Installation guide

When the filters return data under the top-level element name and a managed machine starts to listen
on port 80, each filter initially reports the data as a newly created value, which causes overlap of the
data reported.
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Do not create two filters to collect data on the File Permission With Audit data type from different parts
of a managed machine's file system.
Collecting Windows Custom Information
To collect Windows Custom Information (WCI) using script-based filters, you create and verify your
custom PowerShell scripts, install PowerShell on the VCM managed machines, and use VCM to collect the
WCI data.
Procedure
1. "Create Your Own WCI PowerShell Collection Script" on page 99
Create or modify your Windows Custom Information (WCI) scripts to collect almost any data type
that is accessible from VCM managed Windows machines. To return data in a VCM compatible,
element-normal XML format, you create your own PowerShell script or obtain PowerShell scripts
from VMware Professional Services or another source and modify them for your own collections.
2. "Verify that Your Custom PowerShell Script is Valid" on page 99
Verify that your PowerShell script adheres to valid XML before you use the script to collect Windows
Custom Information (WCI) from VCM managed machines.
3. "Install PowerShell" on page 100
Verify that PowerShell 2.0 is installed on each VCM managed Windows machine used to collect
Windows Custom Information (WCI).
4. "Collect Windows Custom Information Data" on page 100
Use the Windows Custom Information (WCI) data type to perform user-defined, script-based
collections on your VCM managed machines. To collect the custom data, you build a collection filter
that includes a script with parameters to run the script and process the results.
5. "View Windows Custom Information Job Status Details" on page 102
When you run Windows Custom Information (WCI) collection filter scripts, VCM captures detailed
information and displays status about exit codes and standard error output for each job that processed
the script or filter. You can view the job status details in Job Manager.
6. "Windows Custom Information Collection Results" on page 103
Examine the results of your Windows Custom Information (WCI) collected data in the VCM tree
views and list view.
7. "Run Windows Custom Information Reports" on page 104
Generate your own reports or run existing reports on Windows Custom Information (WCI)data that
you collected using your custom PowerShell scripts.
8. "Troubleshooting Custom PowerShell Scripts" on page 104
If you encounter problems when you run custom PowerShell scripts, run the script as a .ps1 file and
correct any errors before you use the script with a VCM collection filter.
vCenter Configuration Manager Administration Guide
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