Customer Reviews

Managing VMware Infrastructure with Windows PowerShell TFM

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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You can call me slightly biased since I was one of the technical reviewers of this book but be sure that I was one of Hal's worst critics/nightmares while he was doing the writing.

This book has all what you need to get you started in automating the management of your VMware environment (and more).

If you follow Hal's blog and podcast, you know he has a knack to bring his audience technical knowledge in a humorous way. This book is no exception. Once you start reading, it will be difficult to stop.

On top of that the book is filled with numerous scripts that will help you in your day-to-day tasks and impress your management.

I've had the pleasure of working with VMware technology for the last 6 years of my IT career. .. I've seen the good, the bad, and certainly the ugly. I ordered this book to simplify my every day VMware tasks. No easy task right? Well this book will help you accomplish that and will certainly make you look great at work. The book has a nice introduction on powershell technology, however it immediately dives deep into the scripting world covering subjects about inventory, reporting, deployment and configs, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
The only wish I have... is the book should come with the scripts on a CD, or allow you to download them from either the author's blog or publishing website. This would save a ton of time recreating many of the scripts.
Never the less, this is a MUST have if you wish to automate many of the tasks in your VMware infrastructure.

This book is an invaluable tool for admins who have a passion for scripting. It includes great sample scripts. It's easy to read and offers comments/advice on how to expand upon what is presented in the book. If you prefer command-line management and PowerShell flexibility, this book is for you. The book provides both simple and advanced scripts for automating or manually controlling your virtual environment. Strong admin tools with minimal code using new and already familiar PowerShell scripts; what else could you ask for? Kudos to Hal Rottenberg!

I'm fairly new to scripting but not so new to infrastructure management. I bought the O'Reilly PowerShell cookbook and read it in preparation for this book. Looking back, I'm not so sure I needed it because Hal goes through almost all his scripts line by line to teach you the methods to the madness.

I can foresee myself referring to this book a lot in the future and have recommended it to friends and peers in the field.

Pros:
Cookbook style to teach you methods.
Easy to read (Humor is top notch considering the competition in IT)

Cons:
I had some difficulty with a couple of the scripts in that they didn't quite run as the book said they would. It very well could be my environment (although I had a couple friends test them with the same results).

I've not made it all the way through the book yet but I find myself looking up topics in it regularly and referring back to it as I work through issues with scripts. It is not only a great tutorial but an excellent reference book as well.

I would highly recommend that every VMware Administrator should have this book on their bookshelf. The book is very well written, just the right amount of humor in the correct places, with clear and precise examples that explain how you should perform routine tasks. This book will save you an enormous amount of time in your day-to-day administration.

Thanks Hal!