← script library

Streamlining VMware vSphere Management with PowerShell

VMware & vSphereJanuary 6, 2025

Today, we are going to look at a straightforward yet powerful PowerShell script that helps you retrieve the status of virtual machines in your vSphere environment. If you are looking to optimize your VMware management tasks, this script is a great addition to your toolkit.

powershell
# Install the VMware PowerCLI module
Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser

# Connect to vSphere server
$connection = Connect-VIServer -Server your_vcenter_server -User your_username -Password your_password

# Retrieve and display the status of all virtual machines
$vms = Get-VM
$vms | Select-Object Name, PowerState | Format-Table -AutoSize

# Disconnect from vSphere server
Disconnect-VIServer -Server your_vcenter_server -Confirm:$false

Run it across your fleet

This script runs as-is on a single host. Paste it into ServerEngine to schedule it, run it on a whole server group in parallel, and keep the credentials out of the file — see the scripts documentation and the credential store.

Ready when you are.

Try ServerEngine free for 7 days.