Use PowerShell to List VMs that Need Tools or Hardware Updated

This PowerShell script will help you easily determine what VM hardware version each of your VMs are currently running. Updating your VM hardware compatibility version can offer you benefits like supporting new CPU architectures, helping you squeeze every last bit of performance out of your VMs.

This script will allow you to quickly determine which VMs need be addressed in a large environment and help you triage them accordingly.

# Import PowerCLI module and connect to VSphere servers
Import-Module VMware.PowerCLI
Connect-VIServer YOUR_VSPHERE_FQDN -User YOUR_USERNAME -Password YOUR_PASSWORD

# Get VMs and initialize counter
$vms = Get-Datacenter | Get-VM
$i=0

# Create table and add columns
$table = New-Object System.Data.DataTable "NeedsUpdated"
$col1 = New-Object System.Data.DataColumn "Name"
$col2 = New-Object System.Data.DataColumn "HardwareVersion"
$col3 = New-Object System.Data.DataColumn "ToolsVersion"
$col4 = New-Object System.Data.DataColumn "ToolsStatus"
$table.Columns.Add($col1)
$table.Columns.Add($col2)
$table.Columns.Add($col3)
$table.Columns.Add($col4)

# Check hardware and tools versions
foreach($vm in $vms){
    $vmview = $vm | Get-View
    if(($vmview.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus -notlike "*Current") -OR ($vm.HardwareVersion -notlike "*13*")){
    $row = $table.NewRow()
    $row.Name = $vm.Name
    $row.HardwareVersion = $vm.HardwareVersion
    $row.ToolsVersion = $vmview.Guest.ToolsVersion
    $row.ToolsStatus = $vmview.Guest.ToolsVersionStatus
    $table.Rows.Add($row)
    }
    $i++
}

# Format table and export to csv
$table | Format-Table -AutoSize
$csv = $table | Export-Csv C:\temp\NeedsUpdates.csv -noType

Note: Change the HardwareVersion number above to whatever version you consider acceptable in your environment. The statement could also be modified to report anything lower than a specific version if you have a minimum that is acceptable outside the current version.