about_vimdatastore

Topic

Datastore Provider (VimDatastore)

Short Description

Long Description

The Datastore Provider (VimDatastore) provides filesystem-style view and access to the contents of datastores. The items in a datastore are files that contain configuration, virtual disk, and the other data associated with a virtual machine. All file operations are case-sensitive.

Note that on VirtualCenter 2.0 and ESX 3.0 Datastore Provider supports only browsing and deleting items. On VirtualCenter 2.5 and ESX 3.5 all file operations are available, including moving, copying, and renaming items.

DEFAULT DATASTORE DRIVES

When you connect to a server with Connect-VIServer, the cmdlet builds two default datastore drives. You can use the default drives or map custom drives based on the default ones.

The first default drive is called "vmstores" and shows all datastores available on all vSphere servers connected within the current PowerCLI session. The hierarchy of the "vmstore" drive looks like that:

1. vmstores - a common root for all connected vSphere servers
2. <vSphere server name>
3. Objects as they appear in the Datastores view of vClient
4. Objects as they appear in the Datastores Browser component of vClient

For example, the following is a valid "vmstores" datastore path:

vmstores:\ViServer1\Datacenter1\Datastore1\My WinXP\My WinXP.vmx

The second drive is called "vmstore" and displays the datastores available only on the last connected vSphere server. The root of the "vmstore" drive is the last connected vSphere server. The hierarchy of the "vmstore" drive looks like that:

1. <vSphere server name>
2. Objects as they appear in the Datastores view of vClient
3. Objects as they appear in the Datastores Browser component of vClient

For example, the following is a valid "vmstore" datastore path:

vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1\My WinXP\My WinXP.vmx

The place where the Datastores view is glued to the Datastore Browser hierarchy is the datastore object (as part of the Datastores view) and the datastore root folder (as part of Datastore Browser hierarchy). Both are represented by the same provider location and a Datastore typed object is exposed at it. However the location also supports datastore folder-specific operations such as receiving datastore files.

CUSTOM DATASTORE DRIVES

For their convenience, users can create custom datastore drives from existing paths. To create a custom datastore drive, use using the New-PSDrive cmdlet.

Example 1: Creating custom datastore drive with different roots.

New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_a -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1

New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_ab -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1

New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_abc -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1\DsFolder1

A different way to create a datastore drive is to use the New-DatastoreDrive command, which is an alias of New-PSDrive. It creates a new datastore drive using the Name and Datastore parameters. For example:

Example 2: Creating a datastore drive using the New-DatastoreDrive command:

Get-Datastore Storage1 | New-DatastoreDrive -Name ds

To access the new drive, run:

cd ds:

To list the drive content, use:

dir

BASIC OPERATIONS WITH THE DATASTORE PROVIDER

You can use the Datastore Provider to copy, rename, delete files, and move files between datastores and local directories.

Example 3: Renaming a file in a datastore drive.

cd VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine

ren vmware-3.log vmware-3old.log

Example 4: Delete a file.

del ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-2.log

Example 5: Copying a file to another datastore location:

1. Create a new folder:
mkdir -Path ds:\VirtualMachines -XPUpdates -Type Folder

2. Copy the file to the new directory:
copy ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3old.log ds:\VirtualMachines\XPUpdates\vmware-3.log

Example 6: Copy a file from the datastore drive to a local directory.
Copy-DatastoreItem ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3.log C:\Temp\vmware-3.log

Example 7: Copy a file from the local machine to a location on the datastore drive.
Copy-DatastoreItem C:\Temp\vmware-3.log ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3new.log

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