It’s PowerCLI release day and this is a significant one! This new release of PowerCLI is versioned at 6.5.1 rather than what you probably expected which would be 6.5 R2 (following on from our last release). We have made this change in order to fall in line with the best practices for being used in the PowerShell Gallery!

New Features

First and foremost, the largest update to this version of PowerCLI is regarding how the installation process has changed. As of this release, you no longer have an MSI file to download and install. You can now install PowerCLI directly from the PowerShell Gallery! This update streamlines the install process in multiple ways and allows module based features which PowerShell users will be used to from other PowerShell based additions.

For a detailed walkthrough on this new installation process, please see this blog post on Installing PowerCLI from the PowerShell Gallery.

The modules have also been updated to support the PowerShell auto-loading process. This allows PowerShell to automatically import the necessary modules in order to process the desired entered cmdlet. A good example would be to open a new PowerShell session, enter “Connect-VIServer” and then populate the parameters as you normally would. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the cmdlet working properly without any other input for cmdlets required.

The Core module has had some notable updates. We listened to the feedback and have added several new cmdlets that create, manage, and remove DRS cluster groups and VM/Host rules. The new cmdlets are as follows:

Get-DRSClusterGroup

New-DRSClusterGroup

Set-DRSClusterGroup

Remove-DRSClusterGroup

Get-DRSVMHostRule

New-DRSVMHostRule

Set-DRSVMHostRule

Remove-DRSVMHostRule

One other major change has happened to the main vSphere module (vim.automation.core module) concerning the Site Recovery Manager (SRM) cmdlets. The SRM cmdlets have been removed from the Core module and a new SRM module has been created. The new module is named VMware.VimAutomation.Srm and features updated cmdlets that enable users to interact with the API views for the SRM 6.5 API!

Speaking of APIs, there are a couple other modules which have been updated to work with the most current APIs. The vR Ops module has been updated to work with the views for the vR Ops 6.5 API. The Horizon module has also been updated to work with the views for the Horizon View 7.1 API. The Storage module has also been updated to work with the views for the latest vSAN 6.6 API.

Last, but certainly not least, the Storage module has received some tremendous updates as well. Many new cmdlets have been added to interact with vSAN’s iSCSI features. The cmdlets include managing an iSCSI initiator group and/or an iSCSI target, managing a resource’s access which are not part of the vSAN cluster, and controlling a vSAN sourced iSCSI LUN. The new cmdlets are as follows:

Get-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroup

New-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroup

Set-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroup

Remove-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroup

Get-VsanIscsiTarget

New-VsanIscsiTarget

Set-VsanIscsiTarget

Remove-VsanIscsiTarget

Get-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroupTargetAssociation

New-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroupTargetAssociation

Remove-VsanIscsiInitiatorGroupTargetAssociation

Get-VsanIscsiLun

New-VsanIscsiLun

Set-VsanIscsiLun

Remove-VsanIscsiLun

Get-VsanStat

Start-VsanDiskFormatUpdate

Get-VSANView

The Storage module has received some updates that are not vSAN related as well. The other changes are around storage policy based management (SPBM) cmdlets. These cmdlets are:

Start-SpbmReplicationPromote

Start-SpbmReplicationTestFailover

Stop-SpbmReplicationTestFailover

Summary

As evidenced above, PowerCLI 6.5.1 is a pretty big release. PowerCLI being available exclusively through the PowerShell Gallery allows for a streamlined process of installing PowerCLI. There have been new cmdlets added to handle the management of DRS clusters. Several modules have been updated to interact with views for the newest APIs on SRM, vR Ops, Horizon View, and vSAN. The storage module has had quite a few improvements made around the vSAN iSCSI capabilities as well as SPBM.

For more information on changes made in VMware PowerCLI 6.5.1, including improvements, security enhancements, and deprecated features, see the VMware PowerCLI Change Log. For more information on specific product features, see the VMware PowerCLI 6.5.1 User’s Guide. For more information on specific cmdlets, see the VMware PowerCLI 6.5.1 Cmdlet Reference.