How to Add Multiple ESXi Hosts to vCenter Using PowerCLI – Automation – VirtuallyThatGuy

Ever wondered how to add a bunch of ESXi Hosts to a newly or existing vCenter using powershell or automate with powercli? Well below script can help you achieve just that:

Join me on this journey of automating this process using the below. You can save as .ps1 and call the script in PowerCLI or PowerShell.

# Specify vCenter Server, vCenter Server username, vCenter Server user password, vCenter Server location which can be the Datacenter, a Folder or a Cluster (which I used).

$vCenter="UK3P-vc01.lab.local"

$vCenterUser="rboadi@lab.local"

$vCenterUserPassword="xxxxxx"

$vcenterlocation="DTCP-Cluster"

# Specify the ESXi host you want to add to vCenter Server and the user name and password to be used.

$esxihosts=("DTCP-ESXi01.lab.local","DTCP-ESXi02.lab.local","DTCP-ESXi03.lab.local") #(Get-VMHost -Name "UK3P-*")

$esxihostuser="root"

$esxihostpasswd="xxxxxxx"

# The variables specified above will be used to add hosts to vCenter

# ------------------------------------------------------------------

#Connect to vCenter Server

write-host Connecting to vCenter Server $vcenter -foreground green

Connect-viserver $vCenter #-user $vCenterUser -password $vCenterUserPassword -WarningAction 0 | out-null

write-host --------

write-host Starting to add ESXi hosts to the vCenter Server $vCenter

write-host --------

# Add ESXi hosts

foreach ($esxihost in $esxihosts) {

Add-VMHost $esxihost -Location $vcenterlocation -User $esxihostuser -Password $esxihostpasswd -Force

}

# Disconnect from vCenter Server

write-host "Disconnecting to vCenter Server $vcenter" -foreground green

disconnect-viserver * -confirm:$false | out-null

You can change the $esxihosts to a wildcard and save you some typing replace with something like #(Get-VMHost -Name "DTCP-*").

#
# Specify vCenter Server, vCenter Server username, vCenter Server user password, vCenter Server location which can be the Datacenter, a Folder or a Cluster (which I used).
$vCenter="UK3P-vc01.lab.local"
$vCenterUser="rboadi@lab.local"
$vCenterUserPassword="xxxxxx"
$vcenterlocation="DTCP-Cluster"
#
# Specify the ESXi host you want to add to vCenter Server and the user name and password to be used.
$esxihosts=("DTCP-ESXi01.lab.local","DTCP-ESXi02.lab.local","DTCP-ESXi03.lab.local") #(Get-VMHost -Name "UK3P-*")
$esxihostuser="root"
$esxihostpasswd="xxxxxxx"
#
# The variables specified above will be used to add hosts to vCenter
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Connect to vCenter Server
write-host Connecting to vCenter Server $vcenter -foreground green
Connect-viserver $vCenter #-user $vCenterUser -password $vCenterUserPassword -WarningAction 0 | out-null

#
write-host --------
write-host Starting to add ESXi hosts to the vCenter Server $vCenter
write-host --------
#
# Add ESXi hosts
foreach ($esxihost in $esxihosts) {
Add-VMHost $esxihost -Location $vcenterlocation -User $esxihostuser -Password $esxihostpasswd -Force
}
#
# Disconnect from vCenter Server
write-host "Disconnecting to vCenter Server $vcenter" -foreground green
disconnect-viserver * -confirm:$false | out-null

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