VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 Release Notes

Released 19 April 2023

VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0. Build 21624340

Check frequently for additions and updates to these release notes.

VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 Release Notes

This document contains the following information:

About VMware PowerCLI

VMware PowerCLI is a suite of PowerShell modules to manage VMware products and services. VMware PowerCLI includes over 7000 cmdlets to easily manage your infrastructure on a global scale.

Installation, Upgrade, and Removal of VMware PowerCLI

Management of the PowerCLI modules is provided by the PowerShell Gallery and by using the PowerShell default cmdlets for working with modules in the PowerShell Gallery. For detailed information on how to install, upgrade, or remove PowerCLI, refer to the VMware PowerCLI User's Guide.

VMware PowerCLI Components

In VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0, the following modules have been updated:

  • VMware.PowerCLI: Provides a root module which other modules are dependent on. This ensures the PowerCLI product can be installed, upgraded, and removed as a complete package if needed.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Core: Provides cmdlets for automated administration of the vSphere environment.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Common: Provides functionality that is common to all PowerCLI modules. This module has no cmdlets, but is required for other modules to function correctly.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk: Provides SDK functionality that is needed by all PowerCLI modules. This module has no cmdlets, but is required for other modules to function correctly.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Cis.Core: Provides cmdlets for managing vSphere Automation SDK servers.
  • VMware.Vim: Provides vSphere low-level binding libraries. This module has no cmdlets.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Vds: Provides cmdlets for managing vSphere distributed switches and distributed port groups.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView: Provides cmdlets for automating VMware Horizon features.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Storage: Provides cmdlets for managing vSphere policy-based storage.
  • VMware.ImageBuilder: Provides cmdlets for managing depots, image profiles, and VIBs.
  • VMware.DeployAutomation: Provides cmdlets that provide an interface to VMware Auto Deploy for provisioning physical hosts with ESXi software.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Security: Provides cmdlets for managing vSphere Security, including virtual Trusted Platform Module.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Cloud: Provides cmdlets for automating vCloud Director features.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.Nsxt: Provides cmdlets for managing NSX-T servers.
  • VMware.VimAutomation.vROps: Provides cmdlets for automating VMware Aria Operations features.
  • VMware.Sdk.Nsx.Policy: Provides auto-generated cmdlets for accessing the NSX Policy API.
  • VMware.Sdk.vSphere.*: Provides auto-generated cmdlets for accessing the vSphere Automation (REST) API.

Supported Platforms

For a list of VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 supported operating systems and PowerShell versions, see Compatibility Matrixes for VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0.

For a list of VMware products with which VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 is compatible, see VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes.

What's New in This Release

New Features

VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 introduces the following new features, changes, and improvements:

  • The VMware.Sdk.Srm module has been added to provide functionality for managing the VMware Site Recovery Manager REST API with VMware PowerCLI.
  • The VMware.Sdk.Vr module has been added to provide functionality for managing the VMware vSphere Replication REST API with VMware PowerCLI.
  • The VMware.Sdk.Nsx.Policy module has been updated to support the API features of NSX 4.1.0.
  • The VMware.VimAutomation.HorizonView module has been updated to support the API features of VMware Horizon 8 2212.
  • The VMware.Vim and VMware.Sdk.vSphere.* modules have been updated to support the API features of VMware vSphere 8.0 Update 1.
  • The VMware.ImageBuilder module has been updated to work with Python version 3.7.1 or later.
  • The VMware.VimAutomation.Cloud module has been updated to include the following improvements:
    • The Connect-CIServer cmdlet has been modified for authentication through the new VMware Cloud Director API endpoint.
    • A new URL parameter has been added to the Import-CIVappTemplate cmdlet to enable importing of vApp templates from an URL.
    • The Import-CIVappTemplate cmdlet interface has been changed when importing from an OVF file: the Catalog parameter is now mandatory and the OrgVdc parameter has been removed.
    • The SourcePath parameter of the Import-CIVappTemplate cmdlet is now mandatory when resuming import from an OVF file.
  • A number of new cmdlets have been added to the VMware.VimAutomation.Core module.
    • New cmdlets to manage Lifecycle Manager offline depots.
      Get-LcmOfflineDepot
      New-LcmOfflineDepot
  • The VMware.VimAutomation.Core module has been updated to include the following improvements:
    • The BaseImage, VendorAddOn, Component, FirmwareAddon, and DepotOverride parameters have been added to the Set-VMHost cmdlet to enable vSphere Lifecycle Manager host image configuration.
    • The FirmwareAddon property has been added to the cluster object to record the hardware support packages associated with the cluster.
    • The performance of the Get-Stat cmdlet has been improved for the instances when you use the Start parameter.
  • The VMware.VimAutomation.Security module has been updated to include the following improvements:
    • A LastAttestedTime field has been added to the TrustAuthorityVMhostBaseImage object to represent the last attested time for Bluehost.
    • The Export-VMHostImageDb cmdlet has been modified to warn you about an ESXi Quick Boot and download a boot_imgdb.tgz file instead of an image.tgz file.
  • A number of new cmdlets have been added to the VMware.VimAutomation.Storage module.
    • New cmdlets for vCenter Server remote datastore management.
      New-VsanHCIMeshDatastoreSource
      Get-VsanHCIMeshDatastoreSource
      Remove-VsanHCIMeshDatastoreSource
      Get-VsanHCIMeshDatastore
    • New cmdlets for vSAN direct disk management.
      New-VsanDirectDisk
      Get-VsanDirectDisk
      Remove-VsanDirectDisk
    • New cmdlets for vSAN cluster shutdown.
      Get-VsanClusterPowerState
      Start-VsanCluster
      Stop-VsanCluster
    • New cmdlet to start objects relayout.
      Start-VsanRelayoutObjects
    • New cmdlet to enable the mounting of remote vSAN datastores from vSAN stretched clusters.
      New-RemoteVsanServerClusterConfig
  • The VMware.VimAutomation.Storage module has been updated to include the following improvements:
    • The MountXVCDatastore, UnmountXVCDatastore, and RemoteVsanClusterServerConfig parameters have been added to the Set-VsanClusterConfiguration cmdlet to support vCenter Server remote datastore management.
    • The Perspective parameter has been added to the Test-VsanClusterHealth cmdlet to support the precheck for vSAN cluster shutdowns.

For more information on changes made in VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0, including improvements, security enhancements, and deprecated features, see the VMware PowerCLI Change Log. For more information on specific product features, see the VMware PowerCLI User's Guide. For more information on specific cmdlets, see the VMware PowerCLI Cmdlet Reference. For the full list of PowerCLI documentation, visit the VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 Home Page.

Resolved Issues

The following issues have been resolved in VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0:

  • New-VM
    New-VM cannot create a Windows 2019 virtual machine when the ESXi server default compatibility level is set to a version that does not support Windows 2019.
  • Export-VDSwitch
    In PowerShell 5.1, Export-VDSwitch generates a .ZIP file that cannot be imported through the vSphere Client.
  • Get-VIPermission
    Get-VIPermission fails with a message of type The given key ... was not present in the dictionary.
  • Copy-VMGuestFile
    Copy-VMGuestFile fails if the VM's guest OS information is not fully populated.
  • Export-VDPortGroup
    Portgroups exported by using Export-VDPortGroup cannot be restored with Set-VDPortGroup.
  • Import-CIVappTemplate
    Importing a vApp Template from a local OVF file with Import-CIVappTemplate does not work.
  • Get-CNSVolume
    Get-CNSVolume does not work when there is a mismatch between volume and vDisk.
  • New-SpbmStoragePolicy
    New-SpbmStoragePolicy fails with a message of type The parameter CommonRule should contain only VAIOfilter rules.
  • Import-TrustAuthorityServiceInfo
    Import-TrustAuthorityServiceInfo fails when a vSphere Trust Authority host is removed.
  • Get-Tag and Get-TagAssignment
    On vCenter Server version 8.0 and later, the Name parameter is case-sensitive.
  • ImageBuilder cmdlets
    • On MacOS, ImageBuilder cmdlets fail with a message of type ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'vmware.esximage'.
    • On MacOS, if Homebrew and Python are not run and installed through a Rosetta terminal, ImageBuilder cmdlets fail with a message related to importing the VibSign module.

Known Issues

VMware PowerCLI 13.1.0 is known to have the following issues:

  • Get-HCXMigration
    Тhe Username parameter of the Get-HCXMigration cmdlet is case-sensitive.
    Workaround: Use the username format supported by API. For example, use Administrator@VSPHERE.LOCAL.
  • Get-Tag and Get-TagAssignment
    On vCenter Server version 6.5 and 7.0, the Name parameter is case-sensitive.
    Workaround: Use wildcard characters in your parameter value. For example, use Get-Tag -Name "[T]agName".
  • New-HCXServiceMesh
    When you run New-HCXServiceMesh, the Service Mesh object accepts destination as an input at the organization virtual datacenter level, but the Service Mesh object is created at an organization level.
  • Set-WMCluster
    The default value of the DefaultImageRegistryHostPort parameter is 443, but this is not implemented.
    Workaround: Always define the DefaultImageRegistryHostPort parameter when the DefaultImageRegistryHostname parameter is specified.
  • Test-HCXMigration
    Test-HCXMigration throws an exception instead of a warning. This might mislead you that running Start-HCXMigration is not possible.
  • Export-EsxImageProfile
    On Windows and Linux, ESXi ISO images and offline bundles for vSphere 8.0 Update 1 environments generated by Export-EsxImageProfile fail to boot at runtime.
  • New-IsoImage and New-PxeImage
    On Linux, ESXi ISO images of vSphere 8.0 Update 1 environments generated by New-IsoImage and New-PxeImage fail to boot at runtime.
  • ImageBuilder cmdlets
    If PowerCLI is configured to use Python 3.7.0, ImageBuilder cmdlets fail with a message that advises to upgrade to a later Python version.
    • Workaround: Configure PowerCLI to use a later Python version.
  • Other
    • For Windows PowerShell 5.1, when you run a cmdlet and the operation fails on the server side, you might receive a There is an error in the XML document. error message. This is not a valid server error and it is returned when PowerShell is unable to read the actual server-side error.
      Workaround: Update to PowerShell 7 or use the vSphere Web Client to check the actual server-side error.
    • On MacOS, downloading the PowerCLI ZIP file through Chrome fails with an error message of type "VibSign.so" cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified.
      Workaround: Use Safari or the Mac Terminal to download the PowerCLI ZIP file.