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Xubuntu dependencies for powercli and ansible

Note, I prefer to use a light weight xubuntu system to manage vcenter and associated infrastructure with a combination of powershell, powercli and ansible. You could do all of this on Windows.

Ansible Dependencies​

sudo apt install sshpass python3-paramiko git
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ansible/ansible
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible
ansible --version
cat >> ~/.ansible.cfg << EOF                                                               
[defaults]
host_key_checking = false
EOF

PowerCLI Dependencies​

  • logout an in if you've just installed snapd, so that is added to path for current user.

Powershell Snap​

sudo snap install powershell --classic
pwsh
Write-Host $PSVersionTable

PowerCLI Libraries​

Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser
Get-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ListAvailable
Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore
Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -Scope User -ParticipateInCEIP $false

Other Useful Software​

sudo apt install remmina onboard

onboard is useful to execute function commands in the vcenter console like F2

Testing Connectivity with an ESXi Host​

Connect-VIServer -Server 192.168.1.240
Get-VM
exit

image-20221209075536447

Visual Studio Code​

sudo snap install code --classic

VSCode is a memory hog, 4GiB or better is recommended