Script to set custom attributes in guestinfo

Scripts/Set-CustomAttributesInGuestinfo.ps1

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+<#
+.NOTES
+  Script name: Set-CustomAttributesInGuestinfo.ps1
+  Created on: 10/04/2018
+  Author: Doug Taliaferro, @virtually_doug
+  Description: Gets Custom Attributes assigned to a VM and makes them available to the guest OS.
+  Dependencies: None known
+
+  ===Tested Against Environment====
+  vSphere Version: 6.5
+  PowerCLI Version: 10.0.0.7893909
+  PowerShell Version: 5.1.14409.1005
+  OS Version: Windows 7, 10
+  Keyword: VM, Attributes, Guestinfo
+
+.SYNOPSIS
+  Gets Custom Attributes assigned to a VM and makes them available to the guest OS.
+
+.DESCRIPTION
+  Gets the custom attributes assigned to one or more VMs and sets their values in the 
+  VM's 'guestinfo' advanced settings.  This makes the attributes available within the 
+  guest OS using VM tools (vmtoolsd.exe) and allows the attributes to be used as metadata 
+  for applications or management agents that run inside the guest.  If the attribute name
+  contains spaces they are removed in naming the advanced setting.
+  
+  For example, if a VM has a custom attribute named 'Created On', the advanced setting 
+  becomes:
+    'guestinfo.CreatedOn' = '08/08/2018 14:24:17'
+  
+  This can be retrieved in the guest OS by running:
+    vmtoolsd.exe --cmd "info-get guestinfo.CreatedOn"
+
+.PARAMETER VMs
+  One or more VMs returned from the Get-VM cmdlet.
+
+.PARAMETER Attributes
+  The names of the Custom Attributes to get.  If the names contain spaces they must be
+  enclosed in quotes.  The spaces will be removed to name the advanced setting.
+  
+.PARAMETER vCenter
+  The vCenter server to connect to.  Optional if you are already connected.
+
+.EXAMPLE
+  .\Set-CustomAttributesInGuestInfo.ps1 -VM (get-vm testvm01) -Attributes 'Created On', 'Created By'
+  
+  Gets the custom attributes 'Created On' and 'Created By' for 'testvm01' and sets their 
+  values in 'guestinfo.CreatedOn' and 'guestinfo.CreatedBy'.
+
+.EXAMPLE
+  .\Set-CustomAttributesInGuestInfo.ps1-VM (get-cluster Dev-01 | get-vm) -Attributes 'Created On'
+  
+  Gets the custom attribute 'Created On' for all VMs in the Dev-01 cluster and sets 'guestinfo.CreatedOn'
+  on each VM.
+#>
+#Requires -modules VMware.VimAutomation.Core
+[CmdletBinding()]
+param (
+  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=0)]
+  $VMs,
+  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=1)]
+  [string[]]$Attributes,
+  [string]$vCenter
+)
+if ($vCenter) {
+  Connect-VIServer $vCenter
+}
+
+ForEach ($vm in $VMs) {
+  ForEach ($attributeName in $Attributes) {
+    # Get the custom attribute with a matcing key name
+    $customField = $vm.CustomFields | Where-Object Key -eq $attributeName
+    if ($customField) {
+      # Remove white space from the attribute name because the advanced 
+      # setting name cannot contain spaces
+      $attributeNameNoSpaces = $customField.Key -replace '\s',''
+      $guestinfoName = "guestinfo.$attributeNameNoSpaces"
+      $guestinfoValue = $customField.Value
+      Write-Host "$($vm): setting '$guestinfoName' = '$guestinfoValue'"
+      New-AdvancedSetting -Entity $vm -Name $guestinfoName -Value $guestinfoValue -Confirm:$false -Force | Out-Null
+    } else {
+      Write-Host "$($vm): custom attribute '$attributeName' not set on this VM"
+    }
+  }
+}