User`s guide

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You must obtain or write a PowerShell script that will return data in a VCM-compatible element-
normal XML format.
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The VCM agent (for VCM 5.3 or later) must be installed on each VCM-managed machine used to
collect the Windows custom information. Older agents must first be upgraded.
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PowerShell must be installed on each VCM-managed machine. PowerShell is installed by default on
Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 machines. For Windows XP, 2003, 2003 R2, 2008, and Vista machines,
PowerShell must be installed separately. You cannot install PowerShell on Windows 2000 or NT4
machines. In cases where PowerShell is not installed on the target VCM-managed machine, the WCI
collection will return a "Not Executed" success status. See Job Status Reporting for WCI.
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Windows Custom Information supports PowerShell version 2.0, and should work with later versions of
PowerShell as well.
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After installing PowerShell on a VCM-managed machine, you must reboot the machine to ensure that
collections will work properly.
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If the VCM Collector will be used as a client for WCI collections, ensure that PowerShell is installed on
the Collector machine.
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VCM ships with default Administration settings for Agent Thread (default is set to below normal
thread priority) and Agent Data Retention (default is 15-day change log). However, you can change
these settings if you desire.
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Before file-based PowerShell scripts can be executed by the WCI collection filter on the VCM Collector
and/or the VCM-managed machine, you change the execution policy on the VCM-managed machines.
The PowerShell execution policy on the VCM machine must be set to Remote Signed, All Signed, or
Unrestricted. If the policy is set to All Signed, the scripts must be signed, and the appropriate
certificates distributed before collections can be run.
Procedure
To collect and view Windows Custom Information from VCM-managed machines, follow these steps.
1. Obtain PowerShell script(s) from VMware Professional Services or another source (or you can write
your own). For more information about scripts, see Getting Started with PowerShell Scripts.
2. Select Administration > Collection Filters > Filters.
3. Click Add Filter to add a collection filter. The Collection Filter Wizard appears.
4. Enter a name for the filter, and then click Next. The Data Type page appears.
5. Select Windows, and then the Custom Information (Win) data type. Click Next. The Windows
Custom Information Filter page appears.
6. Select your Script Type, which defaults to PowerShell v1.0 Text Output.
7. Select the Output Type of Element Normal XML.
8. Specify the Timeout in seconds. This setting specifies how long the Agent will allow a PowerShell script
to run before attempting to end the process. The purpose of this setting is to prevent blocked or
excessively long-running scripts from blocking other Agent requests.
9. In the Script area, paste the content of your user-defined PowerShell script, which contains statements
specific to the data type you will be collecting. Depending on your script, parameters to be configured
may exist near the top of the script.
10. VCM handles violations of any duplicate path attributes in the PowerShell scripts through the
Duplicate Handling settings. In the Duplicate Handling area, select one of the following: Discard,
Increment, or Fail with Error.
Getting Started with VCM
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