User`s guide

Create Your Own WCI PowerShell Collection Script
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.
WCI internally stores data in a hierarchy, so your collection script must provide the complete data
structure in the standard tree view. The root element in the XML result data set becomes a top-level root
element in the WCI data type node. Child elements appear in the same locations in VCM as the locations
they populate in the XML document returned by the script.
Prerequisites
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Understand how to write and run PowerShell scripts. See "References on PowerShell and Script Signing"
on page 98 or the Windows PowerShell online help.
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Plan your data structure to display WCI data in a tree hierarchy based on the data structure specified in
the user-defined collection scripts. For an example, see Windows Custom Information Tree View -
Standard in the online help.
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Review the guidelines to create PowerShell scripts for WCI collections and understand the challenges.
See "Guidelines in PowerShell Scripting for WCI" on page 94.
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Review the example PowerShell script to see a sample script used for a WCI collection. See "Create an
Example PowerShell Script for Scheduled Tasks" on page 98.
Procedure
1. On your VCM Collector or managed Windows machine, click Start.
2. Select All Programs > Accessories > Windows PowerShell.
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On a 64-bit Windows machine, select Windows PowerShell (x86) to run the 32-bit version of
PowerShell.
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On a 32-bit Windows machine, select Windows PowerShell.
3. Create your PowerShell script and save it to the location of your choice.
What to do next
Verify that your PowerShell script adheres to valid XML before you can use the script to collect WCI data
from VCM managed machines. See "Verify that Your Custom PowerShell Script is Valid" on page 105.
Verify that Your Custom PowerShell Script is Valid
Verify that your PowerShell script adheres to valid XML before you use the script to collect Windows
Custom Information (WCI) from VCM managed machines.
To verify that your script is valid, run the script in PowerShell.
Getting Started with VCM
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