VxRail Manager Access via Plugin, API, Console, PowerShell, and Ansible

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The VxRail Manager vCenter plugin: This is the primary means to interface with VxRail Manager. The plugin is used to: Add nodes to a cluster Gracefully shutdown a node Gracefully remove a node from a cluster Gracefully shutdown a cluster Add and replace drives Beacon a drive for identification Orchestrate a non-disruptive rolling VxRail software upgrades as part of LCM process Beacon a node for identification Tag nodes with geographic data (Data Center, Row, Rack, Position etc.) Explore photorealistic interactive views of nodes Collect vSphere and VxRail related logs View knowledgebase articles and VxRail community post Monitor health Link VxRail Manager to a Dell EMC Support account and SRS View and configure iDRAC network settings View and modify ESXi host hostname or IP address View and collect inventory details such as: serial numbers, make, models, health, positional data (slot, module, chassis etc.), software version, firmware version, etc. Contacting Support  And many other functions... VxRail REST API: The REST API can be accessed two ways: Make API request directly: Use a scripting language, application, programming language, etc. The command below uses PowerShell's Invoke-WebRequest Cmdlet to get the mode (Internal or External) of the vCenter used in the VxRail instance. The Base URL points to the the VxRail Manager (https:// /rest/vxm) while the Path (/v1/vc/mode) calls out the version of the REST API to use and the resource to query. The JSON formatted response is assigned to a variable for processing a later point:   VxRail onboard API documentation: The VxRail leverages OpenAPI (formerly known as Swagger) as an interactive API used to discover, explore, research, and execute API requests. To access, browse to https:// /rest/vxm/api-doc.html VxRail API PowerShell Modules: The Windows PowerShell modules use the underlying VxRail REST API.  For each API path there is a corresponding PowerShell Cmdlet. This technique is a bit more administrator friendly than using the REST API directly since much of the connectivity and output handling is performed for you. Download the Windows PowerShell modules from the Dell EMC Support site. Search for 'PowerShell Modules'. The Cmdlet below retreives the requested log Id from the VxRail Manager system and saves it locally:    Ansible Modules for Dell EMC VxRail: Theses modules use the VxRail RESTful API and are posted on GitHub and Ansible Galaxy. There are 55 modules and 60 sample playbooks available. The modules and sample playbooks cover the most common customer use cases. Once the modules and the VxRail utility are installed on an Ansible Controller (per instruction on GitHub), just configure the required vxmip, vcadmin, and vcpasswd parameters in a sample playbook to get started (systeminfo.yml playbook pictured):   Open SSH session/Console to VxRail Manager VM: This is particularly helpful if the VxRail Manager vCenter plugin is unavailable and log collection is needed or if access to utilities included with VxRail Manager such as scheduling file-based backups of the VxRail Manager system is performed.   Want to know more? Checkout the VxRail Administration course (ID: ES124CPX00078) Want to know more? Checkout the VxRail 7.0.XXX Feature - REST API course (ID: ES102CPX02009)   Can’t get enough of my insufferable posts? Subscribe to VxRail Discussions! Think I’m doing a borderline acceptable job? Kudos maybe in order! Feel like commiserating, gimme a Me too! Reply to add a compelling comment!   #NeedlessVxRailVerbosity

DCRing · Answer

Might find beneficial: https://davidring.ie/2021/11/16/vxrail-api-powershell-module-examples/

Victor Wu · Answer

Thanks for your sharing!

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