APIs - PowerShell Cmdlets
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PowerShell Cmdlets
To get started with Nutanix PowerShell Cmdlets, see PowerShell Cmdlets Reference on the Nutanix Support Portal.
The below will cover the Nutanix PowerShell Cmdlets, how to use them and some general background on Windows PowerShell.
PowerShell Versions
At the time of writing, the latest available version is PowerShell 7.3.4
Commands outlined in this Nutanix Bible chapter may not apply to earlier PowerShell versions.
Nutanix Cmdlets Versions
At the time of writing, the latest available version is Nutanix Cmdlets v2.0
Commands outlined in this Nutanix Bible chapter may not apply to other versions of the Nutanix Cmdlets.
PowerShell Basics
Windows PowerShell is a powerful shell and scripting language built on the .NET framework. It is a very simple to use language
and is built to be intuitive and interactive. Within PowerShell there are a few key constructs/Items:
Cmdlets
Cmdlets are commands or .NET classes which perform a particular operation. They are usually conformed to the Getter/Setter
methodology and typically use a Verb-Noun based structure. For example: Get-Process, Set-Partition, etc.
Piping Or Pipelining
Piping is an important construct in PowerShell (similar to its use in Linux) and can greatly simplify things when used correctly.
With piping you’re essentially taking the output of one section of the pipeline and using that as input to the next section of the
pipeline. The pipeline can be as long as required (assuming there remains output which is being fed to the next section of the
pipe). A very simple example could be getting the current processes, finding those that match a particular trait or filter and then
sorting them:
Get-Service | where {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Sort-Object Name
Piping can also be used in place of for-each, for example:
# For each item in my array
$myArray | %{
# Do something
}
Key Object Types
Below are a few of the key object types in PowerShell. You can easily get the object type by using the .getType() method, for
example: $someVariable.getType() will return the objects type.
Variables
$myVariable = "foo"
Note: You can also set a variable to the output of a series or pipeline of commands:
$myVar2 = (Get-Service | where {$_.Status -eq "Running"})
$myVar3 = (Get-Process | where {$_.ProcessName -eq "Chrome"})
In this example the commands inside the parentheses will be evaluated first then variable will be the outcome of that.
Array
$myArray = @("Value","Value")
Note: You can also have an array of arrays, hash tables or custom objects
Hash Table
$myHash = @{"Key" = "Value";"Key" = "Value"}
Useful Commands
Get the help content for a particular Cmdlet (similar to a man page in Linux)
Get-Help Cmdlet Name
Example:
Get-Help Get-Process
List properties and methods of a command or object
<expression or object> | Get-Member
Example:
$someObject | Get-Member
Core Nutanix Cmdlets And Usage
The Nutanix Cmdlets can be downloaded directly from the Prism Central UI and can be found on the drop down in the upper
right hand corner:
Nutanix Cmdlets v2.0 - Usage Examples
The current Nutanix Cmdlet v2.0 reference can be found on the Nutanix Portal.
List Nutanix Cmdlets
Get-Command -Module Nutanix.Prism.Common
Get-Command -Module Nutanix.Prism.Ps.Cmds
Connect To Prism Central
Prompt for all connection details and accept valid SSL certificates only:
Connect-PrismCentral
Supply connection details (excluding password), accept valid and invalid SSL certificates:
Connect-PrismCentral -AcceptInvalidSSLCerts -Server <prism_central_ip_addres> -UserName <username>
List All Virtual Machines
Get-VM
Get Nutanix VMs Matching A Certain String
Assign to variable:
$searchString = "my-vm-name"
$vms = Get-VM | where {$_.vmName -match $searchString}
Interactive:
$myVm = Get-VM | where {$_.vmName -match "myVmName"}
Interactive and formatted:
$myVm = Get-VM | where {$_.vmName -match "myVmName"} | ft
List All Storage Containers
Get-StorageContainer
Get Storage Container With Similar Names
Get-StorageContainer | where {$_.name -like "Nutanix*"}
List All Networks
Get-Network
Get Specific Network By Name
Get-Network | where ${_.name -eq "Default"}
Disconnect From Prism Central
Disconnect-PrismCentral
Legacy Nutanix Cmdlets Information
The information in the following section applies to legacy Nutanix Cmdlets and PowerShell versions only. It has been left here for legacy support. Where
possible, new users are recommended to install the latest version of both PowerShell and the Nutanix Cmdlets.
Nutanix Cmdlets v1.0 - Usage Examples
The Nutanix Cmdlet v1.0 reference can be found on the Nutanix Portal.
Load Nutanix Snapin
Check if snapin is loaded and if not, load
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name NutanixCmdletsPSSnapin -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
Add-PsSnapin NutanixCmdletsPSSnapin
}
List Nutanix Cmdlets
Get-Command | Where-Object{$_.PSSnapin.Name -eq "NutanixCmdletsPSSnapin"}
Connect To A Nutanix cluster
Connect-NutanixCluster -Server $server -UserName "myuser" -Password (Read-Host "Password: " -AsSecureString) -AcceptInvalidSSLCerts
Get Nutanix VMs Matching A Certain Search String
Set to variable
$searchString = "myVM"
$vms = Get-NTNXVM | where {$_.vmName -match $searchString}
Interactive
Get-NTNXVM | where {$_.vmName -match "myString"}
Interactive and formatted
Get-NTNXVM | where {$_.vmName -match "myString"} | ft
Get Nutanix vDisks
Set to variable
$vdisks = Get-NTNXVDisk
Interactive
Get-NTNXVDisk
Interactive and formatted
Get-NTNXVDisk | ft
Get Nutanix Storage Containers
Set to variable
$containers = Get-NTNXContainer
Interactive
Get-NTNXContainer
Interactive and formatted
Get-NTNXContainer | ft
Get Nutanix Protection Domains
Assign to variable
$pds = Get-NTNXProtectionDomain
Interactive
Get-NTNXProtectionDomain
Interactive and formatted
Get-NTNXProtectionDomain | ft
Get Nutanix Consistency Groups
Set to variable
$cgs = Get-NTNXProtectionDomainConsistencyGroup
Interactive
Get-NTNXProtectionDomainConsistencyGroup
Interactive and formatted
Get-NTNXProtectionDomainConsistencyGroup | ft
