Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report

Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report is a PowerShell module which works in conjunction with AsBuiltReport.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 Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report module is used to generate as built documentation for Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure.

:books: Sample Reports

Sample Report - Default Style

Sample Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report with health checks, using default report style.

Sample Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report HTML file: Sample Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report.html

:beginner: Getting Started

Below are the instructions on how to install, configure and generate a Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report.

:floppy_disk: Supported Versions

• VxRail 4.7 and higher

PowerShell

This report is compatible with the following PowerShell versions;

:wrench: System Requirements

PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7, and the following PowerShell modules are required for generating a Dell EMC VxRail As Built report.

Install the following modules by following the module installation procedure.

• VMware PowerCLI Module
• AsBuiltReport.DellEMC.VxRail Module

Linux & macOS

• .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 set ShowCoverPageImage to False in the report JSON configuration file.

:closed_lock_with_key: Required Privileges

• A VMware vSphere user account with administrator privileges is required to generate a Dell EMC VxRail As Built Report.

:package: Module Installation

PowerShell

Open a PowerShell terminal window and install the required module.

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

install-module VMware.PowerCLI -MinimumVersion 12.3 -AllowClobber
install-module AsBuiltReport.DellEMC.VxRail

GitHub

If you are unable to use the PowerShell Gallery, you can still install the module manually. Ensure you repeat the following steps for the system requirements also.

1. Download the code package / latest release zip from GitHub
2. Extract the zip file
3. Copy the folder AsBuiltReport.DellEMC.VxRail to a path that is set in $env:PSModulePath.
4. Open a PowerShell terminal window and unblock the downloaded files with

   $path = (Get-Module -Name AsBuiltReport.DellEMC.VxRail -ListAvailable).ModuleBase; Unblock-File -Path $path\*.psd1; Unblock-File -Path $path\Src\Public\*.ps1; Unblock-File -Path $path\Src\Private\*.ps1

5. Close and reopen the PowerShell terminal window.

Note: You are not limited to installing the module to those example paths, you can add a new entry to the environment variable PSModulePath if you want to use another path.

:pencil2: Configuration

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

A Dell EMC VxRail report configuration file can be generated by executing the following command;

New-AsBuiltReportConfig -Report DellEMC.VxRail -FolderPath <User specified folder> -Filename <Optional>

Executing this command will copy the default Dell EMC VxRail 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.

Report

The Report schema provides configuration of the VxRail Manager report information

Options

The Options schema allows certain options within the report to be toggled on or off.

InfoLevel

The InfoLevel schema allows configuration of each section of the report at a granular level.

There are 2 levels (0-1) of detail granularity for each section as follows;

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

Healthcheck

The Healthcheck schema is used to toggle health checks on or off.

Cluster

The Cluster schema is used to configure health checks for VxRail clusters.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
HealthStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail clusters which report an error	VxRail cluster is in an error state
VMPowerStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail cluster VMs which are powered off	VxRail cluster VM is powered off

Appliance

The Appliance schema is used to configure health checks for VxRail appliances.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
HealthStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail appliances which report an issue	VxRail appliance is reporting a warning VxRail appliance is reporting an error
PowerStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail appliances which are powered off	VxRail appliance is powered off
BootDevice	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail boot devices which report less than 100% health	Boot device reports <100% health
NetworkLinkStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail network adpaters with a link status of Down	Network adapter link status is Down
DiskStatus	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail disks which report a status which is not equal to OK	Disk status is not OK
PowerSupply	true / false	true	Highlights VxRail power supplies which are not Healthy	Power supply is not Healthy

Support

The Support schema is used to configure health checks for the VxRail support configuration.

Sub-Schema	Setting	Default	Description	Highlight
EsrsStatus	true / false	true	Highlights when ESRS is Not Configured	ESRS is Not Configured
EsrsConnection	true / false	true	Highlights when ESRS connection is Disabled	ESRS connection is Disabled

:computer: Examples

:exclamation: The Target parameter MUST specify the vCenter Server IP/FQDN which manages the VxRail cluster. The Username, Password and Credential parameters must also use relevant vCenter Server credentials.

# Generate a VxRail As Built Report for VxRail cluster 'vxrail-01.corp.local' using specified vCenter Server credentials. The VxRail cluster is managed by vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local'. 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 DellEMC.VxRail -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username 'administrator@vsphere.local' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -Timestamp

# Generate a VxRail As Built Report for VxRail cluster 'vxrail-01.corp.local' using specified vCenter Server credentials and VxRail report configuration file. The VxRail cluster is managed by vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local'. 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 -Report DellEMC.VxRail -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username 'administrator@vsphere.local' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Text,Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -Verbose

# Generate a VxRail As Built Report for VxRail cluster 'vxrail-01.corp.local' using stored vCenter Server credentials. The VxRail cluster is managed by vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local'. 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-Credential # Store vCenter Server credentials
PS C:\> New-AsBuiltReport -Report DellEMC.VxRail -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Credential $Creds -Format Html,Text -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -EnableHealthCheck

# Generate a single VxRail As Built Report for VxRail clusters 'vxrail-01.corp.local' and 'vxrail-02.corp.local'. The VxRail clusters are managed by two individual vCenter Servers 'vcenter-01.corp.local' and 'vcenter-02.corp.local'. 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 DellEMC.VxRail -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local','vcenter-02.corp.local' -Username 'administrator@vsphere.local' -Password 'VMware1!' -StyleFilePath 'C:\Scripts\Styles\MyCustomStyle.ps1'

# Generate a VxRail As Built Report for VxRail cluster 'vxrail-01.corp.local' using specified credentials. he VxRail cluster is managed by vCenter Server 'vcenter-01.corp.local'. 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 DellEMC.VxRail -Target 'vcenter-01.corp.local' -Username 'administrator@vsphere.local' -Password 'VMware1!' -Format Html,Word -OutputFolderPath 'C:\Users\Tim\Documents' -SendEmail