With VMware vSphere® Lifecycle Manager™, you can manage ESXi clusters and hosts by using images.
Starting with vSphere 7.0 and PowerCLI 12.1.0, you can use high-level cmdlets for operations on the cluster level as a part of the VMware.VimAutomation.Core module. Starting with vSphere 7.0 and PowerCLI 12.4.0, you can also use low-level cmdlets for cluster-level operations.
Starting with vSphere 8.0 and PowerCLI 13.1.0, you can use high-level and low-level cmdlets for vSphere Lifecycle Manager host-level operations.
The low-level cmdlets map directly to the syntax of the ESX REST APIs and empower you to use the full API functionality within your PowerShell console.
You can construct low-level SDK cmdlets by using the Initialize- and Invoke- cmdlet verbs in combination with the names of the ESX REST API data structures or operations.
The ESX REST API Reference on VMware Developer features ready-to-use vSphere Lifecycle Manager 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.
Lifecycle Management in vSphere
Lifecycle management refers to the process of installing software, maintaining it through updates and upgrades, and decommissioning it.
In the context of maintaining a vSphere environment, your clusters and hosts in particular, lifecycle management refers to tasks such as installing ESXi and firmware on new hosts, and updating or upgrading the ESXi version and firmware when required.
What Is vSphere Lifecycle Manager
vSphere Lifecycle Manager is a service that operates within vCenter Server, by using the built-in PostgreSQL database. No additional setup is required to use vSphere Lifecycle Manager. When you deploy the vCenter Server appliance, the vSphere Lifecycle Manager user interface is automatically activated in the HTML5-based vSphere Client. You can also access vSphere Lifecycle Manager functions through PowerCLI.
vSphere Lifecycle Manager encompasses the functionality of vSphere Update Manager from previous vSphere versions and enhances it by introducing new features and options for managing the ESXi lifecycle at a cluster and host level.
Up to vSphere 7.0, the Update Manager allowed the use of baselines and baseline groups for patching and upgrading hosts. With vSphere 7.0, vSphere Lifecycle Manager introduced the alternative approach of using vSphere Lifecycle Manager images to manage the life cycle of hosts and clusters in your environment. It also makes possible the upgrade of virtual machine hardware and VMware Tools versions.
vSphere Lifecycle Manager is compatible with an internet-connected environment, either directly or through a proxy server. It can also operate in a secure network without internet access. In such cases, you can use the Update Manager Download Service (UMDS) to download updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot, or import updates manually.
vSphere Lifecycle Manager and PowerCLI
Starting with vSphere 7.0 and PowerCLI 12.1.0, you can create and manage vSphere Lifecycle Manager clusters. For more information, see Creating and Managing vSphere Lifecycle Manager Clusters with PowerCLI.
Starting with vSphere 8.0 and PowerCLI 13.1.0, you can manage standalone ESXi hosts with vSphere Lifecycle Manager images. For more information, see Managing vSphere Lifecycle Manager Standalone Hosts with PowerCLI.
