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up vote 2 down vote favorite

I have a PowerCLI script that powers off a VM, changes its memory and cpu, and then powers it back on. I've adapted the script to utilize variables. This all works perfectly.

I'm now trying to modify the script to utilize arrays, in order to cycle through numerous VMs. The script portions that powers off and powers on the VMs works perfectly.

The trouble I'm having is using variables from two arrays in a foreach loop.

For each VM in $vm_name, I need to set the corresponding amount of memory found in $memory_gb.

This is what I have (it currently sets the same amount of memory ("1") for all of the VMs)....

$vm_name = @("OMAC-SBXWIN7AJM", "OMAC-SBXWIN2012R2AJM", "OMAC-SBXWIN2008R2AJM")
$memory_gb = 2,4,4

# SET THE VM MEMORY
Write-Host 'NOW SETTING THE VM MEMORY'
foreach ($objItem in $vm_name)
{Set-VM -VM $vm_name -MemoryGB 1 -confirm:$false 
Break
}

http://i.stack.imgur.com/E9hfY.png

...I've tried nesting a second foreach loop inside of the first, to no avail.

How do write the script so each VM in $vm_name, gets the corresponding amount of memory found in $memory_gb?

share|improve this question

4 Answers 4

up vote 3 down vote accepted

You have 2 options. First (and not what I would suggest) is a For() loop. It would go something like this:

For($I=0;$I -lt $vm_name.count;$I++){
    Set-VM -VM $vm_name[$I] -MemoryGB $memory_gb[$I] -confirm:$false
}

The better way would be to put it in a CSV with headers like VMName, Memory and then list each VM and the memory you want in it. Then run something like:

Import-CSV C:\Path\To\File.CSV | ForEach{Set-VM -VM $_.VMName -MemoryGB $_.memory -confirm:$false}
share|improve this answer
    
Putting it into a data file is quite clever, hats off. –  JensG Aug 7 '14 at 20:59
    
This worked perfectly. Thank you! I will certainly be using a .CSV, as Ill eventually be modifying numerous machines. –  James McCallister Aug 8 '14 at 15:08
    
This worked, but I got this error.... Set-VM : Cannot bind parameter 'MemoryGB' to the target. Exception setting "MemoryGB": "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." At U:\How To\PowerCLI\Test.ps1:8 char:36 + Set-VM -VM $vm_name[$i] -MemoryGB $memory_gb[$i] -confirm:$false + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : WriteError: (:) [Set-VM], ParameterBindingExcept ion + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterBindingFailed,VMware.VimAutomation.ViCo re.Cmdlets.Commands.SetVM Since it worked, does the error really matter? –  James McCallister Aug 8 '14 at 15:19
    
That's probably because I used -le instead of -lt so it was trying to iterate a 4th VM/memory set. I really expected you to utilize the second option, so I didn't pay as close of attention as I should have on the first one. I'll update the answer shortly to rectify that. –  TheMadTechnician Aug 8 '14 at 15:32
up vote 0 down vote 
$vm_name = @("OMAC-SBXWIN7AJM", "OMAC-SBXWIN2012R2AJM", "OMAC-SBXWIN2008R2AJM")
$memory_gb = (2,4,4)

# SET THE VM MEMORY
Write-Host 'NOW SETTING THE VM MEMORY'
for( $i = 0; $i -lt $vm_name.length; $i++) {
  $vm = $vm_name[$i]
  $gb = $memory_gb[$i]
  write-host setting $vm to $gb GB ...
  Set-VM -VM $vm -MemoryGB $gb -confirm:$false 
}

You just need to ensure both arrays are of the same length.

share|improve this answer
    
This also worked for me. Thank you! –  James McCallister Aug 8 '14 at 15:10
    
@JamesMcCallister: I'm flattered, but on SO thanks is usually expressed in upvotes and/or accepting the best answer :-) –  JensG Aug 8 '14 at 17:11
up vote 0 down vote

Another, more compact, solution is to use a hashtable:

$vms = @{"OMAC-SBXWIN7AJM" = 2; "OMAC-SBXWIN2012R2AJM" = 4; "OMAC-SBXWIN2008R2AJM" = 4}

# SET THE VM MEMORY
Write-Host 'NOW SETTING THE VM MEMORY'
foreach ($vm in $vms.getEnumerator()){
    Set-VM -VM $vm.Name -MemoryGB $vm.Value -confirm:$false 
}
share|improve this answer
    
This also worked for me. Thanks! I hadnt considered uses a hash table. –  James McCallister Aug 8 '14 at 15:09
up vote 0 down vote

You can use Zip function:

function Zip($a1, $a2) {
    while ($a1) {
        $x, $a1 = $a1
        $y, $a2 = $a2
        [tuple]::Create($x, $y)
    }
}

Usage:

zip 'a','b','c' 1,2,3 |% {$_.item1 + $_.item2}

Result:

a1
b2
c3
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