Virtualization, technology, and random rantings with a focus on Citrix and VMware.

Category: PowerShell

Is That VM Running Or Taking A Nap?

Have you ever had machines not reboot properly? Have you had VMs you just don’t know if are awake and ready to serve your hungry customers? Have you ever just wanted to know if they are stepping through their paces? Well, here at XenApplePie, we have a solution for you! For only 35 payments of $0.00, you too can own this piece of automated automation!

But seriously. Sometimes you have a reboot policy set on your Delivery Group, and for some reason that pesky VM just doesn’t want to turn back on (From checking what it does, it looks like the DDC sends a shutdown and then a start command to reboot it). If you have had this happen, it can be frustrating to come in and either your hosting machine is off and users can’t access, or you can have a machine turned up to 11 to support your users. This little script, ran daily, can help prevent such frustrations and symptoms such as: pounding head on desk; shouting to the skies about your fury; verbal diarrhea of expletives not suitable for aural consumption.

Update below to the trim method used. The new method uses the split method versus the substring method. This method will work better as the length of the domain name won’t affect the outcome of the scripts and will save from making edits to the script for each domain. Another edit is for the HTML formatting to make it more readable in the report that is emailed.

So without further ado, well, ado ado ado. Here you go!

# This script was tested with 1912LTSRCU1 using Powershell 5.1.17763.1852 with PowerCLI version VMware PowerCLI 12.2.0 build 17538434 on vSphere 7.x.
# Build Date: 06292021
# https://www.pdq.com/blog/secure-password-with-powershell-encrypting-credentials-part-2/
# The above link contains the method to encrypting the password to use for the script and schedule in task scheduler.

# Loads Citrix snapins (This is assuming you have loaded the Citrix SDK / Studio on the machine that will run the check.)
Add-PSSnapin Citrix*

# vCenter connection section
# This tells PowerCLI to ignore invalid certicate action.
Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore -DisplayDeprecationWarnings $false -Scope Session -Confirm:$false

# This section is done via the method above in the pdq article for doing powershell scripts with encryption to show how to make the cred file, key file, and encrypt the information.
# The section also from https://notesofascripter.com
$password = Get-Content C:\scripts\creds.txt | ConvertTo-SecureString -Key (Get-Content C:\scripts\creds.key)
$credentials = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PsCredential("domain\username",$password)
Connect-VIServer somevcenteraddress -Credential $credentials
# End https://notesofascripter.com


# This is to get the list of machines from the delivery controller with the filter to get a specific set of machines.
$machines = Get-BrokerMachine -AdminAddress "delivery-controller.domainfqdn:80" -Filter {CatalogName -contains '*some_catalog_name_string*'}|Select-Object -Property machinename, desktopgroupname,inmaintenancemode

# This sets up an array to manipulate
$machine_array = @($machines)

# This goes through the array and removes VMs that have the "inmaintenancemode" value set as "True."
$machines_avail = $machine_array |where-object {$_.inmaintenancemode -ne "true"}

# The output of the Get-Brokermachine will retrieve the "machinename" with the domain preface. This trims the preface domain\servername. This method is better than the previously listed method as it will split at the "\" character, regardless of the length of the domain preface.
$vmtrim = $machine_avail.machinename
$vmtrimmed = (($vmtrim)|%{ ($_ -split '\\')[1]})

# This takes the result of the value above and assigns it to another variable that will be used to power on machines that have powered off.
$vmnames = $vmtrimmed

# This gets the additonal information from the "Get-VM" command and places it in a variable.
$vm = Get-VM $vmnames

# This creates and assigns the output of the "foreach if / else" loop. 
# This section was utilized from site "https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-PowerCLI-Discussions/PowerCLI-start-multiple-VM-if-poweredOff/td-p/501598."
$output = $vm | foreach {

# This checks to see the value of the "PowerState" being "PoweredOff."
    if ($_.PowerState -eq "PoweredOff") {

# This shows a message that a VM was started and generates an output for your report.
        "Starting $($_.name) on $($_.VMHost)"

# This starts the VM and captures the output for the report.
        $StartingVMs = Start-VM $_ -Confirm:$false

    }

    else {

# This generates a message for the output for the report if the VM is already running.
        "$($_.name) is already running on $($_.VMHost)"

       

    }

}
# HTML Formatting
$style = "<style>BODY{font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;}"
$style = $style + "TABLE{border: 1px solid black; border-collapse: collapse;}"
$style = $style + "TH{border: 1px solid black; background: #dddddd; padding: 5px; }"
$style = $style + "TD{border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px; }"
$style = $style + "</style>"

# HTML Email Body
$body = $report | ConvertTo-Html -Head $style
# End of section from "https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-PowerCLI-Discussions/PowerCLI-start-multiple-VM-if-poweredOff/td-p/501598."

# Generates email with attachment.
# This section to end was gotten from assistance from the author of https://notesofascripter.com. This also uses the .NET method of generating the email.
# Notesofascripter section
$date = Get-Date -Format "MM-dd-yyyy"
$emailFrom = "yourserviceemail@company.com"
$emailto = "youremailgroup@company.com"
$subject = "Daily Something Server Check| $date" 
$email = New-object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage 
$email.to.Add($emailto)
$emailCC = "emailgroup@company.com"
#$email.CC.Add($emailCC)
$Email.From = New-Object system.net.Mail.MailAddress $emailFrom
$email.Subject = $subject
$email.IsBodyHtml = $true
#$attachment = $Reports[1]
#$email.Attachments.add($attachment) If you want to do as attachment
$email.body = $body
 

$smtpserver="smtp.company.com" 
$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpServer)
$smtp.Send($email)
;
# End of Notesofascripter section.

# Disconnect from vcenter
Disconnect-VIServer * -confirm:$false

Trying To Tie It Together

Wow! Two posts in one day!? What is that!?

So… I’m working on getting this completed. What you may ask? I’m working on powershelling myself into some quick reference materials. I haven’t seen many things that help tie a published application back to a machine. I’m working on one that will get the last missing pieces. Right now, this ties the machine to the application with the users assigned to it. This only shows who is assigned to the applications and what machine it is running on. The next iteration will hopefully tie in the assignments made at the Delivery Group level.

Enter-PSSession servername
asnp citrix*
get-brokermachine | select catalogname,hostedmachinename, @{N="publishedapplications";e={$($_.publishedapplications -join ',')}}, @{N="AssociatedUserNames";e={$($_.AssociatedUserNames -join ',')}} | export-csv c:\software\allapps.csv -NoTypeInformation -append
exit-pssession

This will get you the machine catalog, the hosting machine, published applications, and the users assigned to it. Sometimes a quick glance to find where an application is running is helpful. You still have to parse the CSV for what you need, but it is all in one place. Let’s see if we can make it slightly better the next time around. Maybe make a winform with some buttons that show it in text areas. We shall see!

Assistance on getting this working goes to Stuart. Check out his blog!

Something Mandatory This Way Comes….

 

So, you have found that you have the dreaded, evil, painful, Mandatory Upgrade message…. This has happened to me a few times. I’ve spoken with Citrix support (which was very good about this btw) to get fixed a couple of times. The third time, I tried my hand at re-creating the sorcery that was shown to me. I pulled a Sorceror’s Apprentice fail for a bit. After arguing with my hand against my forehead and maybe some choice angry words of frustration dipped in a rainbow of expression, I finally got it. I got the order of operations right. I got the thingie to come back to me without resorting to percussive maintenance. That would be quite difficult since they are virtual. It would’ve been as effective as a flame-proof candle. But, I share with you below what I did to bring it back from the dreaded error….

 

Go ahead and close Studio and log out at that point. You need the account that was used to build the farm. I tried other accounts, and they just didn’t have the power. This account also needed SA on the SQL server to register all the instances. So that is what I found prerequisite. Then, open some sweet, sweet Powershell ISE as administrator.  Copy and paste this into the ISE. Run the first two lines to see the count of instances. There should be 60 per controller for 7.15LTSR. There is one line commented out. Run that line and only that line on ONE controller, otherwise you are starting the process over again. Once you run it on the first controller, comment it back out and run that beautiful bean footage from “Get-Service Citrix* | Stop-Service -Force” onward. You will have to repeat the process sans the commented out line on the rest of the Delivery Controllers.

 

asnp Citrix*

Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance | measure

Get-Service Citrix* | Stop-Service -Force
Get-Service Citrix* | Start-Service

#Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance | Unregister-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance

Get-AdminServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-AcctServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-ApplibServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-BrokerServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-ConfigServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-EnvTestServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-HypServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-LogServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-MonitorServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-ProvServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-SfServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-TrustServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance
Get-OrchServiceInstance | register-configserviceInstance

Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-AdminServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-AcctServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-ApplibServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-BrokerServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-ConfigServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-EnvTestServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-HypServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-LogServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-MonitorServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-ProvServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-SfServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-TrustServiceGroupMembership
Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance -servicetype config | Reset-OrchServiceGroupMembership

 

After you run this, you should be able to run the “Get-ConfigRegisteredServiceInstance | measure” command again to see the proper number of instances. You can run this after you run the above on a controller and see if the number increments properly. Sometimes you have to reboot the Controller after doing the fix. If you have 4 Delivery Controllers, it will look like below:

 

You should be able to open Studio now and it looks all pretty and pristine!

Let me know if this helps you out! Tune in for next blog’s episode, “Something, Something, Something Dark Side.”

 

 

 

 

 

PoSh Spice Be Here!

I want to take a moment… Ok, that moment’s over. Bringing to you from the world of powershell, powercli, and power scripting….. Stuart Yerdon, and the webmaster of https://notesofascripter.com. He has been featured as a vExpert, a connoisseur of all things M:TG (If you have to ask….), and a colleague and friend of mine. Check out his site and all things powershell. If you got a problem, and you can find him (you can at https://notesofascripter.com), you’ll find what you seek.

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