Create Virtual Machines on vCenter Server Using an XML Specification File

You can use a specification provided in an XML file to automate the creation of virtual machines on vCenter Server.

Prerequisites

Verify that you are connected to a vCenter Server system.

The myVM.xml file must be present with the following content:
<CreateVM>
<VM>
<Name>MyVM1</Name>
<HDDCapacity>100</HDDCapacity>
</VM>
<VM>
<Name>MyVM2</Name>
<HDDCapacity>100</HDDCapacity>
</VM>
</CreateVM>

Procedure

  1. Read the content of the myVM.xml file.
    [xml]$s = Get-Content myVM.xml
  2. Create the virtual machines.
    $s.CreateVM.VM | foreach {New-VM -VMHost $vmHost1 -Name $_.Name -DiskGB $_.HDDCapacity}