See also: VMware PowerCLI – Adding VMFS Datastore’s

After creating the required LUN’s on your storage array and mapped the LUN’s to your ESXi hosts then you may use PowerCLI to add these new LUNs as RDM Disk’s to a Virtual Machine.

The first four steps outline how to use PowerCLI to add an individual RDM to a Virtual Machine and the second section provides the script to add multiple RDM volumes to a Virtual Machine(s).

1. Connect to vCenter:
Connect-VIServer -Server “vCenter_IP” -User UserName -Password Password

If you need to retreive the Cluster and Host names:
look up the Cluster Name:
Get-Cluster
look up the Host names in the cluster:
Get-Cluster ‘Cluster Name’ | Get-VMHost | Select Name

2. Retrieve the ConsoleDeviceName(s):
In order to use the New-HardDisk cmdlet we require the ‘ConsoleDeviceName’ parameter associated with each LUN. In this example we will use the Get-SCSILun cmd to return the ‘ConsoleDeviceName’, Capacity and Runtime name in order for us to match the unique naa with the correct LUN#.

Get-SCSILun -VMhost “Your-ESXi-Hostname” -LunType Disk | Select ConsoleDeviceName,CapacityGB,runtimename

I was able to sort the SCSI LUN’s by RuntimeName including the double digit’s ‘vmhba0:C0:T0:L##’ using the following script provided by Luc:

Get-ScsiLun -VMHost “Your-ESXi-Hostname” -LunType disk |
Select RuntimeName,ConsoleDeviceName,CapacityGB |
Sort-Object -Property {$_.RuntimeName.Split(‘:’)[0],
[int]($_.RuntimeName.Split(‘:’)[1].TrimStart(‘C’))},
{[int]($_.RuntimeName.Split(‘:’)[2].TrimStart(‘T’))},
{[int]($_.RuntimeName.Split(‘:’)[3].TrimStart(‘L’))}

3. Adding the New RDM Disk’s:
If you need to reference the name of the Virtual machine you will be using to add the RDM disk:
Get-VM | Select-Object Name

vSphere PowerCLI provides the New-HardDisk cmd to create an RDM Disk on a virtual machine:
New-HardDisk -VM “Your-VM-Name” -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000etc

If you wish to specify the VMFS datastore to use for your RDM pointer files then add the -DataStore parameter:
New-HardDisk -VM “Your-VM-Name” -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000etc -Datastore “Datastore-Name”

If you need to list the available Datastore’s:
Get-Datastore
Get-Cluster -name “ClusterName” | Get-VMhost | Get-Datastore

4. List all the Newly Created RDM Disk’s:
Get-VM | Get-HardDisk -DiskType “RawPhysical” | Select Parent,Name,DiskType,ScsiCanonicalName,DeviceName,CapacityGB | fl

******************************************************************************************

Script to Automate Adding RDM Disk’s

####################################################################
PowerCLI Script: Automate Adding RDM Disk’s
Here is a script which scans for the Host LUN ID and then attributes the $LUN_# parameter
to the ‘ConsoleDeviceName’. This greatly simplifies the process of adding large quantities of RDM Disk’s.

There are 4 parameters used in the script. The following 3 shall be prompted for:
“Your-ESXi-Hostname” $VMhostname
“Your-VM-Name” $VM
“Your-VMFS-DS-Name” $Datastore

Please edit the runtime name as required, the script default is :
“vmhba0:C0:T0:L#”

The following example script will automatically create 10 RDM Disks on a Virtual Machine and place the pointer files
in a VMFS Datastore based on the parameters provided.

#####################################################################

Write-Host “Please edit the runtime name in the script if required before proceeding, the default is:” -ForegroundColor Red
Write-Host “vmhba0:C0:T0:L#” -ForegroundColor Green

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Host IP Address:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VMHost = Read-Host

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Username:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$User = Read-Host

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi/Vcenter Password:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$Pass = Read-Host

Connect-VIServer -Server $VMHost -User $User -Password $Pass

##########################################

$VMhostname = ‘*’

ForEach ($VMhostname in (Get-VMHost -name $VMhostname)| sort)
{

Write-Host $VMhostname

}

Write-Host “Please enter the ESXi Hostname where your target VM resides:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VMhostname = Read-Host

######################################

$Datastore = ‘*’

ForEach ($Datastore in (Get-Datastore -name $Datastore)| sort)
{

Write-Host $Datastore

}

Write-Host “From the list provided – Please enter the VMFS datastore where the RDM pointer files will reside:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$Datastore = Read-Host

######################################

$VM = ‘*’

ForEach ($VM in (Get-VM -name $VM)| sort)
{
Write-Host $VM
}

Write-Host “From the list provided – Please enter the VM Name where the RDM volumes shall be created on:” -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
$VM = Read-Host

##############
Write-Host “ESXi Hostname you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$VMhostname” -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host “VMFS you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$Datastore” -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host “Vitual Machine you have chosen: ” -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Host “$VM” -ForegroundColor Green

################
## ACLX T0:L0 ##
################
$LUN_0 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L0”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_0 = $LUN_0 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_0
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_0 -DataStore $Datastore

#####################
## Gatekeepers x10 ##
#####################
$LUN_1 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L1”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_1 = $LUN_1 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_1
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_1 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_2 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L2”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_2 = $LUN_2 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_2
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_2 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_3 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L3”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_3 = $LUN_3 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_3
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_3 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_4 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L4”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_4 = $LUN_4 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_4
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_4 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_5 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L5”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_5 = $LUN_5 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_5
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_5 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_6 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L6”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_6 = $LUN_6 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_6
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_6 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_7 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L7”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_7 = $LUN_7 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_7
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_7 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_8 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L8”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_8 = $LUN_8 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_8
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_8 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_9 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L9”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_9 = $LUN_9 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_9
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_9 -DataStore $Datastore

$LUN_10 = Get-SCSILun -VMhost $VMhostname -LunType Disk | Where-Object {$_.runtimename -like “vmhba0:C0:T0:L10”} | Select ConsoleDeviceName,runtimename
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 | Select ConsoleDeviceName
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 -replace “@{ConsoleDeviceName=”, “”
$LUN_10 = $LUN_10 -replace “}”, “”
$LUN_10
New-HardDisk -VM $VM -DiskType RawPhysical -DeviceName $LUN_10 -DataStore $Datastore

##############
### VERIFY ###
##############
##Finding RDMs Using PowerCLI:##
# Detailed #
# Get-VM | Get-HardDisk -DiskType “RawPhysical” | Select Parent,Name,DiskType,ScsiCanonicalName,DeviceName,CapacityGB | fl
# Brief #
# Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $VMhostname -LunType disk
# NAA #
# Get-ScsiLun -VMHost $VMhostname -LunType disk | select CanonicalName

### Get IP Address for ViClient to check GUI ###
# Get-VMHost -Name $VMhostname | Get-VMHostNetworkAdapter