VMware Guest - Get Environment Variable

Declaration

<AMVMWAREGUEST ACTIVITY="get_environment_variable" 
HOSTTYPE="text (options)" SERVER="text" USERNAME="text" 
PASSWORD="text (encrypted)" VMPATH="text" 
GUESTUSERNAME="text" CONSOLE="YES/NO" LAUNCHGUI="YES/NO" 
TIMEOUT="number" GUESTPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" 
OPENVMTIMEOUT="number" POWERONTIMEOUT="number" 
TOOLSTIMEOUT="number" LOGINTIMEOUT="number" 
CONNECTIONTIMEOUT="number" NAME="text" RESULTVARIABLE="text" />

Description: Retrieves information about an environment variable in a guest OS and populates a variable with results.

NOTE: All functions that execute in a guest operating system require VMware Tools to be installed and running. Additionally, a valid guest login is required to run this activity.

Practical Usage

Used to get information about environment variables on a guest OS. On a Windows Series guest, writing these values is saved persistently so they are immediately visible to every process. On a Linux or Windows 9X guest, writing these values is not persistent so they are only visible to the VMware tools process.

Connection Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Connection

 

 

 

 

Indicates where connection details, guest credentials and other preferences should originate from. This is a visual mode parameter used only during task construction and configuration, thus, comprises no markup. The available options are:The available options are:

  • Host (Default) - Connection details, guest credentials and other preferences are configured individually for this activity. Select this option if only a single activity is required to complete an operation.

  • Session - Connection details, guest credentials and other preferences are obtained from a session created in a previous step with the use of the WMware Guest - Connect activity. Select this option if a combination of activities within the same action group are required to complete an operation. Linking several activities to a single session eliminates redundancy and improves efficiency. Several sessions can exist in a single task. Multiple sessions can run simultaneously without interference.

Session

Text

Yes if Connection set to Session

GuestOSOpsSession1

SESSION="MySession"

The name of an existing session to associate this activity with. This parameter is available only if the Connection parameter is set to Session.

Host type

Text (options)

Yes if Connection set to Host

VMWare VI Server

  1. HOSTTYPE="Server"

  2. HOSTTYPE="Workstation"

  3. HOSTTYPE="VIServer"

  4. HOSTTYPE="Player"

Indicates the VMware software type running on the host where the virtual machine is located. If you are using VMware Server to connect to a remote host, it does not matter which VMware product (if any) is running on the local host. This parameter is available only if the Connection parameter is set to Host. The available options are:

  • VMWare Server (1.0x)

  • VMWare Workstation

  • VMWare VI Server (ESX/ESXi, vCenter, VMWare Server 2.0)

  • VMWare Player

Host name

Text

Yes

(Empty)

  1. SERVER="host.server.com"

  2. SERVER="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"

The host name or IP address of the computer where the virtual machine is located. This parameter is active only if the Host type parameter is set to VMWare Server (1.0x) or VMWare VI Server (ESX/ESXi, vCenter, VMWare Server 2.0).

[Host] Username

Text

Yes

(Empty)

USERNAME="theUser"

The username identifying a valid user account on the virtual machine. This parameter is active only if the Host type parameter is set to VMWare Server (1.0x) or VMWare VI Server (ESX/ESXi, vCenter, VMWare Server 2.0).

[Host] Password

Text

Yes

(Empty)

PASSWORD="encrypted"

The password identifying a valid user account on the virtual machine. This parameter is active only if the Host type parameter is set to VMWare Server (1.0x) or VMWare VI Server (ESX/ESXi, vCenter, VMWare Server 2.0).

Virtual machine path

Text

Yes

(Empty)

VMPATH=

"c:\My Virtual Machines\vm_name.vmx"

The path to the virtual machine. (Example: c:\My Virtual Machines\virtual_machine_name.vmx).

[Guest] Username

Text

Yes

(Empty)

GUESTUSERNAME="user"

The username to authenticate the guest user.

[Guest] Password

Text

Yes

(Empty)

GUESTPASSWORD="encrypted"

The password to authenticate the guest user.

Log onto console session

Yes/No

No

No

CONSOLE="yes"

If set to YES, the user will be logged onto the console session. This parameter is set to NO by default.

Launch GUI

Yes/No

No

No

LAUNCHGUI="yes"

If set to YES, a GUI (Graphic User Interface) will appear on the desktop upon connection. If set to NO (default), no GUI will be launched and operations will execute in the background.

Open VM timeout

Number

No

60

OPENVMTIMEOUT="2"

The maximum time period in seconds during which this activity must be completed or the step times out. The default value is 60 seconds.

Power on timeout

Number

No

60

POWERONTIMEOUT="3"

The maximum time period in seconds during which the VM must power on or the step times out. The default value is 60 seconds.

VMware tools timeout

Number

No

300

TOOLSTIMEOUT="4"

The maximum time period in seconds during which VMWare Tools must start on the guest operating system or the step times out. The default value is 300 seconds.

Log on timeout

Number

No

60

LOGINTIMEOUT="5"

The maximum time period in seconds during which the log on process must be completed or the step times out. The default value is 60 seconds.

Connection timeout

Number

No

60

CONNECTIONTIMEOUT="6"

The maximum time period in seconds during which a connection must be established or the step times out. The default value is 60 seconds.

Guest OS Operations Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Variable name

Text

Yes

(Empty)

NAME="GuestEnvVarName"

The name of the guest environment variable.

Populate value into variable

Text

Yes

(Empty)

RESULTVARIABLE="theVar"

The variable to populate with information retrieved about the guest variable.

Description tab - A custom description can be provided on the Description tab to convey additional information or share special notes about a task step.

Error Causes tab - Specify how this step should behave upon the occurrence of an error. (Refer to Task Builder > Error Causes Tab for details.)

On Error tab - Specify what AWE should do if this step encounters an error as defined on the Error Causes tab. (Refer to Task Builder > On Error Tab for details.)

Example

The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps panel of the Task Builder.

Description

Get guest os environment variable "guestEnvironmentVar" and store it's value into variable "theVar". Use session "GuestSess1".

<AMVARIABLE NAME="theVar" /gt;
<AAMVMWAREGUEST ACTIVITY="connect" 
HOSTTYPE="Workstation" VMPATH="C:\VMs\Windows Server 2008 x86\
Windows Server 2008.vmx" GUESTUSERNAME="Techsupport" 
GUESTPASSWORD="AM4g/HMkxlqorZ5uVmBmE6ucg==aME" CONSOLE="YES" 
LAUNCHGUI="YES" SESSION="GuestSess1" /gt;
<AAMVMWAREGUEST ACTIVITY="get_environment_variable" 
SESSION="GuestSess1" NAME="guestEnvironmentVar" 
RESULTVARIABLE="theVar" /gt;
<AAMVMWAREGUEST ACTIVITY="disconnect" 
SESSION="GuestSess1" /gt;