As organizations have extended their usage of virtualization, performance monitoring has become increasingly crucial. But many VMware administrators find it time-consuming and challenging to create and manage VMware performance reports. Fortunately, there’s a fast, powerful, and efficient way to do this crucial job: use VMware’s free PowerCLI snap-in on the familiar Windows PowerShell scripting platform. Now, in vSphere Performance Monitoring with PowerCLI, Luc Dekens covers all you need to know to automate performance reporting for both vSphere hosts and individual VMware virtual machines. Responding to multiple requests for guidance on PowerCLI scripting, Dekens explains:

• How vSphere Performance Monitoring works
• Which metrics are available and how to use them most effectively
• How to track CPUs, memory, datastores, virtual disks, networks, and systems
• How to produce performance reports over any regular or custom period
• How to create on-demand reports to troubleshoot emerging problems
• How to optimize your reporting scripts
• How to work with esxtop from PowerCLI
• How to add graphics that make reports easier to understand

When Dekens taught this material at VMworld, he attracted more than 2,000 VMware pros in several standing room sessions: it’s that valuable. If you also run Windows servers, you may already have directly relevant experience with PowerShell scripting; if you don’t, Dekens even provides a concise PowerShell introduction. Bottom line: whether you want to improve reporting in response to existing problems or as a proactive measure to prevent them, this tutorial and reference delivers all the knowledge and scripts you’ll need.