about_vimdatastore
TOPIC
about_vimdatastore
SHORT DESCRIPTION
The Datastore Provider (VimDatastore) provides filesystem-style view and
access to the contents of datastores. The items in a datastore are files
that contain configuration, virtual disk, and other data associated with a
virtual machine. All file operations are case-sensitive.
LONG DESCRIPTION
The Datastore Provider (VimDatastore) provides filesystem-style view and
access to the contents of datastores. The items in a datastore are files
that contain configuration, virtual disk, and other data associated with a
virtual machine. All file operations are case-sensitive.
Note that on VirtualCenter 2.0 and ESX 3.0 Datastore Provider supports only
browsing and deleting items. On VirtualCenter 2.5 and ESX 3.5 all file
operations are available, including moving, copying, and renaming items.
Default Datastore Drives
When you connect to a server with Connect-VIServer, the cmdlet builds two
default datastore drives. You can use the default drives or map custom
drives based on the default ones.
The first default drive is called "vmstores" and shows all datastores
available on all vSphere servers connected within the current PowerCLI
session. The hierarchy of the "vmstore" drive looks like that:
1. vmstores - a common root for all connected vSphere servers
2. <vSphere_server_name>
3. Objects as they appear in the Datastores view of vClient
4. Objects as they appear in the Datastores Browser component of vClient
For example, the following is a valid "vmstores" datastore path:
powershell
vmstores:\ViServer1\Datacenter1\Datastore1\My WinXP\My WinXP.vmx
The second drive is called "vmstore" and displays the datastores available
only on the last connected vSphere server. The root of the "vmstore" drive
is the last connected vSphere server. The hierarchy of the "vmstore" drive
looks like that:
1. <vSphere_server_name>
2. Objects as they appear in the Datastores view of vClient
3. Objects as they appear in the Datastores Browser component of vClient
For example, the following is a valid "vmstore" datastore path:
powershell
vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1\My WinXP\My WinXP.vmx
The place where the Datastores view is glued to the Datastore Browser
hierarchy is the datastore object (as part of the Datastores view) and the
datastore root folder (as part of Datastore Browser hierarchy). Both are
represented by the same provider location and a Datastore typed object is
exposed at it. However, the location also supports datastore folder-specific
operations such as receiving datastore files.
Custom Datastore Drives
For their convenience, users can create custom datastore drives from
existing paths. To create a custom datastore drive, use the New-PSDrive cmdlet.
A different way to create a datastore drive is to use the New-DatastoreDrive
command, which is an alias of New-PSDrive. It creates a new datastore drive
using the Name and Datastore parameters.
Basic Operations with the Datastore Provider
You can use the Datastore Provider to copy, rename, delete files, and move
files between datastores and local directories.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Creating custom datastore drive with different roots.
New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_a -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1
New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_ab -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1
New-PSDrive -Provider VIM -Name ds_abc -Root vmstore:\Datacenter1\Datastore1\DsFolder1
Example 2: Creating a datastore drive by using the New-DatastoreDrive command:
Get-Datastore Storage1 | New-DatastoreDrive -Name ds
# To access the new drive, run:
cd ds:
# To list the drive content, use:
Get-ChildItem
Example 3: Renaming a file in a datastore drive.
cd VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine
Rename-Item vmware-3.log vmware-3old.log
Example 4: Delete a file.
Remove-Item ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-2.log
Example 5: Copying a file to another datastore location:
# 1. Create a new folder:
New-Item -Path "ds:\VirtualMachines" -Name XPUpdates -ItemType Directory
# 2. Copy the file to the new directory:
Copy-Item "ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3old.log" "ds:\VirtualMachines\XPUpdates\vmware-3.log"
Example 6: Copy a file from the datastore drive to a local directory.
Copy-DatastoreItem "ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3.log" "C:\Temp\vmware-3.log"
Example 7: Copy a file from the local machine to a location on the datastore drive.
Copy-DatastoreItem "C:\Temp\vmware-3.log" "ds:\VirtualMachines\XPVirtualMachine\vmware-3new.log"
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more
U.S. Patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents.
Copyright © VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.