How to use govc to manage your Vmware environment ?

Govc - a Vsphere CLI build on top of GovMomi

Govc is a vSphere CLI written in Go Language as an alternative to the use the Vcenter/Vsphere Gui and it’s really well-suited for automation purpose and faster if you need to get information on all your Esxi hosts.

go-sdk-for-vsphere

Govc is part of GovMomi which is used by a lot of amazing tools like Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Packer and so on.

Govc is an easy command line interface using the GovMomi SDK Library, portable as it’s compiled for Linux, FreBDS, OSx and windows.

The Govmomi project is an open source project lead by VMware, it’s a goLang Library for interacting with Vmware Vsphere APIs, Esxi and Vcenter.

Why using Govc and not PowerCli instead ?

The answer is simple, Govc is written in go and is a lot lighter and faster than Powershell. It’s portable and you can use bash to automate any workflow.

Even If I’m love Powershell and PowerCli but sometimes it will go faster for me to use Govc instead and I will get the result of the query a lot faster. This is the big plus of Govc, it’s really fast.

go-vs-powercli

Installation of GO and govc

First of all, you need to have GoLang installed.

You can download the latest version of go on this url :

Go Download

And follow this to install it :

Go Installation

Once installed, verify your version of go :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# go version
go version go1.12.7 linux/amd64

Then, just install Govc

go get -u github.com/vmware/govmomi/govc

Check if govc is correctly installed :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc version
govc 0.21.0

You can output to json format and use the command-line json processor ‘jq’ to print it nicely.

Json format is more user friendly and can be useful for dev or scripting purpose.

jq logo

jq is like sed,awk,grep for JSON data.

Install jq package :

apt-get install jq

Output with Json format

root@mt-ub-terform:/usr/local/bin# govc about -json | jq '.'
{
  "About": {
    "Name": "VMware vCenter Server",
    "FullName": "VMware vCenter Server 6.7.0 build-15976728",
    "Vendor": "VMware, Inc.",
    "Version": "6.7.0",
    "Build": "15976728",
    "LocaleVersion": "INTL",
    "LocaleBuild": "000",
    "OsType": "linux-x64",
    "ProductLineId": "vpx",
    "ApiType": "VirtualCenter",
    "ApiVersion": "6.7.3",
    "InstanceUuid": "0711EE34-9114-43D3-8961-0715147BACF1",
    "LicenseProductName": "VMware VirtualCenter Server",
    "LicenseProductVersion": "6.0"
  }
}

And that’s it ! We are ready to use Govc to manage our Vmware Environment.

Connection to your Vsphere Environment :

First, check that you can reach your Vcenter environment from the server where you install govc :

root@mt-ub-terform:~#  curl --verbose -k -X POST https://mt-sles-vclab.mtx.vodafonemalta.com/sdk
*   Trying 192.168.120.190...
* Connected to mt-sles-vclab.mtx.vodafonemalta.com (192.168.120.190) port 443 (#0)

If you have issue, check that proxy is not blocking and firewall is open for port https ( 443 ).

Let’s connect to our Vcenter an start grabbing few information using Environment variable :

 export GOVC_USERNAME='MTX\superjulsimadmin' GOVC_PASSWORD='Ve3fse405xdefegvrev0' GOVC_URL='mt-sles-vclab.mtx.vodafonemalta.com' GOVC_INSECURE=true

I will recommend you to start your command with a space if you don’t want to let your credentials information save on your history. It’s mandatory if you are using root account or an account shared with other users.

Simple, right ? If you have more than one datacenter, you need to specify the name :

export GOVC_DATACENTER=NameDatacenter

⚠️ Be aware than these variables are set temporary and lost when you will close your terminal session.

If you have a secure account, you can add all these variable on your .bash_profile :

vim ~/.profile 
export GOVC_USERNAME='MTX\superjulsimadmin'
export GOVC_PASSWORD='Ve3fse405xdefegvrev0' 
export GOVC_URL='mt-sles-vclab.mtx.vodafonemalta.com'
export GOVC_INSECURE=true

and then, read/load the file :

source ~/.profile

Check if you are connected :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc about
Name:         VMware vCenter Server
Vendor:       VMware, Inc.
Version:      6.7.0
Build:        15976728
OS type:      linux-x64
API type:     VirtualCenter
API version:  6.7.3
Product ID:   vpx
UUID:         bacaefe9-7151-4e4c-833e-360c566f0d20

Basic command with Govc

Help command

help button

go --help 
go command --help 

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc vm.ip --help
Usage: govc vm.ip [OPTIONS] VM...

List IPs for VM.

Grab information about the datacenter :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc datacenter.info 
Name:                Lab
  Path:              /Lab
  Hosts:             7
  Clusters:          3
  Virtual Machines:  13
  Networks:          17
  Datastores:        16

This command is taking microsecond to display, this is the power of Govc 😄

Grab information about datastore :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc datastore.info
Name:        nstnd3-Local Datastore 1
  Path:      /Lab/datastore/Nested VI Cluster/nstnd3-Local Datastore 1
  Type:      VMFS
  URL:       ds:///vmfs/volumes/5d9b4427-6d0167ee-a620-1c98ec183574/
  Capacity:  271.8 GB
  Free:      270.8 GB
Name:        nstnd3-Local Datastore 2
  Path:      /Lab/datastore/Nested VI Cluster/nstnd3-Local Datastore 2
  Type:      VMFS
  URL:       ds:///vmfs/volumes/5d9f3cf5-216169a3-fc13-1c98ec183574/
  Capacity:  1117.8 GB
  Free:      1116.8 GB
Name:        nstnd1-Local Datastore 1
  Path:      /Lab/datastore/Nested VI Cluster/nstnd1-Local Datastore 1
  Type:      VMFS
  URL:       ds:///vmfs/volumes/5d9b3e89-65cef531-0abb-1c98ec187560/
  Capacity:  271.8 GB
  Free:      270.8 GB

List all vms and folder :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc find vm
vm
vm/Z - Clone
vm/B - VIBS
vm/A - Virtual Infrastructure
vm/D - Test Applications
vm/T - Templates
vm/N - Nested VI
vm/E - EADR Testing
vm/E - EADR Testing/eadr-iso-test
vm/N - Nested VI/mt-wi-vbstrmsrv
vm/N - Nested VI/nst-wi-sprdns
vm/N - Nested VI/nst-esx-sprnd3
vm/N - Nested VI/nst-esx-sprnd1
vm/A - Virtual Infrastructure/mt-phy-vclab
vm/B - VIBS/mt-hpe-ovgd
vm/B - VIBS/mt-ce-ov4vc
vm/B - VIBS/mt-ub-testtera

You can use the find command to get a lot of information and you specify the type you want as below :

  a    VirtualApp
  c    ClusterComputeResource
  d    Datacenter
  f    Folder
  g    DistributedVirtualPortgroup
  h    HostSystem
  m    VirtualMachine
  n    Network
  o    OpaqueNetwork
  p    ResourcePool
  r    ComputeResource
  s    Datastore
  w    DistributedVirtualSwitch

For Datastore by example :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc find . -type s
/Lab/datastore/Other/2-ISOVI-3P1FC-L2
/Lab/datastore/Other/20-LABVI-MTX1-TMPL
/Lab/datastore/Lab VI Cluster/40-LABVI-MTX2-LUN40
/Lab/datastore/Lab VI Cluster/83-LABVI-3P1-L83
/Lab/datastore/Lab VI Cluster/30-LABVI-MTX1-LUN30
/Lab/datastore/Lab VI Cluster/84-LABVI-3P2-L84

You can combine as well command and filter :

If I want to know all Vms which are on specific datastore :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc find . -type m -datastore $(govc find -i datastore -name 40-LABVI-MTX2-LUN40)
/Lab/vm/D - Test Applications/mt-ce-hpeov02
/Lab/vm/B - VIBS/mt-ce-ov4vc

If you want to have information of one of few virtual machines using regexp :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc vm.info *wi*
Name:           tmpl-win-2016
  Path:         /Lab/vm/T - Templates/tmpl-win-2016
  UUID:         423075c3-f90f-18b8-a8f1-84513e22d390
  Guest name:   Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)
  Memory:       8192MB
  CPU:          4 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOff
  Boot time:    <nil>
  IP address:
  Host:         mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
Name:           mt-wi-vbstrmsrv
  Path:         /Lab/vm/N - Nested VI/mt-wi-vbstrmsrv
  UUID:         42305c05-92e8-16be-10ec-340a87b413fb
  Guest name:   Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)
  Memory:       8192MB
  CPU:          4 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOff
  Boot time:    <nil>
  IP address:
  Host:         mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
Name:           nst-wi-sprdns
  Path:         /Lab/vm/N - Nested VI/nst-wi-sprdns
  UUID:         42303e31-38d1-94af-01d6-3453de7362a2
  Guest name:   Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)
  Memory:       4096MB
  CPU:          2 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOff
  Boot time:    <nil>
  IP address:
  Host:         mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com

Find a virtual machine by IP :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc vm.info -vm.ip=192.168.120.70
Name:           mt-ce-hpeov
  Path:         /Lab/vm/B - VIBS/mt-ce-hpeov
  UUID:         42309c34-9663-45e0-2ba8-ccafb4acfbeb
  Guest name:   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64-bit)
  Memory:       24576MB
  CPU:          8 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOn
  Boot time:    2020-10-29 08:38:57.343068 +0000 UTC
  IP address:   192.168.120.70
  Host:         mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com

You can as get a lot of information on the host :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# govc host.info mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
Name:              mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Path:            /Lab/host/Lab/mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Manufacturer:    HP
  Logical CPUs:    12 CPUs @ 2400MHz
  Processor type:  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E7450  @ 2.40GHz
  CPU usage:       5303 MHz (18.4%)
  Memory:          131068MB
  Memory usage:    28639 MB (21.9%)
  Boot time:       2020-03-05 08:49:37.207 +0000 UTC
  State:           connected

If you want by example to get this information for more than one host, small bash and magic is happening :

root@mt-ub-terform:~# for i in $(govc find . -type h | cut -d '/' -f5 | grep labnd) ; do govc host.info $i; done
Name:              mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Path:            /Lab/host/Lab/mt-esx-labnd1.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Manufacturer:    HP
  Logical CPUs:    12 CPUs @ 2400MHz
  Processor type:  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E7450  @ 2.40GHz
  CPU usage:       4788 MHz (16.6%)
  Memory:          131068MB
  Memory usage:    28632 MB (21.8%)
  Boot time:       2020-03-05 08:49:37.207 +0000 UTC
  State:           connected
Name:              mt-esx-labnd2.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Path:            /Lab/host/Lab/mt-esx-labnd2.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
  Manufacturer:    HP
  Logical CPUs:    12 CPUs @ 2400MHz
  Processor type:  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E7450  @ 2.40GHz
  CPU usage:       3912 MHz (13.6%)
  Memory:          131068MB
  Memory usage:    39246 MB (29.9%)
  Boot time:       2019-09-16 10:22:57.210999 +0000 UTC
  State:           connected

Automation with govc and bash scripting

One of the best use of Govc is that we can use esxcli on vsphere host and launch cli command on Virtual Machine ( required Vmtools or openvm-tools installed on the vm ).

By example, if I need to get information of all my Esxi, I can use a bash script, make a loop and launch EsxCli on all my hosts. Simple, fast and powerful 😄

Let’s make a real scenario.

We need to update our infrastructure in term of Storage or Virtual Connect by example and we always need to get the information of the drivers version for our HBA Cards.

If we have to do this work manually, it’s taking easily half day and maybe more.

Then, I made a Bash script using govc to get all this information :

for i in 1 2 3 4
do
echo mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com storage core adapter list
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com network nic get -n vmnic0 | grep FirmwareVersion
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com network nic get -n vmnic9 | grep FirmwareVersion
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com network nic get -n vmnic2 | grep FirmwareVersion
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com software vib list | grep fc
govc host.esxcli --host.dns=mt-esx-superserver$i.mtx.vodafonemalta.com software vib list | grep elxnet
done

The result will be as below and I will have the information for all my hosts :

mt-esx-superpower1.mtx.vodafonemalta.co
HBA Name  Driver  Link State  UID                                     Capabilities         Description
--------  ------  ----------  ---                                     ------------         -----------
vmhba64   qfle3f  link-n/a    fcoe.10009cb654939e69:20009cb654939e69  Second Level Lun ID  () Broadcom Corporation FCoE Adapter
vmhba65   qfle3f  link-up     fcoe.10009cb654939e6d:20009cb654939e6d  Second Level Lun ID  () Broadcom Corporation FCoE Adapter
vmhba66   qfle3f  link-up     fcoe.10009cb654844271:20009cb654844271  Second Level Lun ID  () Broadcom Corporation FCoE Adapter
vmhba67   qfle3f  link-n/a    fcoe.10009cb654844275:20009cb654844275  Second Level Lun ID  () Broadcom Corporation FCoE Adapter
vmhba32   vmkusb  link-n/a    usb.vmhba32                                                  () USB
FirmwareVersion:            Storm: 7.13.11.0 MFW: 7.15.78
FirmwareVersion:            Storm: 7.13.11.0 MFW: 7.15.78
FirmwareVersion:            Storm: 7.13.11.0 MFW: 7.15.78
hpe-esxi-fc-enablement         650.2.6.10-4240417                    HPE        PartnerSupported  2020-02-04
scsi-bnx2fc                    1.713.20.v60.4-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585   QLogic     VMwareCertified   2020-02-04
brcmfcoe                       11.4.1078.25-14vmw.650.3.96.13932383  VMW        VMwareCertified   2020-05-04
lpfc                           11.4.33.25-14vmw.650.3.96.13932383    VMW        VMwareCertified

Another scenario, by example, you want to get the filesystem storage space information for a number of Virtual machine.

Let’s assume you have a list of vm or you want to make a test and you will take 3 VMs :

govc find . -type m | cut -d '/' -f5 | grep mt* | head -n 3 > listvmtest.txt

Once you have your file as below :

mt-ub-postfix
mt-ub-teleg1
mt-ub-repo1

Let’s make the script to get the filesystem info with the df command:

#!/bin/bash
for i in $(cat /usr/local/bin/listvmtest.txt)
do
echo $i
govc guest.df -vm $i
done

And here is the result :

root@mt-ub-terform:/usr/local/bin# ./getDiskStorageVm.sh
mt-ub-postfix
Filesystem  Size     Used     Avail    Use%
/           20.1GB   7.0GB    13.1GB   35%
/boot       471.6MB  182.2MB  289.4MB  39%
mt-ub-teleg1
Filesystem  Size     Used     Avail    Use%
/           15.2GB   7.3GB    7.9GB    48%
/boot       471.6MB  285.5MB  186.1MB  61%
mt-ub-repo1
Filesystem    Size     Used     Avail    Use%
/             15.2GB   6.8GB    8.4GB    45%
/boot         471.6MB  208.2MB  263.4MB  44%
/ubuntu_repo  196.7GB  157.0GB  39.7GB   80%

I can hear you thinking, wow it’s very cool but I have windows VM as well in my infrastructure.

No problem, only solution ! It works as well for windows VMs ! It will only required that vmtools is installed on the windows vm.

root@mt-ub-terform:/usr/local/bin# ./getDiskStorageVm.sh
mt-wi-trmsrv01
Filesystem  Size    Used    Avail   Use%
C:\         99.9GB  66.8GB  33.1GB  67%

For conclude, GOVC is very powerful and very fast and can be used for a lot of different purpose.

create network, resource pool
create/remove/clone vm, network, resource pool, cluster, datastore, …
poweroff/on vm
vmotion or svmotion/ vm
Upload file on Vms or upload ISO on Datastore
Launch command on Vms
And Much more !

If you want to know more about Govc, have a look on the official documentation :

govc usage

And on my GitHub repository for Govc : GitHub Govc