Deploy and customize a VM in vCenter with PowerCLI

Deploy-VM.ps1

# Deploy Windows Server 2008 or higher in vCenter

#### USER DEFINED VARIABLES ############################################################################################
$Domain = ""              #AD Domain to join
$vCenterInstance = ""     #vCenter to deploy VM
$Cluster = ""             #vCenter cluster to deploy VM
$VMTemplate = ""          #vCenter template to deploy VM
$CustomSpec = ""          #vCenter customization to use for VM
$Location = ""            #Folderlocation in vCenter for VM
$DataStore = ""           #Datastore in vCenter to use for VM
$DiskStorageFormat = ""   #Diskformtat to use (Thin / Thick) for VM
$NetworkName = ""         #Portgroup to use for VM
$Memory =                 #Memory of VM In GB
$CPU =                    #number of vCPUs of VM
$DiskCapacity =           #Disksize of VM in GB
$SubnetLength =           #Subnetlength IP address to use (24 means /24 or 255.255.255.0) for VM
$GW = ""                  #Gateway to use for VM
$IP_DNS = ""              #IP address DNS server to use

### FUNCTION DEFINITIONS ################################################################################################
Function Check-CustomizationStarted([string] $VM)
{
    Write-Host "Verifying that Customization for VM $VM has started"
    $i=60 #time-out of 5 min
	while($i -gt 0)
	{
		$vmEvents = Get-VIEvent -Entity $VM
		$startedEvent = $vmEvents | Where { $_.GetType().Name -eq "CustomizationStartedEvent" }
		if ($startedEvent)
		{
            Write-Host  "Customization for VM $VM has started" 
			return $true
		}
		else
		{
			Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
            $i--
		}
	}
    Write-Warning "Customization for VM $VM has failed"
    return $false
}

Function Check-CustomizatonFinished([string] $VM)
{
    Write-Host  "Verifying that Customization for VM $VM has finished" 
    $i = 60 #time-out of 5 min
	while($true)
	{
		$vmEvents = Get-VIEvent -Entity $VM
		$SucceededEvent = $vmEvents | Where { $_.GetType().Name -eq "CustomizationSucceeded" }
        $FailureEvent = $vmEvents | Where { $_.GetType().Name -eq "CustomizationFailed" }
		if ($FailureEvent -or ($i -eq 0))
		{
			Write-Warning  "Customization of VM $VM failed" 
            return $False
		}
		if ($SucceededEvent)
		{
            Write-Host  "Customization of VM $VM Completed Successfully" 
            Start-Sleep -Seconds 30
            Write-Host  "Waiting for VM $VM to complete post-customization reboot" 
            Wait-Tools -VM $VM -TimeoutSeconds 300
            Start-Sleep -Seconds 30
            return $true
		}
        Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
        $i--
	}
}

Function Restart-VM([string] $VM)
{
    Restart-VMGuest -VM $VM -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
    Write-Host "Reboot VM $VM" 
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 60
    Wait-Tools -VM $VM -TimeoutSeconds 300 | Out-Null
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 10
}

function Add-Script([string] $script,$parameters=@(),[bool] $reboot=$false){
    $i=1
    foreach ($parameter in $parameters)
    {
        if ($parameter.GetType().Name -eq "String") {$script=$script.replace("%"+[string] $i,'"'+$parameter+'"')}
        else                                        {$script=$script.replace("%"+[string] $i,[string] $parameter)}
        $i++
    }
    $script:scripts += ,@($script,$reboot)
}

Function Test-IP([string] $IP)
{
  if (-not ($IP) -or (([bool]($IP -as [IPADDRESS])))) { return $true} else {return $false}
}

#### USER INTERACTIONS ##############################################################################################
cls
Write-host "Deploy Windows server" -foregroundcolor red
$Hostname = Read-Host -Prompt "Hostname"
If ($Hostname.Length -gt 15) {write-Host -ForegroundColor Red "$Hostname is an invalid hostname"; break}
$IP = Read-Host -Prompt "IP Address (press ENTER for DHCP)"
If (-not (Test-IP $IP)) {write-Host -ForegroundColor Red "$IP is an invalid address"; break}
$JoinDomainYN = Read-Host "Join Domain $Domain (Y/N)"

### READ CREDENTIALS ########################################################################################################
Get-Content credentials.txt | Foreach-Object{
   $var = $_.Split('=')
   Set-Variable -Name $var[0].trim('" ') -Value $var[1].trim('" ')
}
$VMLocalUser = "$Hostname\$LocalUser"
$VMLocalPWord = ConvertTo-SecureString -String $LocalPassword -AsPlainText -Force
$VMLocalCredential = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $VMLocalUser, $VMLocalPWord

### CONNECT TO VCENTER ##############################################################################################
Get-Module -ListAvailable VMware* | Import-Module | Out-Null
Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenterInstance -User $vCenterUser -Password $vCenterPass -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
$SourceVMTemplate = Get-Template -Name $VMTemplate
$SourceCustomSpec = Get-OSCustomizationSpec -Name $CustomSpec

### DEFINE POWERSHELL SCRIPTS TO RUN IN VM AFTER DEPLOYMENT ############################################################################################################
if ($IP) {
Add-Script "New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceIndex 2 -IPAddress %1 -PrefixLength %2 -DefaultGateway %3" @($IP, $SubnetLength, $GW)
Add-Script "Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex 2 -ServerAddresses %1" @($IP_DNS) }
if ($JoinDomainYN.ToUpper() -eq "Y") {
Add-Script '$DomainUser = %1;
            $DomainPWord = ConvertTo-SecureString -String %2 -AsPlainText -Force;
            $DomainCredential = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $DomainUser, $DomainPWord;
             Add-Computer -DomainName %3 -Credential $DomainCredential' @("$Domain\$DomainAdmin",$DomainAdminPassword, $Domain) $true }
Add-Script 'Import-Module NetSecurity; Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "File and Printer Sharing" -enabled True'
Add-Script 'Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" -name fDenyTSConnections -Value 0;
            Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop";
            Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" -name UserAuthentication -Value 0'

### DEPLOY VM ###############################################################################################################################################################
Write-Host "Deploying Virtual Machine with Name: [$Hostname] using Template: [$SourceVMTemplate] and Customization Specification: [$SourceCustomSpec] on cluster: [$cluster]" 
New-VM -Name $Hostname -Template $SourceVMTemplate -ResourcePool $cluster -OSCustomizationSpec $SourceCustomSpec -Location $Location `
  -Datastore $Datastore -DiskStorageFormat $DiskStorageFormat | Out-Null
Get-VM $Hostname | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -Portgroup $NetworkName -confirm:$false | Out-Null
Set-VM -VM $Hostname -NumCpu $CPU -MemoryGB $Memory -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
Get-VM $Hostname | Get-HardDisk | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "Hard Disk 1"} | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB $DiskCapacity -Confirm:$false | Out-Null

Write-Host "Virtual Machine $Hostname Deployed. Powering On" 
Start-VM -VM $Hostname | Out-Null

if (-not (Check-CustomizationStarted $Hostname)) { break }; if (-not (Check-CustomizatonFinished $Hostname)) { break }

foreach ($script in $scripts)
{
    Invoke-VMScript -ScriptText $script[0] -VM $Hostname -GuestCredential $VMLocalCredential | Out-Null
    if ($script[1]) {Restart-VM $Hostname}
}

### End of Script ##############################
Write-Host "Deployment of VM $Hostname finished" 

Great script. Thanks for sharing.

Not usable out-of-the-box for me but a nice inspiration, thanks!