Installation guide

Prerequisites
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Write your own PowerShell script to return data in a VCM compatible, element-normal XML format,
or obtain PowerShell scripts from VMware Professional Services or another source. See "Using
PowerShell Scripts for WCI Collections" on page 97.
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Understand the script signing policies if you use PowerShell 2.0. See "PowerShell Script Signing Policies"
on page 101.
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Set the PowerShell execution policy on the VCM managed machine. See "Built-In PowerShell Policy
Settings" on page 102.
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Understand how to write and run PowerShell scripts. See "References on PowerShell and Script Signing"
on page 102.
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Verify that your PowerShell script is accessible when you paste the script content into the Script area of
the collection filter on the VCM Collector.
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Confirm that the VCM Collector includes PowerShell 2.0 if the Collector is a client for WCI collections.
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Understand how VCM manages Windows Custom Information data changes. See "Windows Custom
Information Change Management" on page 107.
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Confirm that PowerShell 2.0 is installed on each VCM managed machine that will be used for WCI
collections. See "Install PowerShell" on page 110.
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Upgrade older VCMAgents on the VCM managed machines from which you collect Windows Custom
Information, and then install the VCM 5.3 Agent or later on these machines.
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Confirm or update the Agent Thread Administration settings on the VCM Collector. The default value
is set to below normal thread priority, and the Agent Data Retention default is set to a 15-day change
log.
Using PowerShell Scripts for WCI Collections
Windows Custom Information (WCI) uses PowerShell as the scripting engine and the element-normal
XML format as the output that is inserted into the VCM database.
WCI supports PowerShell 2.0 and works with later versions of PowerShell.
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PowerShell 2.0 is the base requirement for WCI in VCM because of its ability to set the execution policy
at the process level.
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You can run WCI PowerShell collection scripts against Windows machines that have PowerShell 1.0
installed if needed, although this usage is not supported or tested. If the collection scripts do not use
PowerShell 2.0 commands, your WCI filters that use the in-line method to pass a WCI script to
PowerShell will operate correctly.
The WCI data type uses extensions to the VCM Windows Agent. The extensions allow the Agent to
invoke PowerShell scripts. Using the script-based collection filter, VCM passes the PowerShell scripts to a
VCM managed machine, and the VCM Agent parses the resulting XML output. The default WCI filter
returns the PowerShell version information from the managed machines.
WCIdata type extensions are flexible because they use filter parameters that the command line uses to
invoke the scripting engine. The WCI extensions use a COM class name to specify the parser required for
the Agent to parse the script output, and allow new types of parsers to be added at the Agent. This
approach extends the support of multiple scripting engines, languages, and output formats.
Configuring Windows Machines
VMware, Inc.
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