Power on a batch of virtual machines in a csv file using PowerCLI.

Use the following PowerCLI script to power on a list of Virtual Machines from a CSV file.

import-module vmware.vimautomation.core

$vcenter = <my vCenter server>

connect-viserver $vcenter

$allvms = import-csv RVTools_tabvInfo.csv

foreach ($strNewVMName in $allvms)

{   

        #gets all the VM's properties.  We're interested in the PowerState  Property.

        $vmdata = Get-view -ViewType VirtualMachine -Filter @{"name" =  $strNewVMName.vm}  #vm is the column header name in the csv on the first line.

        #if the PowerState is not PoweredOn, then power it on.

        if ($vmdata.Runtime.PowerState -ne "PoweredOn")

        {

            Write-Host "Powering on "$strNewVMName.vm

            Start-VM -VM $strNewVMName.vm

            Sleep 2

        }

}