Connecting to vCenter or a vSphere Host using PowerCLI

If you are connecting to either a vCenter server or a vSphere Host the cmdlet is the same, you can use the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to both of these

C:\PS>Connect-VIServer vcenterserver -User admin -Password admin

By default HTTPS and port 443 is assumed which is the same as the vSphere Client or Web Client, unless you specify –port or –protocol parameter for the cmdlet.

In the above example, we used username and password in the plain text format which is unsafe! Hence there are multiple ways in which we can specify the credentials or store the credentials

1.    Pass-through

2.    VICredentialStore

Pass-through

C:\PS>Connect-VIServer –Server vcenterserver

If we do not enter a username or password parameter just like above example then the credentials of the current user are passed through to the vCenter or vSphere host and used to try and authenticate the connection. This is great if your environment is setup in the same domain as your vCenter Server or your specific user account has been given access to vCenter or the host. 

VICredentialStore

VICredentialStore is the ability to store credentials for connections to different vCenter Servers or vSphere hosts and vCloud Director ( Connect-CIServer cmdlet) using PowerCLI. This option helps us to connect without specifying the username and password

For Example:

C:\PS>Connect-VIServer vcenterserver -User admin -Password admin –SaveCredentials

Connect to a server and save the credentials in the credential store. After the credentials are stored, you can connect to the server without specifying them. To get a previously saved credential store item, use the Get-VICredentialStoreItem cmdlet.

Get-VICredentialStoreItem:        This command retrieves the credential store items available on a vCenter Server system.

New-VICredentialStoreItem:       This Command creates a new entry in the credential store.

Remove-VICredentialStoreItem: This Command removes the specified credential store items.

The New-VICredentialStoreItem cmdlet creates a new entry in the credential store and encrypts the password. If there is an existing entry for the specified host and user, it is overwritten.  If the credential store file does not exist, it is created (along with its directory if needed).

If no file is specified, the item is created in the default credential store file %APPDATA%\VMware\credstore\vicredentials.xml.

An example of this command is shown below:

C:\PS>New-VICredentialStoreItem -Host ESX01 -User Admin -Password admin