VMWare machines cache info via command in txt format

[X2]

Hi,

I'm trying to find how to use a command to get the information that one views when refreshing the VMWare machines cache. I need some of the information that it contains (see several colums here) to use in a script for auditing purposes.

I did find the XML files in the fi_cntl folder and as far as I know, they are generated by bpvmutil utitlity. Where can I find more details about bpvmutil and the options that can be used with it? I have checked both the VMWare admin guide and Command reference guide.

Thanks

[RamNagalla]

could you let us know what kind of information that you are looking for..?

based on your requirement we can suggest or see for the solution or some alternate ways if possible..

[X2]

The cache show me the machine name, OS version and arch, cluster name, etc. I want to have that information and also other info e.g. GuestId, powerState, etc. to be able to "discard" the unwanted ones (may not be backed up at all, etc.) to generate my updated list of VMs that I back up.

With the above information, one of the things that I need to do is to probe the VMs (e.g bpgetconfig) and get NetBackup version on them (yes, all VMs have NetBackup installed on them).

[Nicolai]

Can you use the nbdiscover command for that ?

http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO73029

http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO92138

[X2]

I was trying it yesterday and was getting backup only VM machine name (no FQDN) or if I used the policy name, it gives me IP addresses of the machines.

The aim is to exclude certain machines from the whole list (e.g. appliances, not being backed up, being backed up using non-VMWare method, etc.). It would be much easier to maniuplate the information that a cache refresh shows. It is available under fi_cntl folder but in XML format. I was wondering if I could use a command to get text format and then manipulate it.

[X2]

For now, I have decided to use the XML files in fi_cntl (<patrol servername>host.xml or <patrol servername>.xml) and parse using XSLT to get the information that I need and then use a bash script. The storage server being Windows 2008, I will need to scp the file(s) to the Linux master before I process it. It is acceptable for now as we only need to audit 3-4 times a year.

Thanks for the responses and suggestions.