Connect to vCenter

Connect to the vCenter that owns the inventory and avoid running destructive commands while building an inventory report.

Collect VM inventory

Capture VM name, power state, host, cluster, datastore, guest OS and configured CPU and memory. This gives you a useful baseline without changing configuration.

Audit snapshots

List VMs with snapshots and include snapshot age and size where available. Old snapshots should be reviewed before datastore capacity becomes a problem.

Collect host and datastore data

Record ESXi version, connection state, CPU and memory capacity, datastore capacity and free space. Use this as a capacity and lifecycle baseline.

Export to CSV

Export separate datasets or a combined report so the information can be reviewed in Excel or consumed by another automation process.

Schedule the report

Once validated, run the inventory on a schedule and compare it with the previous baseline to identify configuration drift.

Useful commands

Get-VM | Select Name,PowerState,VMHost,NumCpu,MemoryGB
Get-VMHost | Select Name,Version,ConnectionState
Get-Datastore | Select Name,CapacityGB,FreeSpaceGB
Get-Snapshot -VM * | Select VM,Name,Created
Production workflow: capture the current state, test the dependency directly, make one controlled change, retest the original symptom and document the evidence.

Quick checklist

  • Connect to vCenter
  • Collect VM inventory
  • Audit snapshots
  • Collect host and datastore data
  • Export to CSV
  • Schedule the report

Primary reference

This TechRunbook guide is independently written and cross-checked against Broadcom VMware documentation. View the reference →

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