Recently, I decided to try to determine if there was a way to manage Altaro VM Backup with PowerShell. I figured there must be some database, files, or something that I could at least query with PowerShell.
What I found is Altaro has a RESTful API and they have numerous PowerShell scripts for working with it. In Altaro version 7, there are 33 PowerShell scripts located in the “C:\Program Files\Altaro\Altaro Backup\Cmdlets” folder if you took the defaults during the installation, otherwise they’re wherever you installed Altaro. Altaro has a blog article on their website announcing the API in March of 2016.
After taking a look at Altaro’s PowerShell scripts, I decided not to use them. I started writing my own PowerShell module with functions for working with their API.
Although their API has a limitation that it only works locally on the actual Altaro VM Backup server, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use it with PowerShell remoting. Working remotely is always better from a manageability standpoint since using remote desktop to connect to the server only to run PowerShell on it locally defeats the whole purpose of using PowerShell.
I’ll start out by storing my credentials in a variable named Cred:
1 | $Cred = Get-Credential |
Use one-to-one remoting to access my Altaro VM Backup server:
1 | Enter-PSSession -ComputerName mr101 -Credential $Cred |
The Altaro API service is disabled by default. Set it to start automatically and then start the service:
1 2 3 | Get-Service -DisplayName 'Altaro VM Backup API Service' | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic -PassThru | Start-Service -PassThru |
The Start-MrAltaroSession function shown in the following code example is used to start a session with the API on an Altaro VM Backup server:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 | #Requires -Version 3.0 function Start-MrAltaroSession { <# .SYNOPSIS Starts a new session with the RESTful API of an Altaro VM Backup server. .DESCRIPTION Start-MrAltaroSession is an advanced function that starts a new session with the RESTful API of an Altaro VM Backup server. In it current interation, the Altaro RESTful API can only be used locally on the Altaro VM Backup server. .PARAMETER ComputerName Name of the Altaro VM Backup server. The default is localhost. Currently, the Altaro API only works with localhost. $env:COMPUTERNAME or the actual computer name does not work. .PARAMETER Port Port number that the Altaro VM Backup API is listening on. The default is 35113. .PARAMETER Credential The credentials for connecting to the Altaro VM Backup API. .EXAMPLE Start-MrAltaroSession -Credential (Get-Credential) .EXAMPLE Start-MrAltaroSession -ComputerName localhost -Credential (Get-Credential) .EXAMPLE Start-MrAltaroSession -ComputerName localhost -Port 35113 -Credential (Get-Credential) .INPUTS None .OUTPUTS PSCustomObject .NOTES Author: Mike F Robbins Website: http://mikefrobbins.com Twitter: @mikefrobbins #> [CmdletBinding()] param ( [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [Alias('ServerName')] [string]$ComputerName = 'localhost', [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [int]$Port = 35113, [Parameter(Mandatory)] [System.Management.Automation.Credential()]$Credential ) $Uri = "http://$ComputerName`:$Port/api/sessions/start" $Body = @{ ServerAddress = $ComputerName ServerPort = '35107' Username = $Credential.UserName -replace '^.*\\' Password = $Credential.GetNetworkCredential().Password Domain = $Credential.UserName -replace '\\.*$' } | ConvertTo-Json try { $Results = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $uri -Method Post -ContentType 'application/json' -Body $Body } catch { Write-Error -Message "Unable to connect to Altaro API at: $Uri" } if ($Results.Success -eq $true) { [PSCustomObject]@{ SessionId = [guid]$Results.Data } } elseif ($Results.Success -eq $false) { Write-Error -Message "$($Results.ErrorMessage). Error Code: $($Results.ErrorCode). $($Results.ErrorAdditionalDetails)" } } |
From this point forward, I can use the Using variable scope modifier with the credentials I stored in the local variable named Cred on the remote server.
Use the Start-MrAltaroSession function to start a new session with the API:
1 | Start-MrAltaroSession -Credential $Using:Cred |
Errors are returned as an actual error:
1 | Start-MrAltaroSession -Credential $Using:Cred |
The Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus function is used to retrieve the status of operations that are currently running:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 | #Requires -Version 3.0 function Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus { <# .SYNOPSIS Retrieves the status and progress for Altaro VM Backup jobs which are currently running. .DESCRIPTION Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus is an advanced function that retrieves the status and progress for Altaro VM Backup jobs (backups, offsite copies, restores, seed to disks) which are currently running. .PARAMETER ComputerName Name of the Altaro VM Backup server. The default is localhost. Currently, the Altaro API only works with localhost. $env:COMPUTERNAME or the actual computer name does not work. .PARAMETER Port Port number that the Altaro VM Backup API is listening on. The default is 35113. .PARAMETER SessionId The Id in the form of a GUID for the sesison created by Start-MrAltaroSession. .PARAMETER OperationId The Id in the form of a GUID for the specific operation to return results for. .EXAMPLE Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus -SessionId b3019809-cfbe-4ac6-93df-a24c91b5b28e .EXAMPLE Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus -SessionId b3019809-cfbe-4ac6-93df-a24c91b5b28e -OperationId 1351d928-0391-4a45-8d5a-ae4b806bea66 .EXAMPLE Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus -ComputerName localhost -Port 35113 -SessionId b3019809-cfbe-4ac6-93df-a24c91b5b28e .INPUTS Guid .OUTPUTS PSCustomObject .NOTES Author: Mike F Robbins Website: http://mikefrobbins.com Twitter: @mikefrobbins #> [CmdletBinding()] param ( [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [Alias('ServerName')] [string]$ComputerName = 'localhost', [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [int]$Port = 35113, [Parameter(Mandatory, ValueFromPipeline, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)] [guid]$SessionId, [guid]$OperationId ) PROCESS { $uri = "http://$ComputerName`:$Port/api/activity/operation-status/$SessionId" Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $uri -Method Get -ContentType 'application/json' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Statuses } } |
These include backups, offsite copies, restores, and seed to disks operations:
1 | Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus -SessionId fe0a7c65-1fab-474c-bf2f-4a2a2f8f2b89 |
You can also pipe Start-MrAltaroSession directly to Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus:
1 | Start-MrAltaroSession -Credential $Using:Cred | Get-MrAltaroOperationStatus |
The Stop-MrAltaroSession function gracefully closes out of one or more sessions that were previously opened:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 | #Requires -Version 3.0 function Stop-MrAltaroSession { <# .SYNOPSIS Stops one or more sessions with the RESTful API of an Altaro VM Backup server. .DESCRIPTION Stop-MrAltaroSession is an advanced function that stops one or more sessions with the RESTful API of an Altaro VM Backup server. In it current interation, the Altaro RESTful API can only be used locally on the Altaro VM Backup server. .PARAMETER ComputerName Name of the Altaro VM Backup server. The default is localhost. Currently, the Altaro API only works with localhost. $env:COMPUTERNAME or the actual computer name does not work. .PARAMETER Port Port number that the Altaro VM Backup API is listening on. The default is 35113. .PARAMETER SessionId The Id in the form of a GUID for the sesison created by Start-MrAltaroSession. .EXAMPLE Stop-MrAltaroSession .EXAMPLE Stop-MrAltaroSession -SessionId 6d2d22ef-06df-4bb0-976b-bb6a8b3f2683 .EXAMPLE Stop-MrAltaroSession -ComputerName localhost -Port 35113 -SessionId 66c09e7d-e10c-4608-b9cd-d35579784e70 .INPUTS None .OUTPUTS PSCustomObject .NOTES Author: Mike F Robbins Website: http://mikefrobbins.com Twitter: @mikefrobbins #> [CmdletBinding()] param ( [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [Alias('ServerName')] [string]$ComputerName = 'localhost', [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [int]$Port = 35113, [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)] [guid]$SessionId ) PROCESS { $uri = "http://$ComputerName`:$Port/api/sessions/end" if ($PSBoundParameters.SessionId){ $uri = "$uri/$SessionId" } try { $Results = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $uri -Method Post -ContentType 'application/json' } catch { Write-Error -Message "Unable to connect to Altaro API at: $Uri" } if ($Results.Success -eq $true -and $Results.ClosedSessions.SessionToken -ne $null) { foreach ($Result in $Results.ClosedSessions) { [PSCustomObject]@{ SessionId = [guid]$Result.SessionToken } } } elseif ($Results.Success -eq $true -and $Results.ClosedSessions.SessionToken -eq $null){ Write-Warning -Message 'There are no open sessions.' } elseif ($Results.Success -eq $false) { Write-Error -Message "$($Results.ErrorMessage). Error Code: $($Results.ErrorCode). $($Results.ErrorAdditionalDetails)" } } } |
It can be used to stop a single session. If multiple sessions existed, the SessionId parameter could be specified to stop a single session.
1 | Stop-MrAltaroSession |
By default, if multiple sessions exist, it stops all of them:
1 | Stop-MrAltaroSession |
A warning is returned if no sessions exist:
1 | Stop-MrAltaroSession |
The functions shown in this blog article are part of my MrAltaro PowerShell script module which can be downloaded from my Altaro repository on GitHub.
For more information about the Altaro RESTful API, see their documentation page.
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