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InstallAware for Windows Installer
 

Virtual Machine Testing from the Command Line

InstallAware includes a command line virtual machine testing utility which you may use in batch files, automated build processes, or just plain from the command line. The utility is invoked as follows:

iavmtool.exe [/?] /t [/h] [/u] [/p] -options -cmd:<command <parameters>>

/?
             Display command line help
/t
             Host Type, required
             1: VMware Workstation
             2: VMware ESX/ESXi
             3: Microsoft Hyper-V
/h
             Host server name, required when connecting to a virtual machine server
/u
             Server user account name, required when connecting to a virtual machine server
/p      
             Server user password, required when connecting to a virtual machine server

Options:

-VmName      
             Virtual Machine name, designating the target virtual machine
-Snapshot      
             Snapshot name, from those available with the target virtual machine

Commands:
        
GetVms      
             List the names of the virtual machines available on the virtual machine server
GetSnapshots      
             List the names of the snapshots available with the target virtual machine
on
             Turn on the target virtual machine
off
             Turn off the target virtual machine
copy
             Copy specified file to the target virtual machine
             Mandatory copy Parameters (comma separated):
             a. Guest operating system user name
             b. Guest operating system password
             c. Host operating system source file path
             d. Guest operating system target path
             All mandatory copy command parameters must be supplied using the exact ordering above.
run
             Run specified file inside the target virtual machine
             Mandatory run Parameters (comma separated):
             a. Guest operating system user name
             b. Guest operating system password
             c. Guest operating system file path
             All mandatory run command parameters must be supplied using the exact ordering above.
             Optional run Parameters (must be supplied after mandatory parameters):
             d. wait: Wait for completion, prepend with a comma when supplied
             e. Command line parameters, prepend with a space when supplied, must always be the last parameter

The command line virtual machine testing utility returns the following codes to indicate success/failure:

  • 0: Operation completed successfully.
  • 100: Operation failed
  • 101: User cancelled operation
  • 105: Access denied
  • 106: Incorrect password
  • 110: Unable to connect to host server
  • 114: Guest command line error
  • 115: Guest sevice failure (Microsoft Hyper-V only)
  • 120: Guest not found
  • 121: Guest state error
  • 122: Snapshot not found
  • 125: Guest or integration tools missing
  • 140: Interactive user session missing
  • 200: Invalid path
  • 205: Path create error
  • 210: File not found
  • 211: Path not found
  • 212: File access error
  • 213: Invalid file or path name

Options

VmName

Refers to the virtual machine ID for a Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine.

Refers to the full path of the VMX file associated with the virtual machine for a VMware virtual machine.

Snapshot

Refers to the snapshot ID for a Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine.

Refers to the snapshot name for a VMware virtual machine.

Commands

GetVms

This command is only supported on Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware ESX/ESXi platforms. It returns either the virtual machine IDs or the VMX file paths, respectively, based on the platform being queried.

GetSnapshots

When used on a Microsoft Hyper-V platform, this command returns snapshot IDs, together with corresponding names, and snapshot ID's for parent snapshots. The returned list of snapshots is ordered by snapshot creation dates.

When used on a VMware platform, this command returns user visible snapshot names as available in the target virtual machine. The returned list of snapshots is ordered by snapshot parents.

copy

This command copies a file to a target virtual machine. A working login to the virtual machine guest operating system target is required to successfully complete the copy.

Example

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVm -Snapshot:SnapOne cmd:copy testuser,password,"c:\betatesting\myapp.exe","c:\test"

This command waits for the completion of the copy process and returns an error code in the event of an error or failure. This command automatically creates the target guest operationg system path if it doesn't already exist. This command automatically turns in the target virtual machine if it is in a powered off state.

This command does not reset the target virtual machine snapshit once the copy process is completed, and the virtual machine is left powered on.

run

This command runs a program inside the target guest virtual machine operating system. The program to run must have already been copied to the target guest virtual machine operating system using the copy command. A working login to the virtual machine guest operating system target is required to successfully complete program execution.


Examples


iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVm -Snapshot:SnapOne cmd:run testuser,password,"c:\test\myapp.exe"

This example runs c:\test\myapp.exe inside the guest virtual machine operating system. It does not include any optional arguments to pass to the program and it does not wait for program completion.

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVm -Snapshot:SnapOne cmd:run testuser,password,"c:\test\myapp.exe",wait

This second example runs c:\test\myapp.exe inside the guest virtual machine operating system. It does not specify any optional arguments to pass to the program. It does wait for program completion and returns the error code reported by the program.

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVm -Snapshot:SnapOne cmd:run testuser,password,"c:\test\myapp.exe",wait "arguments"

This third example runs c:\test\myapp.exe inside the guest virtual machine operating system. It specifies optional command line parameters for the program being run. It does wait for the completion of the program being run, and returns the execution result.

The command automatically turns on the specified guest virtual machine if it is not already powered on. This command does not reset the virtual machine snapshot once it completes the run process, and the target virtual machine is left powered on.

Double quotes do not need to be escaped with this command, since commas are used as delimiters instead of double quotes.

Please enclose your entire command line parameter in double quotes if it contains more than one argument, or spaces in any one of its arguments.

VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V Virtual Machine Requirements

The following requirements apply to all VMware Workstation, VMware vSphere, and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines used with this tool:

  • Guest tools or integration tools must be installed in the guest operating system.
  • The guest operating system must be on the same network as the host operating system.
  • A password protected user account must be defined on the guest operating system for tests to be run under.

Supported Operating Systems

  • Windows XP 32 bit: Service Pack 3 or higher.
  • Windows XP 64 bit, Windows Server 2003 32 bit, Windows Server 2003 64 bit, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (both 32 and 64 bit): Service Pack 2 or higher.
  • Newer Windows Versions: No service packs are necessary.

Supported Virtual Machine Platforms

  • VMware: Workstation 8 and higher.
  • VMware Server: vSphere 5.5 and higher.
  • Microsoft Hyper-V: Versions 2.x and higher.

Microsoft Hyper-V Requirement

You must install the InstallAware Hyper-V Tool inside the guest operating system before using this tool.

This tool is supplied inside your main InstallAware installation folder as Hyper-V.exe.

You may also manually undertake the following steps to configure your Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines for use with the command line virtual machine testing utility without using the InstallAware Hyper-V Tool:

  1. Click Start, choose Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
  2. Locate and then select the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
  3. If the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry entry does not already exist, then follow these steps:
    On the Edit menu, point to New, and then choose DWORD Value.
    Type LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy, and then press ENTER.
  4. Right-click the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy value, and then choose Modify.
    In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Examples

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVM cmd:copy guestUser,guestPassword,"c:\testing files\setup.exe",c:\temp\setup.exe

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVM -Snapshot:MySnap cmd:run guestUser,guestPassword,c:\temp\setup.exe

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVM -Snapshot:MySnap cmd:run guestUser,guestPassword,c:\temp\setup.exe,wait "parameter1 parameter 2"

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVM -Snapshot:MySnap cmd:run guestUser,guestPassword,c:\temp\setup.exe "parameter1 parameter 2"

iavmtool.exe /t 1 -VmName:MyVM cmd:GetSnapshots

 Notes

  • The command line virtual machine testing tool is not available with the InstallAware Express edition.
  • The command line virtual machine testing tool is not included in a minimum installation of InstallAware.