Perl bindings to Vix API

In beta3, a new Perl binding was added for the Vix C API. It got left out

of the Release Notes, so I wanted to point it out in this forum. Here's

a sample app to get you started. Note that this has minimal testing, etc,

but it worked for me.

The binding can be found in a tarball in /usr/lib/vmware or \Program Files\VMWare\VMWare Vix

#!/usr/bin/perl

\# perl implementation of vmrun

\# your agreement to the terms of an applicable VMware license.

\# find stuff in blib so we can be run from the build area:

\# .../bora/build/obj/apps/foundryPerl/5.008001/vix-perl

#use lib qw\{ blib/lib blib/auto };

\# the vix-perl release can be found in vix-perl.tar in

\# /usr/lib/vmware (default) or \Program Files\VMWare\VMWware Vix

use strict;

use VMware::Vix::Simple;

\# all constants are exported

use VMware::Vix::API::Constants;

my $hostname = undef;

my $port = 0;

my $username = undef;

my $password = undef;

my $hosthandle = VIX_INVALID_HANDLE;

my $vmpath = undef;

my $vmhandle = VIX_INVALID_HANDLE;

my $command = undef;

my @arglist;

sub usage() {

print "Usage: $0 \[authentication flags] COMMAND \[PARAMETERS]\n";

print "authentication flags:\n";

print "\t-host \n";

print "COMMAND PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION\n";

print "start path to vmx Start a VM\n";

print "stop path to vmx Stop a VM\n";

print "reset path to vmx Reset a VM\n";

print "suspend path to vmx Suspend a VM\n";

print "upgrade path to vmx Upgrade VM file format a

nd virtual hardware\n";

print "installtools path to vmx Install Tools in Guest O

S\n";

print "listSnapshot path to vmx List snapshots in a VM\n

print "snapshot path to vmx Takes a snapshot of a VM

\n";

print "deleteSnapshot path to vmx Remove a snapshot from a

VM\n";

print "revertToSnapshot path to vmx Revert to a snapshot fro

m a VM\n";

print "list List all running VMs\n";

exit 0;

}

sub mydie($$) {

my ($errstring, $err) = @_;

die "$errstring: ", GetErrorText($err), "($err)\n";

}

sub listhosts() {

}

sub listvms($) {

my ($hh) = @_;

my @vmlist = FindRunningVMs($hh, 300);

my $err = shift @vmlist;

foreach (@vmlist) {

print "VM: $_\n";

}

sub startvm($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMPowerOn($vh, 0, VIX_INVALID_HANDLE);

mydie("Failed to power on VM", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

sub stopvm($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMPowerOff($vh, 0);

mydie("Failed to power off VM", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

sub resetvm($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMReset($vh, 0);

mydie("Failed to reset VM", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

sub suspendvm($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMSuspend($vh, 0);

mydie("Failed to suspend VM", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

sub upgradevm($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMUpgradeVirtualHardware($vh, 0);

mydie("Failed to upgrade virtual hardware", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

sub installtools($) {

my ($vh) = @_;

my $err = VMInstallTools($vh, 0, undef);

mydie("Failed to install tools", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

}

\# XXX only one now, and nothing interesting

sub listsnapshots($) {

my ($vm) = @_;

my $err;

my $numSnapShots;

($err, $numSnapShots) = VMGetNumRootSnapshots($vm);

mydie("Getting snapshots", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

print "$numSnapShots snapshots found\n";

\# XXX get its name, etc, when that's meaningful

}

\# XXX expose name/description when its meaningful

sub createsnapshot($) {

my ($vm) = @_;

my $err;

my $ss;

($err, $ss) = VMCreateSnapshot($vm, "Snapshot", "Snapshot from $0", 0, VIX_IN

VALID_HANDLE);

mydie("Creating snapshot", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

ReleaseHandle($ss);

}

sub deletesnapshot($) {

my ($vm) = @_;

my $err;

my $ss;

my $num;

($err, $num) = VMGetNumRootSnapshots($vm);

mydie("Getting snapshots", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

return if ($num == 0);

($err, $ss) = VMGetRootSnapshot($vm, 0);

mydie("Getting snapshot handle", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

$err = VMRemoveSnapshot($vm, $ss, 0);

mydie("Removing snapshot", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

ReleaseHandle($ss);

}

sub revertsnapshot($) {

my ($vm) = @_;

my $err;

my $ss;

my $num;

($err, $num) = VMGetNumRootSnapshots($vm);

mydie("Getting snapshots", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

return if ($num == 0);

($err, $ss) = VMGetRootSnapshot($vm, 0);

mydie("Getting snapshot handle", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

$err = VMRevertToSnapshot($vm, $ss, 0, VIX_INVALID_HANDLE);

mydie("Reverting to snapshot", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

ReleaseHandle($ss);

}

sub openvm($$) {

my ($hh, $vmpath) = @_;

my $err;

my $handle;

($err, $handle) = VMOpen($hh, $vmpath);

mydie("Failed to open VM $vmpath", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

return $handle;

}

sub host_connect($$$$) {

my ($hostname, $port, $username, $password) = @_;

my $err;

my $handle;

($err, $handle) = HostConnect(VIX_API_VERSION,

VIX_SERVICEPROVIDER_VMWARE_SERVER,

$hostname, $port, $username, $password,

0, VIX_INVALID_HANDLE);

mydie("Connect Failed", $err) if $err != VIX_OK;

return $handle;

}

sub docommand($@) {

my ($command, @arglist) = @_;

if (lc($command) eq "start") {

$vmpath = shift(@arglist);