Are you a VMware administrator? Have you ever needed to quickly view and export virtual machine settings from your vSphere environment? Perhaps you needed to view ESX host configurations to better understand processor types, memory utilization, or NIC configuration.
Would it help if you were able to export your entire virtual machine inventory into a spreadsheet, including settings? Datastores? vSwitches? If you are a VMware administrator, then you have already answered yes.
RVTools is a FREE utility that does all of that and much, much more. Developed in 2008 by Rob de Veij, RVTools is an amazingly simple, yet powerful utility to have on hand.
This utility has enabled me to understand a customer's virtual environment within a matter of seconds, eliminating the need for numerous meetings with VMware administrators. You know the meetings I mean; they’re the ones where you interrogate the administrators with endless questions about their environment just to get a better understanding of their virtual datacenter.
RVTools is a very simple and straight-forward utility to use. The download is small (about 6MB), installs in about 5 seconds, and runs in Windows. Once installed, simply open RVTools and point it to your vCenter server or ESXi host. Log in with your standard vSphere credentials and watch the data pour in. Once the export has completed, you can easily export into either Excel or CSV.
I strongly encourage you to check out RVTools. If for no other reason, run it once and export the data and include it with your disaster recovery plan. Think of it as a blueprint to rebuild your virtual datacenter.
About the author
Matt Cadwell is a Virtualization Systems and Storage Architect for LRS IT Solutions. As a VMware Certified Professional for more than 11 years, Matt has implemented countless new VMware environments, in addition to migrations, consolidations, and conversions. His experience spans government, manufacturing, financial services, and other industries.