Learn How to Install, Configure and Test GOVC?

Raghavan Venugopalan Feb 12 - 7 min read

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GOVC is a vSphere CLI built on top of govmomi. The CLI is designed to be a user-friendly alternative to the vSphere UI and well suited for automation tasks. govmomi is a “Golang” library for interacting with VMware vSphere APIs (ESXi and/or vCenter). It is built using the VMware vSphere SDK. It’s written in Go language and pre-compiled for Linux, OSX, and Windows. GOVC vSphere CLI is very useful to carry out various vCenter/vSphere operations from the command line.

It’s time to say GoodBye to VMware PowerCLI and welcome “GOVC”

Areas of Automation:

Solutions: VDI Lifecycle Object Scale Test: Migration: vMotion Lifecycle
  1. Template from iso
  2. Export and Import ova
  3. Create VMs
  4. Add vdisks/RDMs
  5. VAAI features(XCOPY, Block Zeroing, UNMAP)
  1. Scale Datacenter infrastructure(Cluster, Host)
  2. Create maximum Datastores, Datastore Cluster
  3. Clone maximum VMs(Instant, Linked, FULL clone)
  1. vMotion, Storage vMotion
  2. VMFS to vVols migration
  3. vVols to VMFS migration

Installation & Configuration of govc:

To install govc on Linux machines, we can make use of below shell script.

#!/bin/sh

which govc 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Install govc.."
        wget https://github.com/vmware/govmomi/releases/download/v0.19.0/govc_linux_amd64.gz
        gunzip govc_linux_amd64.gz
        mv govc_linux_amd64 govc
        sudo cp -rf govc /usr/local/bin/
        sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/govc
else
        echo "govc already exists..."
fi

To validate govc path and version, use the below script

root@centos:~$ which govc; govc version
/usr/local/bin/govc
govc 0.19.0

To configure the user environment with GOVC environment variables, update the user’s “.bash_profile” to load the GOVC environment variables.

 
export GOVC_URL=https://msys-vcsa.dev.msys.com
export [email protected]
export GOVC_PASSWORD=@Msys123
export GOVC_INSECURE=true
source ~/.profile

Let’s make the API call to vSphere environment using govc. “govc ls” command is used to list all the vCenter objects as shown below.

root@centos:~$ govc ls
/msys-dc/vm
/msys-dc/network
/msys-dc/host
/msys-dc/datastore

Testing using govc:

Let’s explore creating Datacenter, Cluster, Adding hosts, Datastore, Virtual Machines, Power on/off VMs, Clone VMs using govc.

1 Datacenter creation in vCenter using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc datacenter.create msys-dc
root@centos:~$ govc datacenter.info msys-dc
Name:                msys-dc
  Path:              /msys-dc
  Hosts:             0
  Clusters:          0
  Virtual Machines:  0
  Networks:          0
  Datastores:        0

2 Cluster creation in vCenter using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc cluster.create -dc=msys-dc msys-cluster
root@centos:~$ govc datacenter.info msys-dc
Name:                msys-dc
  Path:              /msys-dc
  Hosts:             0
  Clusters:          1
  Virtual Machines:  0
  Networks:          0
  Datastores:        0

3 Host addition in vCenter using govc:

Adding host in DC:
root@centos:~$ govc host.add -hostname init127-9.dev.msys.com -username root -password @Msys123
[20-11-19 02:54:14] adding init127-9.dev.msys.com to folder /msys-dc/host... OK

root@centos:~$ govc host.info
Name:              init127-9.dev.msys.com
  Path:            /msys-dc/host/init127-9.dev.msys.com/init127-9.dev.msys.com
  Manufacturer:
  Logical CPUs:    32 CPUs @ 2600MHz
  Processor type:  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2670 0 @ 2.60GHz
  CPU usage:       1686 MHz (2.0%)
  Memory:          262098MB
  Memory usage:    3358 MB (1.3%)
  Boot time:       2019-08-09 13:09:36.709878 +0000 UTC
  State:           connected

Add host in cluster:
root@centos:~$ govc cluster.add -cluster msys-cluster -hostname init127-9.dev.msys.com -username root -password  @Msys123
[20-11-19 03:02:54] adding init127-9.dev.msys.com to cluster /msys-dc/host/msys-cluster... OK
root@centos:~$ govc host.info
Name:              init127-9.dev.msys.com
  Path:            /msys-dc/host/msys-cluster/init127-9.dev.msys.com
  Manufacturer:
  Logical CPUs:    32 CPUs @ 2600MHz
  Processor type:  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2670 0 @ 2.60GHz
  CPU usage:       0 MHz (0.0%)
  Memory:          262098MB
  Memory usage:    0 MB (0.0%)
  Boot time:       2019-08-09 13:09:36.709878 +0000 UTC
  State:           connected

4 Datastore creation in vCenter using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc datastore.create -type vmfs -name msys-ds -path /msys-dc/datastore -disk="naa.624a9370522f227d0784442d00011039" init127-9.dev.msys.com

root@centos:~$ govc datastore.info msys-ds
Name:        msys-ds
  Path:      /msys-dc/datastore/msys-ds
  Type:      VMFS
  URL:       ds:///vmfs/volumes/5dd514d1-ff6548ba-1540-f8bc123d5c26/
  Capacity:  5119.8 GB
  Free:      5118.3 GB

5 VM Creation in vCenter using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc vm.create -ds=msys-ds -on=false -link=false -net="VM Network" -pool development govc-vm2

root@centos:~$ govc vm.info govc-vm2
Name:           govc-vm2
  Path:         /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2
  UUID:         42315795-6140-58d0-29bf-deee48f04c1d
  Guest name:   Other (32-bit)
  Memory:       1024MB
  CPU:          1 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOff
  Boot time:    
  IP address:
  Host:         init127-9.dev.msys.com

6 Powering on VM in vCenter using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc vm.power -on=true govc-vm2
Powering on VirtualMachine:vm-3194... OK
root@centos:~$ govc vm.info govc-vm2
Name:           govc-vm2
  Path:         /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2
  UUID:         42315795-6140-58d0-29bf-deee48f04c1d
  Guest name:   Other (32-bit)
  Memory:       1024MB
  CPU:          1 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOn
  Boot time:    2019-11-20 10:52:36.987655 +0000 UTC
  IP address:
  Host:         init127-9.dev.msys.com

7 Accessing VM via Remote console

Any one of the utilities such as VMRC, VMware Player, VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation must be installed to open VMRC console URLs.

root@centos:~$ govc vm.console govc-vm2
vmrc://clone:cst-VCT-527e9bbb-7ddc-ff54-2e17-04806219b275--tp-11-7B-85-7C-94-F9-1F-86-71-37-13-8B-3F-48-E3-BB-42-7B-E7-8D@raghav-vcsa.dev.msys.com/?moid=vm-3194
(or)
root@centos:~$ govc vm.console -capture screen.png govc-vm2
root@centos:~$ govc vm.console -capture - govc-vm2 | display

Remote console view

8 VM clone using govc:

root@centos:~$ govc vm.clone -ds=msys-ds -vm govc-vm2 -link scale-vm1
[20-11-19 04:48:18] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm1...OK

List VM’s
root@centos:~$ govc ls /*/vm/*
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm1
/msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2

9 VM Cloning in scale using govc:

root@centos:~$ cat vm_clone.sh
i=1
while [ $i -lt 10 ]
do
        govc vm.clone -ds=msys-ds -on=false -vm raghav -link scale-vm-$i &
        i=`expr $i + 1`
done

root@centos:~$ ./vm_clone.sh
[20-11-19 05:08:50] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-1...(95%)
[20-11-19 05:08:50] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-1...OK
[20-11-19 05:08:54] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-2...OK
[20-11-19 05:08:57] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-3...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:00] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-4...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:04] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-5...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:07] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-6...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:11] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-7...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:14] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-8...OK
[20-11-19 05:09:18] Cloning /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2 to scale-vm-9...OK

root@centos:~$ govc ls /*/vm/*
/msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-2
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-6
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-7
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-1
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-8
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-9
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm1
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-3
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-4
/msys-dc/vm/scale-vm-5

VM migration in vCenter using govc

vMotion

From host init127-9 to host init127-16

root@centos:~$ govc vm.migrate -host init127-16.dev.msys.com govc-vm2
[23-11-19 21:44:33] migrating VirtualMachine:vm-3204... OK
root@centos:~$ govc vm.info govc-vm2
Name:           govc-vm2
  Path:         /msys-dc/vm/govc-vm2
  UUID:         42315795-6140-58d0-29bf-deee48f04c1d
  Guest name:   Other (32-bit)
  Memory:       1024MB
  CPU:          1 vCPU(s)
  Power state:  poweredOn
  Boot time:    
  IP address:
  Host:         init127-16.dev.msys.com

Storage vMotion(VMFS to VMFS)
From msys-DS to msys-DS1

root@centos:~$ govc vm.migrate -ds msys-ds1 govc-vm2
[23-11-19 21:51:04] migrating VirtualMachine:vm-3204... OK

Storage vMotion(VMFS to vVol)
From msys-DS1 to vvol-ds

root@centos:~$ govc vm.migrate -ds vvol-ds govc-vm2
[24-11-19 23:45:02] migrating VirtualMachine:vm-1209... OK

Export and Import OVA

Export 
root@centos:~$ govc export.ovf -i -f -sha 256 -vm govc-vm2 -name=raghav ds:///vmfs/volumes/5dd514d1-ff6548ba-1540-f8bc123d5c26/
[24-11-19 00:59:37] Downloading raghav-disk-0.iso... OK
[24-11-19 01:00:06] Downloading raghav-disk-1.vmdk...
[24-11-19 01:00:08] Downloading raghav-disk-1.vmdk... OK
[24-11-19 01:00:08] Downloading raghav-disk-2.nvram... OK

root@centos:~/ds:/vmfs/volumes/5dd514d1-ff6548ba-1540-f8bc123d5c26/raghav$ ls -lrth
total 2.9G
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 600M Nov 24 01:00 raghav-disk-1.vmdk
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 8.5K Nov 24 01:00 raghav-disk-2.nvram
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 837M Nov 25 22:50 raghav-disk-0.vmdk
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 8.5K Nov 25 22:50 raghav-disk-1.nvram
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 9.2K Nov 25 22:50 raghav.ovf
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root  272 Nov 25 22:50 raghav.mf
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root root 1.5G Nov 25 22:53 raghav-disk-0.iso

Import
root@centos:~/ds:/vmfs/volumes/5dd514d1-ff6548ba-1540-f8bc123d5c26/raghav$ tar -cf /tmp/raghavan_1.ova .

root@centos:~$ govc import.ova /tmp/raghavan_1.ova

References: https://github.com/vmware/govmomi/tree/master/govc

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