You can navigate the vSphere Automation SDK for PowerShell by using the VMware Developer website, and the Get-Help and Get-Command cmdlets.

To use the vSphere Automation SDK for PowerShell effectively, you must be familiar with the vSphere Automation API reference documentation.

How to Find a vSphere Automation SDK Cmdlet

To search for vSphere Automation SDK cmdlets:

  • In your browser, navigate the vSphere Automation API reference documentation.

    The vSphere Automation API reference on VMware Developer features ready-to-use vSphere Automation SDK code samples that you can paste directly into PowerShell. You can find a PowerCLI code snippet for each operation under PowerCLI Client SDK Example in the Code Samples section.

  • In PowerShell, run Get-Command -Module VMware.Sdk.vSphere.* to list all available vSphere Automation SDK cmdlets.

How to Get Information About a Cmdlet

To get information about a vSphere Automation SDK cmdlet, run Get-Help with the cmdlet name. For example:

Get-Help Invoke-CreateVm -full

To open the online information in a browser, run Get-Help with the cmdlet name and the Online parameter. For example:

Get-Help Invoke-CreateVm -Online