v1/sessions/" -accessToken $accessToken
    }
    catch{
        throw $_
    }
    return $results
}

The second one isn’t that more advanced besides that it has a few more parameters including one called $session_ids that requires an array of the session id’s to where you want to send a message. It creates an ordered hashtable that stores the message, message_type and the array of id’s. This hashtable is than converted to a json file and used as the body for the rest call.

function send-horizonmessage(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [array] $Session_Ids,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $Message,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [validateset("ERROR","WARNING","INFO", IgnoreCase = $false)]
        [string] $Message_Type
    )
    $jsonhashtable = [ordered]@{}
    $jsonhashtable.add('message',$message)
    $jsonhashtable.add('message_type',$Message_Type)
    $jsonhashtable.add('session_ids',$Session_Ids)

    $json = $jsonhashtable | convertto-json
    try{
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -uri "$ServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/sessions/action/send-message" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -body $json
    }
    catch{
        throw $_
    }
    return $results
}

Than I use these 2 lines to actually send the message (after authenticating first, duh). If you want to filter the sessions that can be added to the get-horizonsessions or manually do it on the $sessions array. Be aware that there are no names in this array so you need to gather any of the optional id’s first.

$sessions = get-horizonsessions -accessToken $accessToken -ServerURL $url

send-horizonmessage -accessToken $accessToken -ServerURL $url -Message_Type $Message_Type -message $message -Session_Ids ($sessions).id

And this is how you run the entire script.

.\Horizon_send_messages.ps1 -Credential $credential -ConnectionServerFQDN pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Message "retouw.nl test message" -Message_Type ERROR

And the entire script that’s also available at my Various_Scripts/Horizon_send_messages.ps1 at master · Magneet/Various_Scripts (github.com).

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Send a message to all user sessions

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon rest api's to all sessions in a horizon pod

    .EXAMPLE
    .\find_user_assigned_desktops.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN pod2cbr1.loft.lab -message "test message" -message_type "ERROR"

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerFQDN
    Mandatory: Yes
    Default: String
    FQDN of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER message
    Mandatory: Yes
    Message to send to the users

    .PARAMETER message_type
    Mandatory: Yes
    Message type: INFO, ERROR or WARNING

    .NOTES
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 23-12-2021

    .COMPONENT
    Powershell Core

#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credential,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerFQDN,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
    HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
    [string] $Message,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
    HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
    [validateset("ERROR","WARNING","INFO", IgnoreCase = $false)]
    [string] $Message_Type
)

function Get-HRHeader(){
    param($accessToken)
    return @{
        'Authorization' = 'Bearer ' + $($accessToken.access_token)
        'Content-Type' = "application/json"
    }
}
function Open-HRConnection(){
    param(
        [string] $username,
        [string] $password,
        [string] $domain,
        [string] $url
    )

    $Credentials = New-Object psobject -Property @{
        username = $username
        password = $password
        domain = $domain
    }

    return invoke-restmethod -Method Post -uri "$url/rest/login" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($Credentials | ConvertTo-Json)
}

function Close-HRConnection(){
    param(
        $accessToken,
        $url
    )
    return Invoke-RestMethod -Method post -uri "$url/rest/logout" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($accessToken | ConvertTo-Json)
}

function Get-HorizonRestData(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Array of ordered hashtables' )]
        [array] $filters,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Type of filter Options: And, Or' )]
        [ValidateSet('And','Or')]
        [string] $Filtertype,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Page size, default = 500' )]
        [int] $pagesize = 500,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [string] $RestMethod,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='$True for rest methods that contain pagination and filtering, default = False' )]
        [switch] $filteringandpagination,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="id",
        HelpMessage='To be used with single id based queries like /monitor/v1/connection-servers/{id}' )]
        [string] $id
    )
    if($filteringandpagination){
        if ($filters){
            $filterhashtable = [ordered]@{}
            $filterhashtable.add('type',$filtertype)
            $filterhashtable.filters = @()
            foreach($filter in $filters){
                $filterhashtable.filters+=$filter
            }
            $filterflat=$filterhashtable | convertto-json -Compress
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?filter="+$filterflat+"&page="
        }
        else{
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?page="
        }
        $results = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
        $page = 1
        $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
        $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
        if ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -contains "TRUE") {
            do {
                $page++
                $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
                $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
                $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
            } until ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -notcontains "TRUE")
        }
    }
    elseif($id){
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"/"+$id
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }
    else{
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }

    return $results
}

function get-horizonsessions(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken
    )

    try{
        Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -RestMethod "/inventory/v1/sessions/" -accessToken $accessToken
    }
    catch{
        throw $_
    }
    return $results
}

function send-horizonmessage(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [array] $Session_Ids,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $Message,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [validateset("ERROR","WARNING","INFO", IgnoreCase = $false)]
        [string] $Message_Type
    )
    $jsonhashtable = [ordered]@{}
    $jsonhashtable.add('message',$message)
    $jsonhashtable.add('message_type',$Message_Type)
    $jsonhashtable.add('session_ids',$Session_Ids)

    $json = $jsonhashtable | convertto-json
    try{
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -uri "$ServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/sessions/action/send-message" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -body $json
    }
    catch{
        throw $_
    }
    return $results
}

if($Credential){
    $creds = $credential
}
else{
    $creds = get-credential
}

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

$username=($creds.username).split("\")[1]
$domain=($creds.username).split("\")[0]
$password=$creds.password

$url = "https://$ConnectionServerFQDN"

$BSTR = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($password) 
$UnsecurePassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($BSTR)

$accessToken = Open-HRConnection -username $username -password $UnsecurePassword -domain $Domain -url $url

$sessions = get-horizonsessions -accessToken $accessToken -ServerURL $url

send-horizonmessage -accessToken $accessToken -ServerURL $url -Message_Type $Message_Type -message $message -Session_Ids ($sessions).id

 

 

 

Creating desktop pools using the Horizon REST Api with Powershell

  By , , , , , ,

For years people have been asking, when can we start creating Horizon Desktop Pools using REST? The first years the answers was that there was no REST Api at all but since they added REST in 7.10 Horizon the answer was whenever VMware feels like adding this option. With the recent release of Horizon 8 2111 they have finally added the option to do this. I have created a script that uses a json file as base I grabbed this from the api explorer. But the sample below is already edited down so I can create a simple desktop pool. You can grab my version below or here on Github.

{
  "access_group_id": "daef8c91-fa65-4a39-93aa-24d87d5aca94",
  "allow_multiple_user_assignments": false,
  "customization_settings": {
    "ad_container_rdn": "OU=Pool01,OU=VDI,OU=Pod1,OU=VMware,OU=EUC",
    "customization_type": "CLONE_PREP",
    "do_not_power_on_vms_after_creation": false,
    "instant_clone_domain_account_id": "9f83ed94-4d44-4c9a-abd3-ffc23e7389de",
    "reuse_pre_existing_accounts": true
  },
  "description": "Desktop pool description",
  "display_assigned_machine_name": false,
  "display_machine_alias": false,
  "display_name": "instantclonepool",
  "display_protocol_settings": {
    "allow_users_to_choose_protocol": true,
    "default_display_protocol": "BLAST",
    "grid_vgpus_enabled": false,
    "renderer3d": "MANAGE_BY_VSPHERE_CLIENT",
    "session_collaboration_enabled": true
  },
  "enable_client_restrictions": false,
  "enable_provisioning": false,
  "enabled": false,
  "name": "demo_pool",
  "naming_method": "PATTERN",
  "pattern_naming_settings": {
    "max_number_of_machines": 5,
    "naming_pattern": "Pool-{n:fixed=2}",
    "number_of_spare_machines": 1,
    "provisioning_time": "UP_FRONT"
  },
  "provisioning_settings": {
    "add_virtual_tpm": false,
    "base_snapshot_id": "snapshot-1",
    "datacenter_id": "datacenter-1",
    "host_or_cluster_id": "domain-s425",
    "parent_vm_id": "vm-2",
    "resource_pool_id": "resgroup-1",
    "vm_folder_id": "group-v1"
  },
  "session_settings": {
    "allow_multiple_sessions_per_user": false,
    "allow_users_to_reset_machines": true,
    "delete_or_refresh_machine_after_logoff": "DELETE",
    "disconnected_session_timeout_minutes": 5,
    "disconnected_session_timeout_policy": "AFTER",
    "logoff_after_timeout": false,
    "power_policy": "ALWAYS_POWERED_ON",
  },
  "session_type": "DESKTOP",
  "source": "INSTANT_CLONE",
  "stop_provisioning_on_error": false,
  "storage_settings": {
    "datastores": [
      {
        "datastore_id": "datastore-1",
        "sdrs_cluster": false
      },
      {
        "datastore_id": "datastore-1",
        "sdrs_cluster": false
      }
    ],
    "reclaim_vm_disk_space": false,
    "use_separate_datastores_replica_and_os_disks": false,
    "use_vsan": false
  },
  "transparent_page_sharing_scope": "VM",
  "type": "AUTOMATED",
  "user_assignment": "FLOATING",
  "vcenter_id": "f148f3e8-db0e-4abb-9c33-7e5205ccd360"
}

Essentially using only the json file could be enough to create a pool but I decided to create a powershell script that uses the json as a base and where I add functionality to make it more flexible. You cna supply names for things like datacenter, desktop pool name, display name and description & many others. If you want you can hardcode these names or even the id’s if you like but I have only done that in the json for the, access_group_id and the instant_clone_domain_account_id. You can go as crazy as you like and define each and every option as a parameter but I prefer a good base with the things that are changed the most often as parameters.

This is a sample of how I start the script, there is no feedback as the POST command doesn’t give any proper feedback if it ran well. I think the params are clear but you need to be careful to use a Relative Distinguished Name and not a normal Distinguished Name (the DC = parts are missing as you can see). For datastores you need to always need to use an array.

D:\GIT\Various_Scripts\Horizon_Rest_create_Desktop_Pool.ps1 -Credentials $creds -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -jsonfile 'D:\homelab\new-pool-rest.json' -vCenterURL pod1vcr1.loft.lab -DataCenterName "Datacenter_Loft" -ClusterName "Dell 620" -BaseVMName "W21h1-2021-11-05-13-00" -BaseSnapShotName "Created by Packer" -DatastoreNames ("vdi-200","vdi-500") -VMFolderPath "/Datacenter_Loft/vm" -DesktopPoolName "Rest_Pool_demo" -DesktopPoolDisplayName "Rest Display name" -DesktopPoolDescription "rest description" -namingmethod "Restdemo{n:fixed=2}" -ADOUrdn "OU=Pool01,OU=VDI,OU=Pod1,OU=VMware,OU=EUC"

this gives this result:

Now the script itself, I am still using the default rest functions and only a slight bit of error handling for checking if the json exists and importing it. For the rest it’s a list of api calls that you (partially) have seen before in other scripts. The datastoressobjects array is filled with separate objects per datastore. The json is converted to a regular array at the beginning so it’s very easy to replace all variables that need replacing. To convert the object to a usable json file you need to change the max depth as this is default only 2 an that’s not enough for this json file. I set it to 100 just to keep things easy. If you want to download the script I would recommend grabbing it from Github.

In a future blog post I will cover adding different VM Networks to the desktop pool. With this json file the default nic of the Golden Image is used.

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Creates a new Golden Image to a Desktop Pool

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon rest api's to create a new VMware Horizon Desktop Pool

    .EXAMPLE
    Horizon_Rest_create_Desktop_Pool.ps1 -Credentials $creds -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -jsonfile 'D:\homelab\new-pool-rest.json' -vCenterURL pod1vcr1.loft.lab -DataCenterName "Datacenter_Loft" -ClusterName "Dell 620" -BaseVMName "W21h1-2021-11-05-13-00" -BaseSnapShotName "Created by Packer" -DatastoreNames  ("vdi-200","vdi-500") -VMFolderPath "/Datacenter_Loft/vm" -DesktopPoolName "Rest_Pool_demo2" -DesktopPoolDisplayName "Rest DIsplay name" -DesktopPoolDescription "rest description" -namingmethod "Rest-{n:fixed=2}" -ADOUrdn "OU=Pool01,OU=VDI,OU=Pod1,OU=VMware,OU=EUC"

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password. If not supplied the script will ask for user and password.

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Default: String
    URL of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER vCenterURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Username of the user to look for

    .PARAMETER DataCenterName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Name of the datacenter

    .PARAMETER BaseVMName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Name of the Golden Image VM

    .PARAMETER BaseSnapShotName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Name of the Golden Image Snapshot

    .PARAMETER DesktopPoolName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Name of the Desktop Pool to ctreate

    .PARAMETER jsonfile
    Mandatory: Yes
    Full path to the JSON file to use as base

    .PARAMETER ClusterName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Name of the vCenter Cluster to place the vm's in

    .PARAMETER DatastoreNames
    Mandatory: Yes
    Array of names of the datastores to use

    .PARAMETER VMFolderPath
    Mandatory: Yes
    Path to the folder where the folder with pool vm's will be placed including the datacenter with forward slashes so /datacenter/folder

    .PARAMETER DesktopPoolDisplayName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Display name of the desktop pool

    .PARAMETER DesktopPoolDescription
    Mandatory: Yes
    Description of the desktop pool

    .PARAMETER NamingMethod
    Mandatory: Yes
    Naming method of the vm's

    .PARAMETER ADOUrdn
    Mandatory: Yes
    Relative Distinguished Name for the OU where the vm's will be placed

    .NOTES
    Minimum required version: VMware Horizon 8 2111
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 08-12-2021

    .COMPONENT
    Powershell Core
#>

<#
Copyright © 2021 Wouter Kursten
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, 
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credentials,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "URL of the vCenter to look in i.e. https://vcenter.domain.lab")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$vCenterURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Datacenter to look in.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DataCenterName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Golden Image VM.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseVMName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Snapshot to use for the Golden Image.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseSnapShotName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DesktopPoolName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Display Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DesktopPoolDisplayName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Description of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DesktopPoolDescription,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the cluster where the Desktop Pool will be placed.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$ClusterName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Array of names for the datastores where the Desktop will be placed.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [array]$DatastoreNames,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Path to the folder where the folder for the Desktop Pool will be placed i.e. /Datacenter_Loft/vm")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$VMFolderPath,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Relative Distinguished Name for the OU where the vm's will be placed i.e. OU=Pool01,OU=VDI,OU=Pod1,OU=VMware,OU=EUC")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$ADOUrdn,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Naming method for the VDI machines.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$NamingMethod,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Full path to the Json with Desktop Pool details.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$jsonfile
)

try{
    test-path $jsonfile  | out-null
}
catch{
    throw "Json file not found"
}
try{
    $sourcejson = get-content $jsonfile | ConvertFrom-Json
}
catch{
    throw "Error importing json file"
}

if($Credentials){
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}
else{
    $credentials = Get-Credential
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}

$BSTR = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($password) 
$UnsecurePassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($BSTR)

function Get-HRHeader(){
    param($accessToken)
    return @{
        'Authorization' = 'Bearer ' + $($accessToken.access_token)
        'Content-Type' = "application/json"
    }
}
function Open-HRConnection(){
    param(
        [string] $username,
        [string] $password,
        [string] $domain,
        [string] $url
    )

    $Credentials = New-Object psobject -Property @{
        username = $username
        password = $password
        domain = $domain
    }

    return invoke-restmethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/login" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($Credentials | ConvertTo-Json)
}
function Close-HRConnection(){
    param(
        $accessToken,
        $ConnectionServerURL
    )
    return Invoke-RestMethod -Method post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/logout" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($accessToken | ConvertTo-Json)
}

try{
    $accessToken = Open-HRConnection -username $username -password $UnsecurePassword -domain $Domain -url $ConnectionServerURL
}
catch{
    throw "Error Connecting: $_"
}

$vCenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/monitor/v2/virtual-centers" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$vcenterid = ($vCenters | where-object {$_.name -like "*$vCenterURL*"}).id
$datacenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/datacenters?vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$datacenterid = ($datacenters | where-object {$_.name -eq $DataCenterName}).id
$clusters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/hosts-or-clusters?datacenter_id=$datacenterid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$clusterid = ($clusters | where-object {$_.details.name -eq $ClusterName}).id
$datastores = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/datastores?host_or_cluster_id=$clusterid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$datastoreobjects = @()
foreach ($datastoreName in $DatastoreNames){
    $datastoreid = ($datastores | where-object {$_.name -eq $datastoreName}).id
    [PSCustomObject]$dsobject=[ordered]@{
        datastore_id = $datastoreid
    }
    $datastoreobjects+=$dsobject

}
$resourcepools = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/resource-pools?host_or_cluster_id=$clusterid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$resourcepoolid = $resourcepools[0].id
$vmfolders = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/vm-folders?datacenter_id=$datacenterid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$vmfolderid = ($vmfolders | where-object {$_.path -eq $VMFolderPath}).id
$basevms = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-vms?datacenter_id=$datacenterid&filter_incompatible_vms=false&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basevmid = ($basevms | where-object {$_.name -eq $baseVMName}).id
$basesnapshots = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-snapshots?base_vm_id=$basevmid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basesnapshotid = ($basesnapshots | where-object {$_.name -eq $BaseSnapShotName}).id
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.base_snapshot_id = $basesnapshotid
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.datacenter_id = $datacenterid
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.host_or_cluster_id = $clusterid
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.parent_vm_id = $basevmid
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.vm_folder_id = $vmfolderid
$sourcejson.provisioning_settings.resource_pool_id = $resourcepoolid
$sourcejson.vcenter_id = $vcenterid
$sourcejson.storage_settings.datastores = $datastoreobjects
$sourcejson.name = $DesktopPoolName
$sourcejson.display_name = $DesktopPoolDisplayName
$sourcejson.description = $DesktopPoolDescription
$sourcejson.pattern_naming_settings.naming_pattern = $namingmethod

$json = $sourcejson | convertto-json -Depth 100

try{
    Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/desktop-pools" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -body $json
}
catch{
    throw $_
}

 

 

Horizon 8 2111 GA: What’s new in the rest api’s?

  By , , , , , , ,

So just found out that Horizon 8 2111 dropped today and there have been some welcome changes to the rest api’s. Luckily VMware does have these covered by now in THIS kb article.

In short these are the changes:

Inventory : Desktop Pools
Create desktop pool
Update desktop pool
Delete desktop pool
v5 version of List
v5 version of Get
Inventory : Desktop Actions
Validate Installed Applications
Validate VM Names Info
Resume Task on Desktop pool
Pause task on Desktop pool
Inventory : Farms
v3 version of List
v3 version of Get
v2 version of Create
v2 version of Update
Inventory : Farm Actions
Add RDS servers to farm
Remove RDS servers from farm
Schedule Maintenance (and image management schedule maintenance)
Cancel Schedule Maintenance
Validate Installed Applications
Inventory : Global Application Entitlements
v2 version of List
v2 version of Get
Create Global Application Entitlements
Update Global Application Entitlements
Delete Global Application Entitlements
List Compatible Backup Global Application Entitlements
Inventory : Global Desktop Entitlements
version of List
v2 version of Get
Create Global Desktop Entitlements
Update Global Desktop Entitlements
Delete Global Desktop Entitlements
List Compatible Backup Global Desktop Entitlements
Inventory : Global Sessions
List
Disconnect
Logoff
Reset
Restart
Send Message

so finally we’re able to create desktop pools using REST and to push a new image to rds farms. I will make sure to update the Python module ®Soon and create some blog posts on the new options.

[HorizonAPI]Powershell Script to push a new Desktop image using the REST api.

  By , , , , , ,

I already blogged about pushing a new image using the Python module for Horizon but I decided it was time to also have a reusable script that is able to push a new image using powershell and the rest api for Horizon. The script that I created has 10(!) arguments of which 6 are required:

  • ConnectionServerURL: https://server.domain.dom
  • vCenterURL: https://vcenter.domain.dom
  • DataCenterName: Name of the datacenter the source VM resides in
  • BaseVMName : name of the source VM
  • BaseSnapShotName: name of the source Snapshot
  • DesktopPoolName: name of the source Desktop Pool to apply the snapshot to

The datacenter name is required as that’s an requirement to grab the Source VM details.

The optional arguments are:

  • Credentials: PSCRedential object (get-credential for example) when not provided it will ask for user and password. The user should also contain the domain i.e. domain\user
  • StoponError: $true or $false depending on if you want to stop on errors, defaults to $true if not provided
  • logoff_policy: Optional WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF or FORCE_LOGOFF depending on the logoff policy you want
  • Scheduledtime: [DateTime] object in case you want to push for the future

The script itself was fairly easy to create, from the api explorer it was easy what id’s I needed and it was a matter of working back so I had all of them. In the end the hardest part was getting the scheduling to work. I used the (standard?) 10 digit epoch that most people use but it turns out that VMware wanted to schedule it very exactly in milliseconds! For the rest I used the well known functions for authentication but not my generic function for filtering or pagination as almost none of the api calls I use in this script support that.

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Pushes a new Golden Image to a Desktop Pool

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon rest api's to push a new golden image to a VMware Horizon Desktop Pool

    .EXAMPLE
    .\Horizon_Rest_Push_Image.ps1 -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -Credentials $creds -vCenterURL "https://pod1vcr1.loft.lab" -DataCenterName "Datacenter_Loft" -baseVMName "W21h1-2021-09-08-15-48" -BaseSnapShotName "Demo Snapshot" -DesktopPoolName "Pod01-Pool02"

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password. If not supplied the script will ask for user and password.

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Default: String
    URL of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER vCenterURL
    Mandatory: Yes
    Username of the user to look for

    .PARAMETER DataCenterName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER BaseVMName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER BaseSnapShotName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER DesktopPoolName
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .PARAMETER StoponError
    Mandatory: No
    Boolean to stop on error or not

    .PARAMETER logoff_policy
    Mandatory: No
    String FORCE_LOGOFF or WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF to set the logoff policy.

    .PARAMETER Scheduledtime
    Mandatory: No
    Time to schedule the image push in [DateTime] format.

    .NOTES
    Minimum required version: VMware Horizon 8 2012
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 03-11-2021

    .COMPONENT
    Powershell Core
#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credentials,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "URL of the vCenter to look in i.e. https://vcenter.domain.lab")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$vCenterURL,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Datacenter to look in.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DataCenterName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Golden Image VM.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseVMName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Snapshot to use for the Golden Image.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$BaseSnapShotName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string]$DesktopPoolName,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [bool]$StoponError = $true,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "Name of the Desktop Pool.")]
    [ValidateSet('WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF','FORCE_LOGOFF', IgnoreCase = $false)]
    [string]$logoff_policy = "WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF",

    [parameter(Mandatory = $false,
    HelpMessage = "DateTime object for the moment of scheduling the image push.Defaults to immediately")]
    [datetime]$Scheduledtime
)
if($Credentials){
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}
else{
    $credentials = Get-Credential
    $username=($credentials.username).split("\")[1]
    $domain=($credentials.username).split("\")[0]
    $password=$credentials.password
}

$BSTR = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($password) 
$UnsecurePassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($BSTR)

function Get-HRHeader(){
    param($accessToken)
    return @{
        'Authorization' = 'Bearer ' + $($accessToken.access_token)
        'Content-Type' = "application/json"
    }
}
function Open-HRConnection(){
    param(
        [string] $username,
        [string] $password,
        [string] $domain,
        [string] $url
    )

    $Credentials = New-Object psobject -Property @{
        username = $username
        password = $password
        domain = $domain
    }

    return invoke-restmethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/login" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($Credentials | ConvertTo-Json)
}
function Close-HRConnection(){
    param(
        $accessToken,
        $ConnectionServerURL
    )
    return Invoke-RestMethod -Method post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/logout" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($accessToken | ConvertTo-Json)
}

try{
    $accessToken = Open-HRConnection -username $username -password $UnsecurePassword -domain $Domain -url $ConnectionServerURL
}
catch{
    throw "Error Connecting: $_"
}

$vCenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/monitor/v2/virtual-centers" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$vcenterid = ($vCenters | where-object {$_.name -like "*$vCenterURL*"}).id
$datacenters = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/datacenters?vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$datacenterid = ($datacenters | where-object {$_.name -eq $DataCenterName}).id
$basevms = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-vms?datacenter_id=$datacenterid&filter_incompatible_vms=false&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basevmid = ($basevms | where-object {$_.name -eq $baseVMName}).id
$basesnapshots = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/external/v1/base-snapshots?base_vm_id=$basevmid&vcenter_id=$vcenterid" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$basesnapshotid = ($basesnapshots | where-object {$_.name -eq $BaseSnapShotName}).id
$desktoppools = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/desktop-pools" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken)
$desktoppoolid = ($desktoppools | where-object {$_.name -eq $DesktopPoolName}).id
$startdate = (get-date -UFormat %s)
$datahashtable = [ordered]@{}
$datahashtable.add('logoff_policy',$logoff_policy)
$datahashtable.add('parent_vm_id',$basevmid)
$datahashtable.add('snapshot_id',$basesnapshotid)
if($Scheduledtime){
    $starttime = get-date $Scheduledtime
    $epoch = ([DateTimeOffset]$starttime).ToUnixTimeMilliseconds()
    $datahashtable.add('start_time',$epoch)
}

$datahashtable.add('stop_on_first_error',$StoponError)
$json = $datahashtable | convertto-json
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -uri "$ConnectionServerURL/rest/inventory/v1/desktop-pools/$desktoppoolid/action/schedule-push-image" -ContentType "application/json" -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -body $json

I use it like this for example:

D:\GIT\Various_Scripts\Horizon_Rest_Push_Image.ps1 -ConnectionServerURL https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab -vCenterURL "https://pod1vcr1.loft.lab" -DataCenterName "Datacenter_Loft" -baseVMName "W21h1-2021-09-08-15-48" -BaseSnapShotName "Demo Snapshot" -DesktopPoolName "Pod01-Pool01" -logoff_policy WAIT_FOR_LOGOFF -StoponError $true -Scheduledtime ((get-date).AddMinutes(75))

Except for the question for username and password (in this case) there’s no response

and the push image is scheduled 75 minutes in the future

As always the script itself is also available at Github HERE.

Next time I’ll add more error handling and update the script to also push images to RDS farms 🙂

 

Horizon REST API + Powershell 7: pagination and filtering (with samples)

  By , , , , , ,

A while ago Robin Stolpe (Twitter) asked me if it was possible to find what machines a user is assigned to in a Horizon environment. To answer this I first started messing with the soap api’s and had a really hard time to filter for the user id with the various machine related queries. When looking for the assignedUser property this was no problem but this has been deprecated and replaced by assignedUsers because of the added functionality for assigning multiple users to a machine. Instead of becoming too frustrated I decided to switch paths and user Powershell with the rest api’s.

TLDR: I have defined a broadly usable function for just about all Horizon REST GET api calls with or without filtering that also works for GET calls without any additions and for GET calls that require an Id for example. You can scroll down to the bottom to get that function and a script that uses it.

Warning: the sample code in the script & example function require PowerShell 7!

 

Filtering

One of the things I hadn’t done before with these was filtering and pagination in a more useful way than just writing the entire url out. VMware has a guide available for filtering that can be found here. This was a good way to get started but I found it easiest to skip the single searches entirely and always use the And or Or filtering types for chained filtering.

The method I am using to create the filter is to first define an ordered hashtable. Why ordered? The api calls require the Name/value pairs in a certain order and if you just add them to a regular hashtable this order will change.

$filterhashtable = [ordered]@{}

Next I add the first Name/value pair for the filtertype, this is either And or Or

$filterhashtable.add('type', 'And')

Next I add another pair with name filters and value an array. I could use .add again or just set the name like I do here:

$filterhashtable.filters = @()

The filters name array members again need to be ordered hashtable’s (as you can see I search for a user here)

$userfilter= [ordered]@{}
$userfilter.add('type','Equals')
$userfilter.add('name','name')
$userfilter.add('value',$User)

$domainfilter= [ordered]@{}
$domainfilter.add('type','Equals')
$domainfilter.add('name','domain')
$domainfilter.add('value',$Domain)

and I add both of them to the filters object

$filterhashtable.filters+=$userfilter
$filterhashtable.filters+=$domainfilter

and lets’s show what’s in the $filterhashtable

To be able to use this within the invoke-restmethod url I need to convert this to json and compress it to a single line

$filterflat = $filterhashtable | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
$filterflat

Pagination

For the pagination I needed the HAS_MORE_RECORDS property of the returned headers. If this is TRUE there are more records to be found, sadly this is not available in the classic invoke-restmethod from Powershell v5. With Powershell 7 you can add -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader to store the headers in a variable called $responseheader. With this variable you can easily create a do while loop.

$urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?page="
$results = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
$page = 1
$uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
$response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
if ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -contains "TRUE") {
    do {
        $page++
        $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
        $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
    } until ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -notcontains "TRUE")
}
return $results

Please be advised that without some additional parameters this code isn’t usable yet, scroll down for something you can really use.

[sta_anchor id=”function” /]

The function

To combine the above 2 items I have created a function that can use all of the above but is also able to do regular get calls and get calls that require an id in the url.

function Get-HorizonRestData(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Array of ordered hashtables' )]
        [array] $filters,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Type of filter Options: And, Or' )]
        [ValidateSet('And','Or')]
        [string] $Filtertype,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Page size, default = 500' )]
        [int] $pagesize = 500,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /rest/external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [string] $RestMethod,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /rest/external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='$True for rest methods that contain pagination and filtering, default = False' )]
        [switch] $filteringandpagination,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="id",
        HelpMessage='To be used with single id based queries like /monitor/v1/connection-servers/{id}' )]
        [string] $id
    )
    if($filteringandpagination){
        if ($filters){
            $filterhashtable = [ordered]@{}
            $filterhashtable.add('type',$filtertype)
            $filterhashtable.filters = @()
            foreach($filter in $filters){
                $filterhashtable.filters+=$filter
            }
            $filterflat=$filterhashtable | convertto-json -Compress
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?filter="+$filterflat+"&page="
        }
        else{
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?page="
        }
        $results = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
        $page = 1
        $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
        $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
        if ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -contains "TRUE") {
            do {
                $page++
                $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
                $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
                $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
            } until ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -notcontains "TRUE")
        }
    }
    elseif($id){
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"/"+$id
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }
    else{
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }

    return $results
}

As you can see there are several arguments:

  • ServerURL
    • This is the url to the connection server i.e. https://server.domain
  • Filters
    • An Array of ordered hashtables as you can find in the filtering paragraph
  • filtertype
    • Sets the filter type, this needs to be And or Or
  • PageSize
    • This is optional if you want to change from the default 500 results that I have set
  • RestMethod
    • This is the RestMethod that you can copy from the Swagger URL or API Explorer.
  • AccessToken
    • This is the accesstoken you get as a result when using open-hrconnection from previous samples to authenticate (see the sample script below)
  • Filteringandpagination
    • Add this argument to use the filtering and/or pagination options
  • Id
    • Use this for REST API Get calls where an Id is required in the URI

Examples

some usable examples would be:

Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -RestMethod "/monitor/connection-servers" -accessToken $accessToken 
Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -RestMethod "/monitor/connection-servers" -accessToken $accessToken -id $connectionserverid
Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -filteringandpagination -Filtertype "And" -filters $machinefilters -RestMethod "/inventory/v1/machines" -accessToken $accessToken

[sta_anchor id=”script” /]

Sample Script

The script below (and available on Github here) aks for credentials if you don’t supply the object, connectionserver FQDN (no url needed), user and domain to search for and returns an array of machines the user is assigned to. It uses the default functions Andrew Morgan created a long time ago and my function to use the get methods.

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Retreives all machines a user is assigned to

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon rest api's to query the Horizon database for all machines a user is assigned to.

    .EXAMPLE
    .\find_user_assigned_desktops.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN pod2cbr1.loft.lab -UserName "User2"

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: No
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerFQDN
    Mandatory: Yes
    Default: String
    FQDN of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER User
    Mandatory: Yes
    Username of the user to look for

    .PARAMETER Domain
    Mandatory: Yes
    Domain to look in

    .NOTES
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 02-10-2021

    .COMPONENT
    Powershell Core

#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credential,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerFQDN,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Username of the user to look for.")]
    [string]$User = $false,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Domain where the user object exists.")]
    [string]$Domain = $false
)

function Get-HRHeader(){
    param($accessToken)
    return @{
        'Authorization' = 'Bearer ' + $($accessToken.access_token)
        'Content-Type' = "application/json"
    }
}
function Open-HRConnection(){
    param(
        [string] $username,
        [string] $password,
        [string] $domain,
        [string] $url
    )

    $Credentials = New-Object psobject -Property @{
        username = $username
        password = $password
        domain = $domain
    }

    return invoke-restmethod -Method Post -uri "$url/rest/login" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($Credentials | ConvertTo-Json)
}

function Close-HRConnection(){
    param(
        $accessToken,
        $url
    )
    return Invoke-RestMethod -Method post -uri "$url/rest/logout" -ContentType "application/json" -Body ($accessToken | ConvertTo-Json)
}

function Get-HorizonRestData(){
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='None')] 
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='url to the server i.e. https://pod1cbr1.loft.lab' )]
        [string] $ServerURL,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Array of ordered hashtables' )]
        [array] $filters,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Type of filter Options: And, Or' )]
        [ValidateSet('And','Or')]
        [string] $Filtertype,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='Page size, default = 500' )]
        [int] $pagesize = 500,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [string] $RestMethod,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
        HelpMessage='Part after the url in the swagger UI i.e. /external/v1/ad-users-or-groups' )]
        [PSCustomObject] $accessToken,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="filteringandpagination",
        HelpMessage='$True for rest methods that contain pagination and filtering, default = False' )]
        [switch] $filteringandpagination,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
        ParameterSetName="id",
        HelpMessage='To be used with single id based queries like /monitor/v1/connection-servers/{id}' )]
        [string] $id
    )
    if($filteringandpagination){
        if ($filters){
            $filterhashtable = [ordered]@{}
            $filterhashtable.add('type',$filtertype)
            $filterhashtable.filters = @()
            foreach($filter in $filters){
                $filterhashtable.filters+=$filter
            }
            $filterflat=$filterhashtable | convertto-json -Compress
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?filter="+$filterflat+"&page="
        }
        else{
            $urlstart= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"?page="
        }
        $results = [System.Collections.ArrayList]@()
        $page = 1
        $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
        $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
        if ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -contains "TRUE") {
            do {
                $page++
                $uri = $urlstart+$page+"&size=$pagesize"
                $response = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
                $response.foreach({$results.add($_)}) | out-null
            } until ($responseheader.HAS_MORE_RECORDS -notcontains "TRUE")
        }
    }
    elseif($id){
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod+"/"+$id
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }
    else{
        $uri= $ServerURL+"/rest/"+$RestMethod
        $results = Invoke-RestMethod $uri -Method 'GET' -Headers (Get-HRHeader -accessToken $accessToken) -ResponseHeadersVariable responseheader
    }

    return $results
}

if($Credential){
    $creds = $credential
}
else{
    $creds = get-credential
}

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

$username=($creds.username).split("\")[1]
$domain=($creds.username).split("\")[0]
$password=$creds.password

$url = "https://$ConnectionServerFQDN"

$BSTR = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($password) 
$UnsecurePassword = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($BSTR)

$accessToken = Open-HRConnection -username $username -password $UnsecurePassword -domain $Domain -url $url

$userfilters = @()
$userfilter= [ordered]@{}
$userfilter.add('type','Equals')
$userfilter.add('name','name')
$userfilter.add('value',$User)
$userfilters+=$userfilter
$domainfilter= [ordered]@{}
$domainfilter.add('type','Equals')
$domainfilter.add('name','domain')
$domainfilter.add('value',$Domain)
$userfilters+=$domainfilter

$userobject = Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -filteringandpagination -Filtertype "And" -filters $userfilters -RestMethod "/external/v1/ad-users-or-groups" -accessToken $accessToken

$machinefilters = @()
$machinefilter= [ordered]@{}
$machinefilter.add('type','Contains')
$machinefilter.add('name','user_ids')
$machinefilter.add('value',($userobject).id)
$machinefilters+=$machinefilter
$machines = Get-HorizonRestData -ServerURL $url -filteringandpagination -Filtertype "And" -filters $machinefilters -RestMethod "/inventory/v1/machines" -accessToken $accessToken

return $machines

I use it like this to only display the machine names

(D:\GIT\Scripts\find_user_assigned_desktops.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN "pod1cbr1.loft.lab" -User "user1" -Domain "loft.lab").name

You see some names in the 2*** range double but that is a Desktop Pool with Multiple Assignments

Getting the full machine objects is also possible

D:\GIT\Scripts\find_user_assigned_desktops.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN "pod1cbr1.loft.lab" -User "m_wouter" -Domain "loft.lab"

Script to cleanup desktops running on old snapshot

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So last year Guy Leech asked if if I had a script to identify machines running on an old snapshot. I Created a script for that here. This week Madan Kumar asked for a script that finds these same VDI desktops but that also cleans them out if needed. For this I have created the Horizon_cleanup_old_images.ps1 script (yes I suck at making up names).

If you run a get-help for the script you’ll see this:

By default the script only requires a Connectionserverfqdn and poolname as it works on a per pool level. It will try to give the users a gracefully logoff and has options to force the logoff ( in case their sessions is locked) or to delete the machine. And if you just want to have a preview there’s an option for that as well.

Optional arguments are:

-credential: this can be created with get-credential or can be retrieved from a stored credentials xml file, just make sure that it looks like domain\username and password

-deletedesktops: if used it will forcefully try to logoff the users but always deletes the desktop

-forcedlogoff: A normal logoff doesn’t work when the sessions is locked so you might need to force it

-preview: no actions are taken, just the information will be displayed to screen.

Let’s use the script

d:\git\scripts\Horizon_cleanup_old_image.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN pod2cbr1.loft.lab -poolname "Pod02-Pool02" -preview

Yes I use write-host but it’s all 1 liners so shouldn’t be too slow and I like colors but as you see with the preview mode it shows what would happen. One of these sessions is locked so let’s see what happens when I log them off.

yes an error but I think it’s clear why, the graceful logoff worked for 2 users but not the third one, I will add the forced option now.

That looks good and when I look at the desktop pool everything is fine there as well.

And that’s being confirmed by the script

Now I will use the delete option for my other desktop pool.

First again with the preview option

and without

and seen from the Horizon Admin

As linked above the script can be found on github but also below this line.

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
    Cleans up desktops running on an image that's not the default for a desktop pool

    .DESCRIPTION
    This script uses the Horizon soap api's to pull data about machines inside a desktop pool that are running on a snapshot or base vm that's not currently configiured on the desktop pool. By default it logs off the users but there are options to forcefully logoff the user or delete the machines.

    .EXAMPLE
    .\Horizon_cleanup_old_image.ps1 -Credential $creds -ConnectionServerFQDN pod2cbr1.loft.lab -poolname "Pod02 Pool02" -delete -preview

    .PARAMETER Credential
    Mandatory: Yes
    Type: PSCredential
    Object with credentials for the connection server with domain\username and password

    .PARAMETER ConnectionServerFQDN
    Mandatory: No
    Default: String
    FQDN of the connection server to connect to

    .PARAMETER Poolname
    Mandatory: Yes
    Type: string
    Display name of the Desktop Pool to check

    .PARAMETER Deletedesktops
    Mandatory: No
    Enables the deleteion of the desktops, this includes an attempt to forcefully logoff the users.

    .PARAMETER Forcedlogoff
    Mandatory: No
    Enables the forcefully logging off of the users.

    .PARAMETER Preview
    Mandatory: No
    Makes the script run in preview mode and not undertake any actions.

    .NOTES
    Created by: Wouter Kursten
    First version: 27-06-2021

    .COMPONENT
    VMWare PowerCLI

#>

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
    HelpMessage='Credential object as domain\username with password' )]
    [PSCredential] $Credential,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage='FQDN of the connectionserver' )]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $ConnectionServerFQDN,

    [parameter(Mandatory = $true,
    HelpMessage = "Display Name of the desktop pool to logoff the users.")]
    [string]$poolname = $false,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false, 
    HelpMessage='Deletes the desktops instead of forcing the logoff' )]
    [switch] $deletedesktops,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false, 
    HelpMessage='Gives a preview only, no action will be undertaken.' )]
    [switch] $preview,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false, 
    HelpMessage='Forcefully logs off the users in case the desktop is locked or disconnected.' )]
    [switch] $forcedlogoff
)

if($Credential){
    $creds = $credential
}
else{
    $creds = get-credential
}

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

# Preview info
if($preview){
    write-host "Running in preview mode no actions will be taken" -foregroundcolor Magenta
 }

 # Loading powercli modules
 Import-Module VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView
 Import-Module VMware.VimAutomation.Core

$hvserver1=connect-hvserver $ConnectionServerFQDN -credential $creds
$Services1= $hvServer1.ExtensionData

# --- Get Services for interacting with the Horizon API Service ---
$Services1= $hvServer1.ExtensionData

# --- Get Desktop pool
$poolqueryservice=new-object vmware.hv.queryserviceservice
$pooldefn = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryDefinition
$pooldefn.queryentitytype='DesktopSummaryView'
$pooldefn.Filter= New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryFilterEquals -property @{'MemberName'='desktopSummaryData.displayName'; 'value'=$poolname}
try{
    $poolqueryResults = $poolqueryService.QueryService_Create($Services1, $pooldefn) 
    $poolqueryservice.QueryService_DeleteAll($services1)
    $results = $poolqueryResults.results
}
catch{
    write-error "There was an error retreiving details for $poolname"
}

# we need more details of the pool though and check if we even got one
if($results.count -eq 1){
    $pool = $Services1.Desktop.Desktop_Get($results.id)
}
else{
    write-host "No pool found with name $poolname" -foregroundcolor Red
    break
}

# Search for machine details
$queryservice=new-object vmware.hv.queryserviceservice
$defn = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryDefinition
$defn.queryentitytype='MachineDetailsView'
$defn.filter = New-Object VMware.Hv.QueryFilterEquals -Property @{ 'memberName' = 'desktopData.id'; 'value' = $pool.id }
[array]$queryResults = $queryService.QueryService_Create($Services1, $defn)
$services1.QueryService.QueryService_DeleteAll()
# Process the results
if ($queryResults.results.count -ge 1){
    [array]$poolmachines=$queryResults.results
    [array]$wrongsnaps=$poolmachines | where-object {$_.managedmachinedetailsdata.baseimagesnapshotpath -notlike  $pool.automateddesktopdata.VirtualCenternamesdata.snapshotpath -OR $_.managedmachinedetailsdata.baseimagepath -notlike $pool.automateddesktopdata.VirtualCenternamesdata.parentvmpath}
    # If there are desktops on a wrong snapsot we need to do something with that info
    if($wrongsnaps.count -ge 1){
        if($deletedesktops){
            write-host "Removing:" $wrongsnaps.data.name -foregroundcolor yellow
            $deletespec = new-object vmware.hv.machinedeletespec
            $deletespec.DeleteFromDisk = $true
            $deletespec.ForceLogoffSession = $true
            if(!$preview){
                $Services1.Machine.Machine_DeleteMachines($wrongsnaps.id, $deletespec)
            }
        }
        else{
            write-host "Logging users off from:" $wrongsnaps.data.name -foregroundcolor yellow
            [array]$sessiondata = $wrongsnaps.sessiondata
            write-host "Users being logged off are:" $sessiondata.username -foregroundcolor yellow
            if(!$preview){
                if($forcedlogoff){
                    write-host "Forcefully logging off users" -foregroundcolor yellow
                    $services1.session.Session_LogoffSessionsForced($sessiondata.id)
                }
                else{
                    write-host "Gracefully logging off users" -foregroundcolor yellow
                    $services1.session.Session_LogoffSessions($sessiondata.id)
                }
            }
        }
    }
    else{
        write-host "No machines found on a wrong snapshot" -foregroundcolor Green
    }
}
else{
    write-host "No machines found in $poolname" -foregroundcolor red
}

 

Getting Session information using the Python Module for VMware Horizon with filtering

  By , , , , , ,

Since Horizon 8 it is possible to retrieve session information using the REST api’s. In the python module for Horizon I have translated that functionality to the get_sessions function.

import requests, getpass, urllib, json

import vmware_horizon

requests.packages.urllib3.disable_warnings()
url = input("URL\n")

username = input("Username\n")

domain = input("Domain\n")

pw = getpass.getpass()

hvconnectionobj = vmware_horizon.Connection(username = username,domain = domain,password = pw,url = url)
hvconnectionobj.hv_connect()
print("connected")

inventory=vmware_horizon.Inventory(url=hvconnectionobj.url, access_token=hvconnectionobj.access_token)
sessions = inventory.get_sessions()
for i in sessions:
    for ii in i:
        print(ii, '=', i[ii] )


end=hvconnectionobj.hv_disconnect()
print(end)

You see a lot of the information is returned using an id but there are plenty of functions that you can use to get the readable information for those.

Since Horizon 2103 VMware has added an option use filtering when getting session information. In the example above you can see that I have a connected and a disconnected session, let’s get the connected one. First I create the filter.

filter = {}
filter["type"] = "And"
filter["filters"] = []
filter1={}

filter1["type"] = "Equals"
filter1["name"] = "session_state"
filter1["value"] = "CONNECTED"

filter["filters"].append(filter1)

Next I run the action with the filter argument.

sessions = inventory.get_sessions(filter=filter)

And now you see only the connected one is returned

And when I switch to disconnected

The new python module has been pushed to github together with example scripts for retrieving all sessions and with filtering.

vCheck for Horizon : small updates & running it (automatically) from ControlUp

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Remark : as of the time I was writing this article the vCheck for Horizon  sba hasn’t been published yet. Contact me if you want me to send you the xml file.

Last week I have been doing a few small updates to the vCheck for Horizon. The file with the encrypted password is now replaced by an xml file that holds all of the credentials and is usable directly for Horizon connections. I have been using this for my blog posts and demo’s for a while already. Also I have renamed the security & composer plugins by default to old as those have been deprecated and I don’t want to have them active by default anymore. Further I have done some small changes to other plugins.

Creating the xml file

Running the vCheck from horizon

But but wasn’t the vCheck all about running it automagically?

Creating the xml file

[sta_anchor id=”xml” /]

this can be easily done like this:

$creds = get-credential
$creds | export-clixml filename.xml

as you might have seen during my demo’s you can use this $creds object to make a connection.

$creds = import-clixml filename.xml
$server = connect-hvserver connectionserver.fq.dn -credential $creds

Make sure to save this file to a good location and edit the “00 Connection Plugin for View.ps1” file with the proper location. I haven’t completely removed the old ways yet, they’re still partially there.

Running the vCheck script from ControlUp

[sta_anchor id=”controlup” /]

Before everything else: make sure the machine that will run the vCheck has the latest version of PowerCLI installed. Download it here, and unpack the modules to “C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules” like this:

There are several things that I needed to do before I was able to run the vCheck from the ControlUp console or as an Automated Action (more on this later!). First I needed a way of providing credentials to the script. This is something I do using the Create Credentials for Horizon Scripts script action. If you already use some of the other Horizon related sba’s or the Horizon Sync script you might already have this configured. What it essentially does is creating an xml file as described above in a folder dedicated for ControlUp and usable by the service account that ran the sba. More on this can be found here.

Next was a way to get the vCheck itself. I do this by downloading it from github and unpack the zip file to C:\ProgramData\ControlUp\ScriptSupport\vCheck-HorizonView-master if downloads from the interwebz aren’t available you can download and unzip it yourself, just make sure it looks like this:

Next would be all the settings for email, connection server etcetera. This is all done trough the Script Action Arguments. WHat technically happens is that the Script Action removes both the globalvariables.ps1 and the “00 Connection Plugin for View.ps1” files and recreates them with those settings.

Once you have downloaded the vCheck you can run it manually so right click any random machine and select the vCheck for Horizon.

and fill in all the details you need. If you set the Send Email to false there is no need for the rest of the info.

Once you see this screen the script has completed, make sure to read the last line for the correct status and where you saved to file to.

And on my d:\ I see the file (and some others I used for testing)

And even better I received it in my mail as well

But but wasn’t the vCheck all about running it automagically?

[sta_anchor id=”automated” /]

Well yes it is and you can do that starting with version 8.5 that we have announced today! For now it will need to run hourly but in future releases we can also do this once a day. What you need to do for this is first change the default for the script action. Select that sba and hot the modify button.

Under settings you can keep the execution context as console (this will use the monitor when you run it as an automated action) or select other machine to pick a scripting server. Also make sure to select a shared credential that has a Horizon credentials file created on this machine.

Now go to the arguments tab and edit the default settings to set them to what you need.

Before:

Editing the first one

and done, press ok after this.

Now click finalize so the monitors can also use them and go trough all the steps ( no need to share with the community) an dmake sure the ControlUp Monitors have the permissions to run the sba.

Next we go to triggers > add trigger and select the new type: scheduled and click next

select the hourly schedule and a proper start and end time and click next

On the filter criteria make sure that you set the name to a single machine, otherwise the script will run for all machines in your environment. I recommend the same machine you used for the execution context. Keep in mind that the schedule functions just like any other trigger so you need to filter properly to what machine it applies and if you don’t it will apply to all of them.

You can select the folder this machine resides in and/or select a schedule to run the script in.

At the follow-up actions click add and select run an action from the pulldown menu. Under script name select the vCheck for Horizon, click ok and next

Make sure to create a clear name and click finish

The html should automatically end up in the export location and in your email.