VMware vSphere As Built Report

VMware vSphere As Built Report is a PowerShell module which works in conjunction with AsBuiltReport.Core.

AsBuiltReport is an open-sourced community project which utilises PowerShell to produce as-built documentation in multiple document formats for multiple vendors and technologies.

The VMware vSphere As Built Report module is used to generate as built documentation for VMware vSphere / vCenter Server environments.

Please refer to the VMware ESXi AsBuiltReport for reporting of standalone VMware ESXi servers.

Please refer to the AsBuiltReport website for more detailed information about this project.

:books: Sample Reports

Sample Report 1 - Default Style

Sample vSphere As Built report with health checks, using default report style.

Sample Report 2 - Custom Style

Sample vSphere As Built report with health checks, using custom report style.

:beginner: Getting Started

Below are the instructions on how to install, configure and generate a VMware vSphere As Built report.

:floppy_disk: Supported Versions

VMware vSphere

The VMware vSphere As Built Report supports the following vSphere versions;

• vSphere 6.5
• vSphere 6.7
• vSphere 7.0

End of Support

The following VMware vSphere versions are no longer being tested and/or supported;

• vSphere 5.5
• vSphere 6.0

PowerShell

This report is compatible with the following PowerShell versions;

^ Due to compatibility issues, VMware Update Manager information will not be reported when using PowerShell 7

:wrench: System Requirements

PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7, and the following PowerShell modules are required for generating a VMware vSphere As Built report.

Each of these modules can be easily downloaded and installed via the PowerShell Gallery

• VMware PowerCLI Module
• AsBuiltReport.VMware.vSphere Module

Linux & macOS

• .NET Core is required for cover page image support on Linux and macOS operating systems.
  • Installing .NET Core for macOS
  • Installing .NET Core for Linux

❗ If you are unable to install .NET Core, you must set ShowCoverPageImage to False in the report JSON configuration file.

:closed_lock_with_key: Required Privileges

A VMware vSphere As Built Report can be generated with read-only privileges, however the following sections will be skipped;

• vSphere licensing information
• VM Storage Policy information
• VMware Update Manager / Lifecycle Manager information

For a complete report, the following role assigned privileges are required;

• Global > Licenses
• Global > Settings
• Host > Configuration > Change Settings
• Profile-driven Storage > Profile-driven storage view
• VMware vSphere Update Manager > View Compliance Status

:package: Module Installation

Open a PowerShell terminal window and install each of the required modules.

:warning: VMware PowerCLI 12.3 or higher is required. Please ensure older PowerCLI versions have been uninstalled.

install-module VMware.PowerCLI -MinimumVersion 12.3 -AllowClobber
install-module AsBuiltReport.VMware.vSphere

:pencil2: Configuration

The vSphere As Built Report utilises a JSON file to allow configuration of report information, options, detail and healthchecks.

A vSphere report configuration file can be generated by executing the following command;

New-AsBuiltReportConfig -Report VMware.vSphere -FolderPath <User specified folder> -Filename <Optional>

Executing this command will copy the default vSphere report JSON configuration to a user specified folder.

All report settings can then be configured via the JSON file.

The following provides information of how to configure each schema within the report's JSON file.

Report

The Report schema provides configuration of the vSphere report information.

Options

The Options schema allows certain options within the report to be toggled on or off.

InfoLevel

The InfoLevel schema allows configuration of each section of the report at a granular level. The following sections can be set.

There are 6 levels (0-5) of detail granularity for each section as follows;

The table below outlines the default and maximum InfoLevel settings for each section.

Healthcheck

The Healthcheck schema is used to toggle health checks on or off.

vCenter

The vCenter schema is used to configure health checks for vCenter Server.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
Mail	true / false	true	Highlights mail settings which are not configured	Not Configured
Licensing	true / false	true	Highlights product evaluation licenses	Product evaluation license in use
Alarms	true / false	true	Highlights vCenter Server alarms which are disabled	Alarm disabled

Cluster

The Cluster schema is used to configure health checks for vSphere Clusters.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
HAEnabled	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have vSphere HA enabled	vSphere HA disabled
HAAdmissionControl	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have vSphere HA Admission Control enabled	vSphere HA Admission Control disabled
HostFailureResponse	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which have vSphere HA Failure Response set to disabled	vSphere HA Host Failure Response disabled
HostMonitoring	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have vSphere HA Host Monitoring enabled	vSphere HA Host Monitoring disabled
DatastoreOnPDL	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have Datastore on PDL enabled	vSphere HA Datastore on PDL disabled
DatastoreOnAPD	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have Datastore on APD enabled	vSphere HA Datastore on APD disabled
APDTimeOut	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have APDTimeOut enabled	APDTimeOut disabled
vmMonitoing	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have VM Monitoting enabled	VM Monitoring disabled
DRSEnabled	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have vSphere DRS enabled	vSphere DRS disabled
DRSAutomationLevelFullyAuto	true / false	true	Checks the vSphere DRS Automation Level is set to 'Fully Automated'	vSphere DRS Automation Level not set to 'Fully Automated'
PredictiveDRS	true / false	false	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have Predictive DRS enabled	Predictive DRS disabled
DRSVMHostRules	true / false	true	Highlights DRS VMHost rules which are disabled	DRS VMHost rule disabled
DRSRules	true / false	true	Highlights DRS rules which are disabled	DRS rule disabled
vSANEnabled	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have Virtual SAN enabled	Virtual SAN disabled
EVCEnabled	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not have Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) enabled	vSphere EVC disabled
VUMCompliance	true / false	true	Highlights vSphere Clusters which do not comply with VMware Update Manager baselines	Unknown Not Compliant

VMHost

The VMHost schema is used to configure health checks for VMHosts.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
ConnectionState	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are in maintenance mode or disconnected	Maintenance Disconnected
HyperThreading	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which have HyperThreading disabled	HyperThreading disabled
ScratchLocation	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are configured with the default scratch location	Scratch location is /tmp/scratch
IPv6	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which do not have IPv6 enabled	IPv6 disabled
UpTimeDays	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts with uptime days greater than 9 months	9 - 12 months >12 months
Licensing	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are using production evaluation licenses	Product evaluation license in use
SSH	true / false	true	Highlights if the SSH service is enabled	TSM / TSM-SSH service enabled
ESXiShell	true / false	true	Highlights if the ESXi Shell service is enabled	TSM / TSM-EsxiShell service enabled
NTP	true / false	true	Highlights if the NTP service has stopped or is disabled on a VMHost	NTP service stopped / disabled
StorageAdapter	true / false	true	Highlights storage adapters which are not 'Online'	Storage adapter status is 'Unknown' Storage adapter status is 'Offline'
NetworkAdapter	true / false	true	Highlights physical network adapters which are not 'Connected' Highlights physical network adapters which are 'Down'	Network adapter is 'Disconnected' Network adapter is 'Down'
LockdownMode	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which do not have Lockdown mode enabled	Lockdown Mode disabled
VUMCompliance	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are not compliant with VMware Update Manager software packages	Unknown Incompatible

vSAN

The vSAN schema is used to configure health checks for vSAN.

Datastore

The Datastore schema is used to configure health checks for Datastores.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
CapacityUtilization	true / false	true	Highlights datastores with storage capacity utilization over 75%	75 - 90% utilized >90% utilized

DSCluster

The DSCluster schema is used to configure health checks for Datastore Clusters.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
CapacityUtilization	true / false	true	Highlights datastore clusters with storage capacity utilization over 75%	75 - 90% utilized >90% utilized
SDRSAutomationLevelFullyAuto	true / false	true	Highlights if the Datastore Cluster SDRS Automation Level is not set to 'Fully Automated'	Storage DRS Automation Level not set to 'Fully Automated'

VM

The VM schema is used to configure health checks for virtual machines.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
PowerState	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which are powered off	VM is powered off
ConnectionState	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which are orphaned or inaccessible	VM is orphaned or inaccessible
CpuHotAdd	true / false	true	Highlights virtual machines which have CPU Hot Add enabled	CPU Hot Add enabled
CpuHotRemove	true / false	true	Highlights virtual machines which have CPU Hot Remove enabled	CPU Hot Remove enabled
MemoryHotAdd	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which have Memory Hot Add enabled	Memory Hot Add enabled
ChangeBlockTracking	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which do not have Change Block Tracking enabled	Change Block Tracking disabled
SpbmPolicyCompliance	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which do not comply with storage based policies	VM storage based policy compliance is unknown VM does not comply with storage based policies
VMToolsStatus	true / false	true	Highlights Virtual Machines which do not have VM Tools installed, are out of date or are not running	VM Tools not installed, out of date or not running
VMSnapshots	true / false	true	Highlights Virtual Machines which have snapshots older than 7 days	VM Snapshot age >= 7 days VM Snapshot age >= 14 days

:computer: Examples

# Generate a vSphere As Built Report for vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local' using specified credentials. Export report to HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Append timestamp to report filename. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report VMware.vSphere -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username '[email protected]' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -Timestamp

# Generate a vSphere As Built Report for vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local' using specified credentials and report configuration file. Export report to Text, HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'. Display verbose messages to the console.
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report VMware.vSphere -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username '[email protected]' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Text,Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -ReportConfigFilePath 'C:\Users\Tim\AsBuiltReport\AsBuiltReport.VMware.vSphere.json' -Verbose

# Generate a vSphere As Built Report for vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local' using stored credentials. Export report to HTML & Text formats. Use default report style. Highlight environment issues within the report. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'.
PS C:\> $Creds = Get-Credential
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report VMware.vSphere -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Credential $Creds -Format Html,Text -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -EnableHealthCheck

# Generate a single vSphere As Built Report for vCenter Servers 'vcenter-01.corp.local' and 'vcenter-02.corp.local' using specified credentials. Report exports to WORD format by default. Apply custom style to the report. Reports are saved to the user profile folder by default.
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report VMware.vSphere -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local','vcenter-02.corp.local' -Username '[email protected]' -Password 'VMware1!' -StyleFilePath 'C:\Scripts\Styles\MyCustomStyle.ps1'

# Generate a vSphere As Built Report for vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local' using specified credentials. Export report to HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Reports are saved to the user profile folder by default. Attach and send reports via e-mail.
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report VMware.vSphere -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username '[email protected]' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -SendEmail