Using the PowerCLI Inventory Provider

Use the PowerCLI Inventory Provider to interact with the VMware vSphere inventory through a file system interface, so that it is easier to navigate, manipulate, and automate tasks.

The PowerCLI Inventory Provider allows navigation and file-style management of the VMware vSphere inventory. By creating a PowerShell drive based on a managed object (such as a data center), you can obtain a view of its contents and the relationships between the items. In addition, you can move, rename, or delete objects by running commands from the PowerShell console.

When you connect to a server with Connect-VIServer, the cmdlet builds two default inventory drives: vi and vis.

To access the inventory of the last connected server, run: cd vi:\.

To access the inventory of all vSphere servers connected within the current PowerCLI session, run cd vis:\.

Use the dir and cd commands to navigate the inventories.