VMware vSphere Update Manager

PowerCLI Installation and

Administration Guide
Update Manager PowerCLI 5.1

EN-000897-00

VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

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Contents

AboutThisBook

InstallingandUsingUpdateManagerPowerCLI

InstallingUpdateManagerPowerCLI 7
SupportedPlatforms 7
Prerequisites 8
InstallUpdateManagerPowerCLI 8
UninstallingUpdateManagerPowerCLI 8
UsingUpdateManagerPowerCLI 8
GettingStartedwithUpdateManagerPowerCLI 8
ConnectingtoavCenterServer 9
ExamplesofUsageofUpdateManagerPowerCLICmdlets 9
CreatingPatchBaselines 9
AttachingandDetachingBaselines 9
ScanningaVirtualMachine 10
StagingPatches 10
RemediatingInventoryObjects 11
DownloadingPatchesandScanningObjects 12

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VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

VMware, Inc.

About This Book

TheVMwarevSphereUpdateManagerPowerCLIInstallationandAdministrationGuide,providesinformation
aboutinstallingandusingtheUpdateManagerPowerCLI.TheUpdateManagerPowerCLIcontainscmdlets
formanagingsoftwarepatchesandbaselines,andscanningandremediatingvirtualmachinesandhosts.

Intended Audience
ThisbookisintendedforadministratorswhoneedtoinstallanduseUpdateManagerPowerCLI.
NOTEAllUpdateManagerPowerCLIusersareexpectedtobefamiliarwiththeVMwarevSpherePowerCLI
cmdlets,VMwarevSphereadministration,VMwarevSphereUpdateManager,andtheWindowsoperating
system.FormoreinformationaboutthefunctionalityofUpdateManager,seetheUpdateManager
AdministrationGuide.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMwareTechnicalPublicationsprovidesaglossaryoftermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.Fordefinitions
oftermsastheyareusedinVMwaretechnicaldocumentationgotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Document Feedback
VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhavecomments,sendyour
feedbacktodocfeedback@vmware.com.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.Toaccessthecurrentversion
ofthisbookandotherbooks,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone Support

Touseonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductandcontractinformation,and
registeryourproducts,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support.
Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthefastestresponseon
priority1issues.Gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.

Support Offerings
TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto
http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

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VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

VMware Professional Services

VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials
designedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive
online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides
offeringsto helpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout
educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/services.

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Installing and Using Update Manager

PowerCLI

TheVMwarevSphereUpdateManagerPowerCLIprovidesasetofcmdletsfordownloadingsoftware
patches,creatingandmodifyingbaselines,andforscanningandremediatingvirtualmachinesorhosts.These
cmdletsarestoredintheVMware.VumAutomationplugin,andareavailablethroughtheVMwarevSphere
PowerCLIconsole.
Thechapterincludesthefollowingtopics:

InstallingUpdateManagerPowerCLIonpage 7

UsingUpdateManagerPowerCLIonpage 8

Installing Update Manager PowerCLI

YoucaninstallanduseUpdateManagerPowerCLIonmachinesthathaveVMwarevSpherePowerCLI
installedandhaveaccesstoavCenterServersystem.YoucaninstallUpdateManagerPowerCLIonamachine
thatdoesnothaveUpdateManagerorvCenterServerinstalled.
Thissectionprovidesinformationaboutthefollowingtopics:

SupportedPlatformsonpage 7

Prerequisitesonpage 8

InstallUpdateManagerPowerCLIonpage 8

UninstallingUpdateManagerPowerCLIonpage 8

NOTEToinstallUpdateManagerPowerCLI,youmusthavevSpherePowerCLIinstalledonthetarget
machine.ToobtainthevSpherePowerCLIpackage,gotothevSpherePowerCLIdownloadpage.

Supported Platforms
UpdateManagerPowerCLI5.1issupportedonthe32bitand64bitversionsofthefollowingWindows
operatingsystems:

Windows7

WindowsServer2008

WindowsVista

WindowsXPServicePack2

WindowsServer2003ServicePack2

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VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

Prerequisites
ToinstallanduseUpdateManagerPowerCLI5.1,youmusthavethefollowingsoftwareinstalledonthetarget
machine:

.NET2.0SP1

WindowsPowerShell2.0

VMwarevSpherePowerCLI4.1orlater

NOTEUpdateManagerPowerCLI5.1worksonlywithUpdateManager5.1.

Install Update Manager PowerCLI

YoucandownloadtheUpdateManagerPowerCLIinstallerpackagefromtheproductlandingpage.
NOTEUpdateManagerPowerCLIisinstalledinthesamelocationasPowerCLI.YoucannotinstallUpdate
ManagerPowerCLIinacustomlocation.
To install the Update Manager PowerCLI
1

StarttheUpdateManagerPowerCLIinstaller.

ClickNextintheWelcomepagetocontinuewiththeinstallation.

Readandacceptthelicenseagreementterms.

ClickInstall.

ClickFinishtocompletetheinstallationprocess.

Uninstalling Update Manager PowerCLI

TouninstalltheUpdateManagerPowerCLIfromyourWindowssystem,youcanusetheAddorRemove
Programsutility.

Using Update Manager PowerCLI

ThissectionexploresthebasicsoftheUpdateManagerPowerCLIcmdletsusage.Itdiscussesthefollowing
topics:

GettingStartedwithUpdateManagerPowerCLIonpage 8

ExamplesofUsageofUpdateManagerPowerCLICmdletsonpage 9

Getting Started with Update Manager PowerCLI

TogetstartedwithUpdateManagerPowerCLI,openthevSpherePowerCLIconsolefromtheWindowsStart
menuorbyclickingthevSpherePowerCLIshortcuticon.
YoucangetalistofallUpdateManagerPowerCLIcmdletsbyrunningtheGet-Commandcommandwiththe
-PSSnapinparameter:
Get-Command -PSSnapin VMware.VumAutomation

NOTEYoucanchecktheUpdateManagerPowerCLIversionbyrunningthefollowingcommand:
Get-PowerCLIVersion

Tofindinformationonaspecificcmdlet,runtheGet-Helpcmdletwiththecmdletname.Forexample:
Get-Help Get-Patch

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Installing and Using Update Manager PowerCLI

Connecting to a vCenter Server

ConnecttoavCenterServerthathasaUpdateManagerserverinstalledonit.
To connect to a vCenter Server
1

RunConnect-VIServerandprovidetheserverDNSorIPaddress:
Connect-VIServer 10.23.112.234

Whenprompted,provideausernameandpasswordtoauthenticate.

Examples of Usage of Update Manager PowerCLI Cmdlets

ThefollowingexamplesdemonstratethebasicusageoftheUpdateManagerPowerCLIcmdlets.Theexamples
containvSpherePowerCLIcmdletsforretrievingandmanagingvSphereobjects.Toimplementtheexamples
code,youmusthaveanexistingvSphereinfrastructure.

Creating Patch Baselines

Patchbaselinescanbeappliedtohosts.Dependingonthepatchcriteriayouselect,patchbaselinescanbe
eitherdynamicorfixed(static).Patchdataindynamicbaselineschangesdependingonthecriteriayouspecify
eachtimeUpdateManagerdownloadsnewpatches.Fixedbaselinescontainonlythepatchesyouhave
selected,regardlessofnewpatchdownloads.
To create patch baselines
1

Retrieveallhostpatchesreleasedafter1stJanuary2009forESXproducts,andcreateafixedbaseline
namedStatic Baseline,containingtheretrievedpatches:
$patches = Get-Patch -After "1 Jan 2009" -Product ESX*
$staticBaseline = New-PatchBaseline -Static -Name "Static Baseline" -IncludePatch $patches

CreateacriticaldynamicbaselinenamedDynamic Baselinebyusingafetchallquery:
$criticalPatchBaseline = New-PatchBaseline -Dynamic -Name "Dynamic Baseline"
-SearchPatchSeverity Critical

Createanextensionbaselinethatcontainsallavailableextensions:
$extensions = Get-Patch -BundleType Extension
New-PatchBaseline -Static -Name "Extension Baseline" -Extension -IncludePatch $extensions

Attaching and Detaching Baselines

Attachbaselinestoindividualobjectsandtocontainerobjects,suchasfolders,hosts,clusters,anddatacenters.
Attachingabaselinetoacontainerobjecttransitivelyattachesthebaselinetoallobjectsinthecontainer.
To attach and detach baselines
1

AttachthehostpatchbaselinesstoredintheprovidedvariablestothehostnamedHost:
Attach-Baseline -Baseline $staticBaseline, $criticalPatchBaseline -Entity Host

Detachthetwobaselinesfromthehost:
Detach-Baseline -Baseline $dynamicBaseline, $staticBaseline -Entity Host

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VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

Scanning a Virtual Machine

Scanavirtualmachineagainstthebaselinesattachedtoitorinheritedbyitsparentobject.
To create a task for scanning a virtual machine
1

InitializescanningonavirtualmachinenamedVMagainstbaselinescontainingvirtualmachinehardware
upgradesandVMwareToolsupgrades:
$task = Scan-Inventory -Entity VM -UpdateType VmHardwareUpgrade, VmToolsUpgrade -RunAsync

Thecommandinitializesataskontheserver,returnsasnapshotobjectoftheinitialstateofthetask,and
savesitinthe$taskvariable.
2

Viewtheinitialstatusofthescanningtask:
$task

NOTEThetaskobjectisnotupdatedwiththeactualstateofthetaskprocessrunningontheserver.Even
afterthetaskiscompleted,the$task variablevalueisrunning.Toviewtheactualstatusofthetasks
runningontheserver,usetheGet-Taskcmdlet.
3

(Optional)RuntheWait-Task cmdlettowatchonlinetheprocessprogressandwaitforthetaskto
completebeforerunningothercommands:
Wait-Task -Task $task

To verify whether a virtual machine has at least one baseline with Unknown compliance status
attached to it and start a scan
1

RetrievethecompliancestatuseswiththevalueUnknownforthebaselinesattachedtotheVMvirtual
machineandstoretheminavariable:
$statuses = Get-Compliance -Entity VM -ComplianceStatus Unknown

VerifywhetherthevirtualmachinehasatleastonebaselinewithUnknowncompliancestatusattachedto
itandstartascan:
if ($statuses.Count -gt 0) {
Scan-Inventory -Entity VM -RunAsync"
}

Staging Patches
StagingallowsyoutodownloadpatchesandextensionsfromtheUpdateManagerservertotheESX/ESXi
hosts,withoutapplyingthepatchesandextensionsimmediately.
To stage patches for a virtual machine host
1

Retrieveahostandassignittoavariable:
$host = Get-VMHost -Name 10.23.112.233

Stagethepatchesforupgradingthehost:
Stage-Patch -Entity $host

NOTEStagingcanbeperformedonlyforhosts,clusters,anddatacenters.

10

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Installing and Using Update Manager PowerCLI

Remediating Inventory Objects

Youcanremediatevirtualmachines,virtualappliances,clusters,andhosts.
To remediate a virtual machine
1

RetrieveallbaselinesattachedtotheVMvirtualmachine:
$baselines = Get-Baseline Entity VM

Remediatethevirtualmachine:
Remediate-Inventory Entity VM Baseline $baselines

To upgrade virtual machine hardware and VMware Tools for all virtual machines in a datacenter
1

RetrieveallvirtualmachinesintheDatacenterdatacenter:
$vms = Get-VM -Location Datacenter

Retrieveallvirtualmachineupgradebaselines:
$ugradeBaselines = Get-Baseline -TargetType VM -BaselineType Upgrade

Remediatetheallvirtualmachinesagainstthevirtualmachineupgradebaselines:
foreach ($vm in $vms) {
Remediate-Inventory -Entity $vm -Baseline $upgradeBaselines
}

To remediate a cluster
1

RetrieveallbaselinesattachedtotheClustercluster:
$baselines = Get-Baseline Entity Cluster

Remediatethecluster:
Remediate-Inventory Entity Cluster Baseline $baselines
-ClusterDisableDistributedPowerManagement ClusterDisableHighAvailability
-ClusterDiabelFaultTolerance

NOTEBeforeremediation,youmusttemporarilydisabletheDistributedPowerManagement(DPM),High
Availability(HA)admissioncontrol,andFaultTolerance(FT)featuresoftheclustersyouwanttoremediate.
Afterremediation,UpdateManagerautomaticallyreenablesthedisabledfeatures.
To remediate a host
1

RetrieveallbaselinesattachedtotheHosthost:
$baselines = Get-Baseline Entity Host

Remediatethehost:
Remediate-Inventory Entity Host Baseline $baselines HostFailureAction Retry
HostNumberOfRetries 2 -HostDisableMediaDevices $true

NOTEWhenremediatingahost,youcanconfigurethemaintenancemodesettings.Youcantemporarily
disableanyremovablemediadevicesthatmightpreventthehostfromenteringmaintenancemodeaswell.

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VMware vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI Installation and Administration Guide

Downloading Patches and Scanning Objects

Youcandownloadpatchesfrompreviouslydefinedlocation.
To start a scan for all entities in a datacenter if new patches are downloaded
1

RetrieveallentitiesintheDatacenterdatacenterandsavetheresultinavariable:
$entities = Get-Inventory -Location Datacenter

Downloadallavailablepatchesandsavetheresultinavariable:
$result = Download-Patch

CheckifnewpatchesaredownloadedandstartscanningtheentitiesinDatacenter:
if ($result.Count > 0) {
Scan-Inventory -Entity $entities
}

12

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