VMware PowerCLI 11.3.0 is released now and it includes 732 new different cmdlets .
PowerCLI 11.3.0 comes with the following updates:
- Added 22 new cmdlets for HCX and SPBM management
- Added support for vSphere 6.7 Update 2 to the VMware.VIM module
- Added support for opaque networks to the Get-VirtualNetwork cmdlet
- Added support for the creation of additional network adapter types
- Added support for the high-level promotion of instant clones
- Updated the handling of a Cluster’s ‘SpbmEnabled’ status
- Updated the handling of bulk tagging assignments
Tag Improvements
With this new version , PowerCLI 11.3, allows us to make use of the backend API where we can perform the bulk assignment of tags. This means that the New-TagAssignment cmdlet has been updated to allow for arrays to be passed for either the Entity or Tag properties.
New Cmdlets for HCX
VMware HCX is best thought of as a swiss army knife – a single tool with multiple options to move your workloads in and out of the cloud. The HCX module was introduced just earlier this year, in PowerCLI 11.2.0, as the 21st module for PowerCLI. New in PowerCLI version 11.3.0, the module receives an additional 21 cmdlets to interact with your HCX deployment. A majority of the new cmdlets deal with profiles, which are used as a site’s deployment configurations for items like storage, compute, and networking. There are also new cmdlets to manage the HCX Service Mesh, which is composed of the source and destination sites.
A complete list of the newly added cmdlets:
- Get/New/Remove/Set-HCXComputeProfile
- Get-HCXInventoryCompute
- Get-HCXInventoryDatastore
- Get-HCXInventoryDVS
- Get-HCXInventoryNetwork
- Get-HCXNetworkBacking
- Get/New/Remove/Set-HCXNetworkProfile
- Get/New/Remove/Set-HCXServiceMesh
- Get-HCXStorageProfile
- New-HCXComputeProfileDVS
- New-HCXComputeProfileNetwork
- New-HCXServiceMeshDVS
More information on using the HCX module can be found in the following blog post: Getting Started with the HCX Module
Opaque Network Support
Another improvement to the PowerCLI 11.2 release was the addition of a new object type for opaque networks. These network types are the result of logical switches that have been created in NSX-T. That update allowed us to retrieve these objects through only low-level, direct API access, commands. With PowerCLI 11.3, the Get-VirtualNetwork cmdlet has been updated so we can now view opaque networks with a high-level cmdlet!
Instant Clone Promotion
Instant Clone is a functionality which has been around VMware in one form or another for quite a while. First discussed as “VMFork”, going back as early as 2014, this allows us to immediately create a child VM based off of a presently powered on VM, which we can then view as a cloned VM in vCenter. vSphere 6.7 was the first release to have this available as a public feature, though it was only available through the API. This is where PowerCLI, and specifically version 11.3, comes into play because we can now make use of the Set-VM cmdlet combined with the PromoteDisks parameter against one of the available child VMs to create a fully cloned VM object. The selling point is that afterward, there is no longer a dependency on that parent VM!
SPBM Updates
The last big update we’re going to cover is for those looking to automate the management of vSphere Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) policies. The first update comes in the form of a new cmdlet named Get-SpbmView. This cmdlet gives us direct access to the available APIs for SPBM.
For more information on changes made in VMware PowerCLI 11.3.0, including improvements, security enhancements, and deprecated features, see the
Change Log – VMware PowerCLI Change Log.
Product Features – VMware PowerCLI 11.3.0 User’s Guide.
Cmdlets – VMware PowerCLI 11.3.0 Cmdlet Reference.
