Veeam 11 powershell module

[MJlee]

Is there a way to use Veeam 11 powershell module without installing Veeam console on my local machine? I'm on a Macbook and would like to connect to our Veeam server by using powershell.

[Natalia Lupacheva]

Hi Maojun,

Do you have powershell module installed on your Mac?
If yes - you can just connect VBR server and run whatever you need.
If no - you will have to install powershell module first.


If you don't want to install anything - I would say it's easier to connect to the target machine with RDP and run Powershell console on it.

Thanks!

[oleg.feoktistov]

Hi Maojun,

Besides the ps remoting option Natalia mentioned, there is no other way at the moment, I'm afraid. Our powershell module comes in one package with VBR console, so you cannot really just install it from powershell gallery like PowerCLI or else. Well, I mean, you could copy it to the machine, play around with .NET Core to make your Mac recognize the module manifest altogether with the bundle of dependant libraries, but it has never been tested, so even if it works out fine, I cannot, by any means, guarantee that you won't have bugs with the cmdlets itself, like problems with data serialization/deserealization and such. I do think though that it would be super cool to make our powershell module standalone and have this feature request noted for a while now.

Thanks,
Oleg

[MJlee]

Thanks Oleg, looking forward to see one day the Veeam powershell module can be standalone.

[timmi2704]

Hi all,

I was just wondering whether there is any update on this?
We did not give it a try yet, but was someone able to get this running fine?
Or was an official module package maybe already provided?

Thanks

[oleg.feoktistov]

Hi Timo,

An official standalone powershell module is still on a long run mainly because of two reasons:

- Microsoft removed snap-in support in Powershell Core (6.x and higher), which is one of the main reasons we need a module. But that would also require migrating our whole product to .NET Core and customizing classes missing in .NET Core to make it work.

- We would need to make sure every cmdlet works in a remote environment just with .NET libraries (without VBR console) and understand what additions to a backend code are needed if it doesn't.

While the second point is managable in terms of the nearest future, the first is definitely not a next or a post-next release solution.

Thanks,
Oleg

[Regnor]

@Oleg: Do you have any news or plans on this topic?
We want to inventory Veeam via Powershell with our documentation software. While remote Powershell would work, a standalone Powershell module which we could integrate would be much more convenient.

[oleg.feoktistov]

No news on this topic right now. Our plan is to take one step at a time and support Powershell Core first. Thanks!

[Regnor]

Then we'll have to go with Powershell remoting for now. I tried to export/extract the module but I would only get from one error to the next.
Thanks anyway.

[JuggerMouse]

@Regnor - pardon me if I'm stating the obvious but just installing the console where you want to execute your scripts from would keep you from remoting but connect to VBR directly.

@Oleg - I understand the challenges and I'm not a developer. It would be an excellent addition to have the package separated though.

[Regnor]

@JuggerMouse: Thanks for the hint. I know that installing the console will work, but this isn't a good solution for a large scale or for bundling with a 3rd party software. Installing/importing a Powershell module would be much more convinient.