Do you enjoy reading huge piles of API documentation? Do you use wireshark to reverse-engineer wire protocols? Do you like using strace to figure out what the heck a program is doing?
Me neither, which is why I’m really excited about a little project we’ve been working on called “Project Onyx”. What exactly is Onyx? Quite simply, Onyx converts mouse clicks into PowerCLI scripts. Sort of like Excel’s macro record, except it’s for vSphere and doesn’t come with a stupid paper clip.
Does this sound like a tool you could use? We’re looking for a handful of dedicated people with a burning need for automation to help us get Onyx really solid. I would probably describe the tool as somewhere between alpha and pre-alpha and it’s a bit hard to set up at the moment, so we need people who are dedicated enough to work through the tough initial phases. Still it really is worth it. I’ve been working with vSphere API for about 3 years now and even I learned a lot by just toying around with Onyx.
So if you want to give Onyx a spin, here’s the deal. Come by session VM2241 at VMworld next week, and bring your business card. During the session we’ll be showing how to take scripts that Onyx generates and turn them into reusable bits of PowerShell code, that can be used in the pipeline with all the PowerCLI commands you know and love. There are two sessions, one on Tuesday at Noon and one on Tuesday at 5:30. Give us your card and we’ll pick 5 names from each session and give you first dibs on the raw power of Onyx. Enjoy the teaser video and hope to see you next week.
