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VMware ESXi As Built Report is a PowerShell module which works in conjunction withAsBuiltReport.Core.

AsBuiltReport is an open-sourced community project which utilises PowerShell to produce as-built documentation in multiple document formats for multiple vendors and technologies.

The VMware ESXi As Built Report module is used to generate as built documentation for standalone VMware ESXi servers.

Please refer to theVMware vSphere AsBuiltReport for reporting of VMware vSphere / vCenter Server environments.

Please refer to the AsBuiltReportwebsite for more detailed information about this project.

Below are the instructions on how to install, configure and generate a VMware ESXi As Built report.

The VMware ESXi As Built Report supports the following ESXi versions;

• ESXi 6.5
• ESXi 6.7
• ESXi 7.0

The following VMware ESXi versions are no longer being tested and/or supported;

• ESXi 5.5
• ESXi 6.0

This report is compatible with the following PowerShell versions;

PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7, and the following PowerShell modules are required for generating a VMware ESXi As Built report.

• VMware PowerCLI Module
• AsBuiltReport.VMware.ESXi Module

• .NET Core is required for cover page image support on Linux and macOS operating systems.
  • Installing .NET Core for macOS
  • Installing .NET Core for Linux

❗ If you are unable to install .NET Core, you must setShowCoverPageImage toFalse in the report JSON configuration file.

A user with root privileges on the ESXi host is required to generate a VMware ESXi As Built Report.

Open a PowerShell terminal window and install each of the required modules.

⚠️ VMware PowerCLI 12.3 or higher is required. Please ensure older PowerCLI versions have been uninstalled.

install-module VMware.PowerCLI-MinimumVersion12.3-AllowClobberinstall-module AsBuiltReport.VMware.ESXi

The ESXi As Built Report utilises a JSON file to allow configuration of report information, options, detail and healthchecks.

An ESXi report configuration file can be generated by executing the following command;

New-AsBuiltReportConfig-Report VMware.ESXi-Path<User specified folder>-Name<Optional>

Executing this command will copy the default ESXi report JSON configuration to a user specified folder.

All report settings can then be configured via the JSON file.

The following provides information of how to configure each schema within the report's JSON file.

TheReport schema provides configuration of the ESXi report information

TheOptions schema allows certain options within the report to be toggled on or off

TheInfoLevel schema allows configuration of each section of the report at a granular level. The following sections can be set

There are 6 levels (0-5) of detail granularity for each section as follows;

The table below outlines the default and maximumInfoLevel settings for each section.

TheHealthcheck schema is used to toggle health checks on or off.

TheVMHost schema is used to configure health checks for VMHosts.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
ConnectionState	true / false	true	Checks VMHosts connection state	Maintenance Disconnected
HyperThreading	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which have HyperThreading disabled	HyperThreading disabled
ScratchLocation	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are configured with the default scratch location	Scratch location is /tmp/scratch
IPv6	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which do not have IPv6 enabled	IPv6 disabled
UpTimeDays	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts with uptime days greater than 9 months	9 - 12 months >12 months
Licensing	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which are using production evaluation licenses	Product evaluation license in use
SSH	true / false	true	Highlights if the SSH service is enabled	TSM / TSM-SSH service enabled
ESXiShell	true / false	true	Highlights if the ESXi Shell service is enabled	TSM / TSM-EsxiShell service enabled
NTP	true / false	true	Highlights if the NTP service has stopped or is disabled on a VMHost	NTP service stopped / disabled
StorageAdapter	true / false	true	Highlights storage adapters which are not 'Online'	Storage adapter status is 'Unknown' Storage adapter status is 'Offline'
NetworkAdapter	true / false	true	Highlights physical network adapters which are not 'Connected' Highlights physical network adapters which are 'Down'	Network adapter is 'Disconnected' Network adapter is 'Down'
LockdownMode	true / false	true	Highlights VMHosts which do not have Lockdown mode enabled	Lockdown Mode disabled

TheDatastore schema is used to configure health checks for Datastores.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
CapacityUtilization	true / false	true	Highlights datastores with storage capacity utilization over 75%	75 - 90% utilized >90% utilized

TheVM schema is used to configure health checks for virtual machines.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
PowerState	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which are powered off	VM is powered off
ConnectionState	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which are orphaned or inaccessible	VM is orphaned or inaccessible
CpuHotAdd	true / false	true	Highlights virtual machines which have CPU Hot Add enabled	CPU Hot Add enabled
CpuHotRemove	true / false	true	Highlights virtual machines which have CPU Hot Remove enabled	CPU Hot Remove enabled
MemoryHotAdd	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which have Memory Hot Add enabled	Memory Hot Add enabled
ChangeBlockTracking	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which do not have Change Block Tracking enabled	Change Block Tracking disabled
SpbmPolicyCompliance	true / false	true	Highlights VMs which do not comply with storage based policies	VM storage based policy compliance is unknown VM does not comply with storage based policies
VMToolsStatus	true / false	true	Highlights Virtual Machines which do not have VM Tools installed, are out of date or are not running	VM Tools not installed, out of date or not running
VMSnapshots	true / false	true	Highlights Virtual Machines which have snapshots older than 7 days	VM Snapshot age >= 7 days VM Snapshot age >= 14 days

# Generate an ESXi As Built Report for ESXi server 'esxi-01.corp.local' using specified credentials. Export report to HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Append timestamp to report filename. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'PS C:\>New-AsBuiltReport-Report VMware.ESXi-Target'esxi-01.corp.local'-Username'root'-Password'VMware1!'-Format Html,Word-OutputFolderPath'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'-Timestamp# Generate an ESXi As Built Report for ESXi server 'esxi-01.corp.local' using specified credentials and report configuration file. Export report to Text, HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'. Display verbose messages to the console.PS C:\>New-AsBuiltReport-Report VMware.ESXi-Target'esxi-01.corp.local'-Username'root'-Password'VMware1!'-Format Text,Html,Word-OutputFolderPath'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'-ReportConfigFilePath'C:\Users\Tim\AsBuiltReport\AsBuiltReport.VMware.ESXi.json'-Verbose# Generate an ESXi As Built Report for ESXi server 'esxi-01.corp.local' using stored credentials. Export report to HTML & Text formats. Use default report style. Highlight environment issues within the report. Save reports to 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'.PS C:\>$Creds=Get-CredentialPS C:\>New-AsBuiltReport-Report VMware.ESXi-Target'esxi-01.corp.local'-Credential$Creds-Format Html,Text-OutputFolderPath'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'-EnableHealthCheck# Generate a single ESXi As Built Report for ESXi servers 'esxi-01.corp.local' and 'esxi-02.corp.local' using specified credentials. Report exports to Word format by default. Apply custom style to the report. Reports are saved to the user profile folder by default.PS C:\>New-AsBuiltReport-Report VMware.ESXi-Target'esxi-01.corp.local','esxi-02.corp.local'-Username'root'-Password'VMware1!'-StylePath'C:\Scripts\Styles\MyCustomStyle.ps1'# Generate an ESXi As Built Report for ESXi server 'esxi-01.corp.local' using specified credentials. Export report to HTML & DOCX formats. Use default report style. Reports are saved to the user profile folder by default. Attach and send reports via e-mail.PS C:\>New-AsBuiltReport-Report VMware.ESXi-Target'esxi-01.corp.local'-Username'root'-Password'VMware1!'-Format Html,Word-OutputFolderPath'C:\Users\Tim\Documents'-SendEmail