Get more VM detail from Hyper-V

There was recently a question in the Hyper-V TechNet forum asking if there was a way to run the SCVMM Get-SCVirtualMachine cmdlet on a Hyper-V Server.

Well, technically yes;  you install the SCVMM Console PowerShell module on the Hyper-V Server - I don't think that was the intent of the question.

What the individual was looking for is more information about the VM - since SCVMM (by default) returns a ton of information about a virtual machine.
This is status, linked object detail, owner, etc.

Now, all of this information comes from the SCVMM Server, and much of this detail is unique to SCVMM.  At the same time, there is a lot more in Hyper-V than I think most folks realize, because it is filter output by default.

I am going to ignore SCVMM at the moment and focus on getting more from the in-box Hyper-V cmdlet.

Lets run through some examples:

PS C:\> Get-VM *
Name       State   CPUUsage(%) MemoryAssigned(M) Uptime     Status
----       -----   ----------- ----------------- ------     ------
WAPDev     Running 0           1580              4.20:34:51 Operating normally
myAdDns    Running 0           879               4.20:34:55 Operating normally
Downloader Off     0           0                 00:00:00   Operating normally
bjeSql     Running 0           2749              4.20:34:52 Operating normally

PS C:\> Get-VM WAPDev | Format-List

Name             : WAPDev
State            : Running
CpuUsage         : 0
MemoryAssigned   : 1656750080
MemoryDemand     : 1275068416
MemoryStatus     : OK
Uptime           : 4.20:37:01
Status           : Operating normally
ReplicationState : Replicating
Generation       : 2

Now, the individual in the forum post requested the following: "The SCVMM cmdlet Get-SCVirtualMachine returns a plethora of information regarding a VM. I would like to run this cmdlet on a Hyper-V host and get the same level of detail for each VM running on it. It appears that this is not possible."

Let me take my example one step further and show you one simple command that can give you everything about a VM.  It is a command the simply tells the PowerShell cmdlet to return all properties of the VM, not the default filtered set.  That is what the pipe to select * does.

And from here you can dig into the object and go off down some rabbit hole of dependencies such as NetworkAdapters, or the DVDDrives, or the HardDrives.


PS C:\> Get-VM WAPDev | Select *

VMName                      : WAPDev
VMId                        : 7ff0d548-1032-4cce-91ba-9a100a27b113
Id                          : 7ff0d548-1032-4cce-91ba-9a100a27b113
Name                        : WAPDev
State                       : Running
IntegrationServicesState    : Up to date
OperationalStatus           : {Ok}
PrimaryOperationalStatus    : Ok
SecondaryOperationalStatus  :
StatusDescriptions          : {Operating normally}
PrimaryStatusDescription    : Operating normally
SecondaryStatusDescription  :
Status                      : Operating normally
Heartbeat                   : OkApplicationsHealthy
ReplicationState            : Replicating
ReplicationHealth           : Normal
ReplicationMode             : Primary
CPUUsage                    : 0
MemoryAssigned              : 1656750080
MemoryDemand                : 1275068416
MemoryStatus                : OK
SmartPagingFileInUse        : False
Uptime                      : 4.20:39:47
IntegrationServicesVersion  : 6.3.9600.16384
ResourceMeteringEnabled     : False
ConfigurationLocation       : E:\WAPDev
SnapshotFileLocation        : E:\WAPDev
AutomaticStartAction        : StartIfRunning
AutomaticStopAction         : Save
AutomaticStartDelay         : 0
SmartPagingFilePath         : E:\WAPDev
NumaAligned                 : False
NumaNodesCount              : 1
NumaSocketCount             : 1
Key                         : Microsoft.HyperV.PowerShell.VirtualMachineObjectKey
IsDeleted                   : False
ComputerName                : SWEETUMS
Version                     : 5.0
Notes                       :
Generation                  : 2
Path                        : E:\WAPDev
CreationTime                : 11/22/2013 11:42:23 AM
IsClustered                 : False
SizeOfSystemFiles           : 69268
ParentSnapshotId            :
ParentSnapshotName          :
MemoryStartup               : 2147483648
DynamicMemoryEnabled        : True
MemoryMinimum               : 1073741824
MemoryMaximum               : 1099511627776
ProcessorCount              : 2
RemoteFxAdapter             :
NetworkAdapters             : {Network Adapter}
FibreChannelHostBusAdapters : {}
ComPort1                    : Microsoft.HyperV.PowerShell.VMComPort
ComPort2                    : Microsoft.HyperV.PowerShell.VMComPort
FloppyDrive                 :
DVDDrives                   : {DVD Drive on SCSI controller number 0 at location 1}
HardDrives                  : {Hard Drive on SCSI controller number 0 at location 0}
VMIntegrationService        : {Time Synchronization, Heartbeat, Key-Value Pair Exchange, Shutdown...}

So, the next time you want to know more about your VM, or you want to do a relationship walk from the VM object to the dependent object - just remember to "select *" and return all properties of the VM to you $vm object.  It takes longer, it works WMI harder, but it might get you where you are headed.

Once you know what you are looking for - using Get-VM, Get-VMMemory, Get-VMDVDDrive, Get-VMHardDisk, Get-VMSnapshots, etc. are actually faster - since they focus on the class of object and filter by that class.