Add my own custom properties and populate them with powershell in VMM2012

I have made a powershell script function to update information about what VLAN and IP the VM´s have. This for the IT Admin to easily see in the VMM 2012 Console. Of course the function can be customized to populate any other information available for the VM´s, maybe you want to display create date or something else that is not in the standard properties and you do not want to use the pre-made custom# .

I am using the Get-IPAddress from Ben Wilkinson, This requires that the VMM server can resolve the IP of the VM´s from a DNS.

If I do not have an DNS or the VLAN info is not stored, i can via the parameters update the properties by -IP or -VLANid.

As you can see on this screen dump, by default i only have custom#, to add my own i have to click on “Manage Custom Properties”

Here i press “Create” and add a name and optionally a description

Then when i have created the custom properties i want i add them,

Then it looks like this,

Now the powershell function comes into play when i am going to populate these fields with information.

function Set-CustomValue{
# Function to add custom data on VMs
#
# Niklas Akerlund /RTS 2012-02-18
    param (
   [Parameter(Position=0,Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage="A virtual machine pleaze",
    ValueFromPipeline=$True)]
    $VM,
	$VLANid = "",
	$IP = ""
    )
    . .\Get-IPAddress.ps1
    
    $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine $VM
	
  	$CustomIP = Get-SCCustomProperty -Name "IP"
    $CustomVLAN = Get-SCCustomProperty -Name "VLAN"
    
	if ($IP -eq ""){
		$IP = Get-IPAddress -HostName $VM.Name
    }
	
	if ($VLANid -eq ""){
	    $VMnics = $VM | Get-SCVirtualNetworkAdapter
	    if($VMnics.Count -ne $null){
	        foreach ($VMnic in $VMnics){
	            $VLANid = $VLANid + $VMnic.VlanID + " "
	        }
	        Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VLANid
	    }else{
	        Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VMnics.VlanID
	    }
    }else {
		Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VLANid
	}
    if($IP -ne ""){
        Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomIP -Value $IP       
    }
}

a screendump of my powershell console, as you can see I am using the (Get-SCVMHostCluster).Nodes to get all virtual machines on these, also i am using a foreach (%) to run the population on each VM.

And this is how it looks in the VMM console,

 

Comments

PB
• Reply

Really love the idea of this but can’t get it to work. after running the command:

(Get-VMHostCluster cluster01).Nodes | Get-SCVirtualMachine | %{Set-CustomValue -VM $_} | ft Name,Value

All I get is the cursor returning to a new command prompt and no output (Errors or otherwise.)

I am fairly new to PowerShell, any tips like being able to turn on error checking to see if I have missed anything out?

Cheers

Niklas
• Reply

the | ft Name,Value just shows the values, the idea here is that you populate the custom properties on your SCVMM 2012 console. if you test with one VM as in Get-SCVirtualMachine XXNAME-VM | Set-CustomValue you should see on that machines properties that it has populated the custom fields.. as i write in the post you can also use the parameters for -Vlan -IP to just test that it works, this function also requires that you save the Get-IPadress function in the link.

Christian
• Reply

this is really great, however do you have a way to extract these custom properties for backup? I used to use an old SCVMM 2008 script but this doesn’t allow me to extract Custom Properties I have set like “server use” “License” etc (that have been manually entered) So could I run a powershell script to extract all of the metadata and reimport in case of failure?

Niklas
• Reply

This information is something that i populate with a scheduled task, The information is not static as the VM´s can change vlan and ip,

You should be able to do a export of VM name and custom property and then import if disaster, It is supported to do an upgrade from VMM 2008 r2 sp1 -> VMM 2012

Chris Parker
• Reply

I have followed you write up and run the scripts but it does not seem to be working. The script executes and does not give any error but nothing happens. I am running VMM2012 any suggestions?

Niklas
• Reply

The script does not create the custom properties, maybe you need to create it first?

Chris Parker
• Reply

Thank you for your response. I did have the custom properties set already and I am now able to get the vlan to populate for one image. I am getting the below error when running the below command any thoughts?

PS C:\Scripts> (Get-VMHostCluster communitycluster.lqnt.local).nodes | Get-SCVir
tualMachine | %(Set-CustomValue -IP $_) | ft Name, Vlaue

cmdlet Set-CustomValue at command pipeline position 1
Supply values for the following parameters:
(Type !? for Help.)
VM: vlqt-3-0021

Security Warning
Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the Internet can be useful,
this script can potentially harm your computer. Do you want to run
C:\Scripts\Get-IPAddress.ps1?
[D] Do not run [R] Run once [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is “D”): r
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue : Cannot validate argument on parameter ‘Value’. The
argument is null. Supply a non-null argument and try the command again.
At C:\Scripts\Set-CustomValue.ps1:73 char:85
+ Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomIP
-Value <<<< $IP
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Set-SCCustomPropertyValue], Pa
rameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationError,Microsoft.Syste
mCenter.VirtualMachineManager.Cmdlets.SetCustomPropertyValueCmdlet

ForEach-Object : Cannot bind parameter 'Process'. Cannot convert the "VLAN" val
ue of type "Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.CustomPropertyValue" t
o type "System.Management.Automation.ScriptBlock".
At line:1 char:81
+ (Get-VMHostCluster communitycluster.lqnt.local).nodes | Get-SCVirtualMachine
| % <<<

Also I thought this script did this for all the images running in the cluster and not just one. Am I incorrect in this thinking?

J
• Reply

@Chris Parker

Getting the same error, Vlans update fine its just the IP field.

Vlan 680
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue : Cannot validate argument on parameter ‘Value’. The argument is null. Supply a non-null
argument and try the command again.
At C:\temp\IPAddress.ps1:37 char:85
+ … ustomIP -Value $IP
+ ~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Set-SCCustomPropertyValue], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationError,Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager.Cmdlets.Se
tCustomPropertyValueCmdlet

John Smith
• Reply

my version of the script. IP addresses are taken from the properties of the virtual machine:
function Set-CustomValue{
# Function to add custom data on VMs
#
# Niklas Akerlund /RTS 2012-02-18
param (
[Parameter(Position=0,Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage=”A virtual machine pleaze”,
ValueFromPipeline=$True)]
$VM,
$VLANid = “”,
$IP = “”,
$rest = “”
)

$VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine $VM

$CustomIP = Get-SCCustomProperty -Name “IP”
$CustomVLAN = Get-SCCustomProperty -Name “VLAN”

if ($IP -eq “”){
$IPs = get-vm -name $VM | Select-Object -ExpandProperty VirtualNetworkAdapters|select IPv4Addresses
foreach ($ip in $IPs.ipv4addresses){
$rest = $ip + ‘ ‘ + $rest
}
}

if ($VLANid -eq “”){
$VMnics = $VM | Get-SCVirtualNetworkAdapter
if($VMnics.Count -ne $null){
foreach ($VMnic in $VMnics){
$VLANid = $VLANid + $VMnic.VlanID + ” ”
}
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VLANid
}else{
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VMnics.VlanID
}
}else {
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomVLAN -Value $VLANid
}
if($IP -ne “”){
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -InputObject $VM -CustomProperty $CustomIP -Value $rest
}
}

running
cd C:\powershell
Import-Module .\Set-CustomValue.ps1
(Get-VMHostCluster hypervfarm1).Nodes | Get-SCvirtualMachine | %{Set-CustomValue -VM $_} | ft Name,Value

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