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How to automate vSphere MOB operations using PowerShell?

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A couple of weeks back I was investigating something that involved the use of the vSphere Managed Object Browser (MOB) and I needed to automate a particular operation. For those of you not familiar with the vSphere MOB, it is a UI debugging tool that allows you to visualize and invoke vSphere APIs using just a web browser. The vSphere MOB is available on both vCenter Server and ESXi and uses the underlying vSphere API. Outside of learning about the vSphere APIs and potentially for troubleshooting purposes, there really is no good reason to be directly interacting with the vSphere MOB on a regular basis. Customers can use any one of the many vSphere SDK/CLIs to easily automate and interact with the vSphere API.

Having said that, there may be cases where you might want to invoke a specific operation using the vSphere MOB, such as private API for example. Obviously, using any private/internal APIs is not officially supported by VMware and their use will be at your own risk. Nonetheless, I had a specific operation that I needed to call from the vSphere MOB and wanted to do so using PowerShell. Several years back I had demonstrated how you could invoke the vSphere MOB using Python but I could not find any PowerShell examples that actually worked. I figured this would be a good learning opportunity for myself and probably something I or others could benefit in the future.

To provide a concrete example, I will be invoking a supported vSphere API called the QueryOptions which is used for accessing either a vCenter Server or ESXi Advanced Settings. For our example, I will be connecting to the vCenter Server's MOB and will be querying for a specific vCenter Server Advanced Setting. If we were to do this manually in the vSphere MOB, we would first open a web browser and login to the following URL: https://[VC-SERVER]/mob/?moid=VpxSettings&method=queryView

automate-vsphere-mob-using-powercli
If you wanted to see all advanced settings, you would leave the "name" parameter blank. For our example, we will query for the VirtualCenter.InstanceName property as shown in the screenshot above and then click on the "Invoke Method" to execute the vSphere API operation. If successful, it should display the results which in our case is the IP Address of my vCenter Server. Pretty straight forward vSphere MOB example. OK, onto automating this from PowerShell. I have created a sample PowerShell script called automate-vsphere-mob.ps1 which you will need to edit and provide your vCenter Server Hostname/IP Address and the vCenter Server credentials (can be read-only) since we are not performing any write operations.

Here are some more specific details on what is happening in the script for those interested:

  1. Authenticate to the vSphere MOB URL that you wish to invoke using an HTTP GET operation and storing the session into a variable named vmware (Line 28-29)
  2. Extract the hidden vmware-session-nonce property used to prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (Line 31-40)
  3. Create the body request which must include the vmware-session-nounce property along with the vSphere API payload (Line 42-45)
  4. Invoke the actual vSphere API call using an HTTP POST along with the existing session from Step 1 and body payload
  5. Process the results (this will be specific to API call) and profit! (Line 50-59)

If you now run the script, you will see that the result is exactly what we saw from interactively using the vSphere MOB. Hopefully this will be useful for anyone who may have a need to automate against the vSphere MOB. For those curious on what I was investigating with the vSphere MOB, stay tuned for more details 🙂

Quick Tip – vSphere MOB is disabled by default in ESXi 6.0

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Yesterday, I noticed an interesting error when trying to connect directly to the vSphere MOB on an ESXi 6.0 host. The following error message was displayed on the browser:

503 Service Unavailable (Failed to connect to endpoint: [N7Vmacore4Http20NamedPipeServiceSpecE:0x4bf02038] _serverNamespace = /mob _isRedirect = false _pipeName =/var/run/vmware/proxy-mob)

vsphere-6.0-mob-disable-0
This was the first time I had noticed this as I normally use the vSphere MOB for debugging purposes or exploring the vSphere API. The vSphere MOB is also a quick an handy way to unregister vSphere Plugins when connecting to vCenter Server.

I did some further investigation and it turns out that in vSphere 6.0, the vSphere MOB will be disabled by default on an ESXi 6.0 host. The reason for this is to provide security hardening out of the box for ESXi versus having an administrator harden after the fact. If you are familiar with the vSphere Security Hardening Guides, you will recall one of the guidelines is to disable the vSphere MOB on an ESXi host and with vSphere 6.0, this is now done automatically for you. This information will also be documented as part of the vSphere 6.0 documentation when it GAs.

If you still need to access the vSphere MOB on an ESXi how, this of course can be re-enabled from the default. There is also a new ESXi Advanced Setting called Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob which easily controls whether the vSphere MOB is enabled or disabled as seen in the screenshot below.

vsphere-6.0-mob-disable-1
You have the option of using either the vSphere C# Client as shown in the screenshot above or the vSphere Web Client to configure the ESXi Advanced Setting:

vsphere-6.0-mob-disable-3
You can also configure this property using the vim-cmd in the ESXi Shell.

Listing the ESXi Advanced Setting using vim-cmd:

vim-cmd hostsvc/advopt/view Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob

vsphere-6.0-mob-disable-2
Configuring the ESXi Advanced Setting to true:

vim-cmd hostsvc/advopt/update Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob bool true

If you prefer to automate this using PowerCLI or vSphere API, this can also be done. Below are two examples using the Get-VmHostAdvancedConfiguration and Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration PowerCLI cmdlets.

Listing the ESXi Advanced Setting using PowerCLI:

Get-VMHost 192.168.1.200 | Get-VmHostAdvancedConfiguration -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob | Format-List

vsphere-6.0-mob-disable-4.png
Configuring the ESXi Advanced Setting to true:

Get-VMHost 192.168.1.200 | Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob  -Value True

If you rely on using the vSphere MOB on ESXi and would like this to be your default, I would recommend you update either your ESXi Kickstart or Host Profile to include this additional configuration so that you do not get like I did 🙂 If you only need to use the vSphere MOB on occasion or do not have a use for it at all, then leaving the default is sufficient.

Enabling/Disabling EVC using the vSphere MOB

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There were some discussions this morning on twitter regarding the configuration of EVC for a vSphere Cluster using one of the vSphere CLI's such as PowerCLI or directly leveraging the vSphere API. Unfortunately, this is not possible today as the operations pertaining to EVC are not currently exposed in the vSphere API. This means you will not be able to use the vCLI, PowerCLI, vCO or the vSphere API to configure and manage EVC configurations, you will need to use the vSphere Client to do so.

Having said that, one could still "potentially" automate EVC configurations using the vSphere MOB interface using the private vSphere API, but it may not be ideal and will require some "creativity" and custom coding to integrate with your existing automation solution. This particular limitation of the vSphere API is one that I have personally faced and have filed a bug with VMware awhile back. I am hoping this will eventually be added to the public vSphere API, so that users can fully automate all aspects and configurations of a vSphere Cluster.

Disclaimer: This is not officially supported by VMware, use at your own risk and discretion.

Step 1 - Connect to your vCenter MOB and traverse to the vSphere Cluster of interest (note the MOID will be different in your specific cluster).

Step 2 -  Now replace the URL with the following while substituting the cluster MOID that you see in your browser:

https://reflex.primp-industries.com/mob/?moid=domain-c1550&method=transitionalEVCManager

and hit enter and you'll be brought to TransitionalEVCManager() method, you'll then want to click on the "Invoke Method". Once you do so, you should be returned with a task object and you'll have a link to something like evcdomain-cXXXX. Click on this and you'll be brought to ClusterTransitionalEVCManager.

Step 3 - From here you'll have have some basic evcState information which you can click on to see what the current EVC configuration is set to, guaranteedCPUFeatures and valid EVC Modes (the last part will be important for reconfiguring EVC)

Step 4 - Now let's say the cluster currently has EVC Mode set to intel-merom and you would like to change it to Nehalem, you would need to retrieve the key from the previous page, in our example it's intel-nehalem. Now, you need to click on the method link called ConfigureEVC_Task which is pretty straight forward, it just accepts the EVC Mode Key, enter the string and click on "Invoke Method" and now your cluster will be reconfigured if you go back to the evcState or look at your vCenter task. You can also disable EVC by using DisableEVC_Task

 
Note: If EVC is already configured in your vSphere Cluster, you can use the vSphere API to view it's current configuration by looking at the ClusterComputeResource's summary property. You just will not be able to make any changes or disabling EVC using the vSphere API.

Using PowerCLI and vSphere Tags to create/migrate HCX Mobility Groups to VMware Cloud SDDC

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If using your voice to create an HCX Mobility Group and initiate a migration to a VMware Cloud SDDC is not your thing, here is a more practical example using PowerCLI which includes HCX cmdlets that was introduced awhile back.


Here are the 12 configurable variables that you will need to update based on your own environment.

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VSAN Managed Object Browser (MOB) in vSphere 6.7 & vSphere 6.7 Update 1

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If you have ever spent any time using the vSphere API, you probably have heard of or have used the vSphere Managed Objected Browser (MOB) which is an extremely useful learning and debugging tool when working with the vSphere API. The vSphere MOB is accessed through a web browser connecting to either vCenter Server or ESXi and provides a graphical interface, allowing you to discovery/explore the underlying vSphere API and its data in a very intuitive manner.

As an avid user of the VSAN Management API since its release, I have always wanted something similar, especially when I first got started. I was quite happy when I found out in vSphere 6.7 and VSAN 6.7, the VSAN team has added a VSAN MOB interface directly on ESXi, for the VSAN specific APIs that are available only on an ESXi host. Just like the vSphere MOB which is also available on ESXi host, it is disabled by default and must be enabled.

The following ESXCLI commands can be used to enable/disable the VSAN MOB on ESXi 6.7:

esxcli vsan debug mob start
esxcli vsan debug mob stop

However, when I tried to enable the VSAN MOB, I ran into the following error message:

hostname 'localhost.localdomain' doesn't match '192.168.30.10'


It turns out there is an issue where it fails to match the IP Address of the ESXi host to the default localhost.localdomain and hence it fails to start the VSAN MOB. This issue is fixed in the upcoming vSphere & VSAN 6.7 Update 1, but in the mean time, there is a workaround.

[Read more...] about VSAN Managed Object Browser (MOB) in vSphere 6.7 & vSphere 6.7 Update 1

SPBM (Storage Policy Based Management) MOB in vSphere 5.5

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A handy little tool that was useful for me which might come in handy for others too while working on my VSAN VM Storage Policy recovery article is the SPBM (Storage Policy Based Management) MOB which works similar to the vSphere MOB and FDM MOB for those of you who have used this interface before. The MOB stands for Managed Object Browser and simply put is an interface that allows you to browse the objects and properties of your vSphere environment by just using a web browser. You can also interact with the MOB by executing the same set of vSphere API methods as you would if you were to write a script or application which is useful for quickly getting a sense of what a certain property might look like or the output of an API method without writing a single line of code.

In vSphere 5.5, there is now an SPBM API which is available as a separate API endpoint on the vCenter Server. This new API allows you to manage the full lifecycle of a VM Storage Policy formally known as VM Storage Profiles from a programmatic standpoint which is very important when working with VSAN as everything is policy driven. For more more details about the new SPBM API, please take a look here. As mentioned earlier, one great way to learn about the API is by exploring the MOB and luckily the SPBM API includes one!

To access the SPBM MOB in vSphere 5.5, you will need to point your browser to your vCenter Server as that is where the endpoint is exposed using the following URL format:

http://[VC-IP-OR-HOSTNAME]:8190/mob

To access the SPBM MOB in vSphere 6.0, you will need to point your browser to your vCenter Server as that is where the endpoint is exposed using the following URL format:

http://[VC-IP-OR-HOSTNAME]/pbm/mob

You will be prompted for your vCenter Server credentials before the MOB will allow you to login. Once you are logged in you will be brought to the main service content of the SPBM endpoint similar to the vCenter Server service content and you can then click on content link to explore the various sub-managers that are available.
Note: You will be able to get more details on each of these sub-managers by taking a look at the VM Storage Policy Programming Guide and VM Storage Policy API reference guide.
To quickly show you around, I will provide a couple of examples using the ProfileManager and I am sure you can probably guess what type of functionality it provides :). The first method that we will take a look at is the PbmQueryProfile which will return the list of available VM Storage Policies that have been defined. You will need to set the resourceType property to "STORAGE" and remove the profileCategory and then click on "Invoke Method".
If you are using VSAN and you do not have any VM Storage Policies defined, there will still be two default VM Storage Policies that is automatically created when VSAN is enabled. What you will see are the internal identifiers for each of the VM Storage Policy and as you can see from the output I have 5 VM Storage Policies.
You will notice that the output does not contain the human readable display name for each VM Storage Policy, to retrieve that information we will need to use the PbmRetrieveContent which accepts a list of VM Storage Profile ID's and in return provide the human readable name as well as other properties such as the initial creation date and last modified date. Using the pre-canned input form, you can specify one or more VM Storage Profile IDs from the previous step and then click on "Invoke Method".
In my example, I specified two of my VM Storage Policies and I can see they map to the names  "Aluminum" and "Copper" which is what I named them when I first created the policies.
From here on out, we will be using the VM Storage Policy ID as that is what is used to uniquely identify a VM Storage Policy and input for majority of the SPBM API methods. Now if we want to see what objects (VM Home directory or VMDKs) are associated with a particular VM Storage Policy we can use the PbmQueryAssociatedEntity method. You will need to provide the VM Storage Policy ID and remove the entityType and then click on the "Invoke Method".
As you can see from the output this a virtualMachine object type which tells us this VM Storage Policy is used for the VM Home. Lets go ahead and specify a VM Storage Policy that is used for a Virtual Machine's VMDK and see what that looks like.
We now see the object type is virtualDiskId and you can see the particular VMDK and the associated Virtual Machine by looking at the key which has the format of vm-mo-ref:vmdk-key. Now what if we wanted to perform the reverse look up, by providing only a Virtual Machine or VMDK as input? Well, we can easily do this lookup by using the PbmQueryAssociatedProfiles method. This API method requires you to specify three parameters: objectType, key and serverUuid (technically speaking the serverUuid can be left out).
From the above examples you will get an idea of what the expected input format is for either a Virtual Machine or VMDK query.
Here is an example of a Virtual Machine query:
Here is an example of a VMDK query:
Hopefully this quick introduction of the SPBM MOB will give you a good idea on how you can leverage this interface, especially if you plan on using the new SPBM API to automate and manage your VM Storage Policies.