Troubleshooting Invoke-VMScript Failures During Guest OS Onboarding in Aria Automation

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

When onboarding new operating system versions into VMware Aria Automation to deploy through a blueprint, workflows that rely on Invoke-VMScript may fail. This is commonly observed in Salt integration ABX actions or other automation scripts executed against the guest OS.

Environment

VMware Aria Automation 8.x

Windows Server 20xx

Linux distributions

PowerShell-based Invoke-VMScript functions

Salt Integration and ABX actions

Cause

• The guest OS lacks the required credentials for the automation user attempting to execute Invoke-VMScript.
• Newly added OS templates may not have the same pre-configured user settings as previously deployed OS versions.
• The automation user does not have sufficient permissions to execute remote scripts via PowerShell inside the guest OS.

Note: The examples used below reference PowerShell for Windows versions but applies similarly to Linux/Unix with bash or python.

Resolution

Ensure Guest Credentials Are Configured in the VM Template:

• • Before deploying a new OS version, add the automation user to the OS image with the correct permissions.
  • Verify that the user has the ability to run remote PowerShell scripts inside the guest OS.

Validate Permissions for Invoke-VMScript Execution:

• • Run a manual test using PowerShell inside the guest VM to confirm that Invoke-VMScript can execute successfully.
  • Ensure that UAC policies or security restrictions are not blocking execution.

Check Automation Logs for Errors:

• • Review logs in Aria Automation (cgs-service-app.log) for any errors related to missing parameters for Invoke-VMScript.
    Action run failed with the following error: "02/27/2025 01:28:17\tInvoke-VMScript\t\tValue cannot be found for the mandatory parameter VM\t"]
  • If necessary, update the automation workflow to include the correct credentials or retry deployment with the updated OS template.

Additional Considerations:

• This issue is more likely to occur when introducing new OS images into Aria Automation.
• Configurations that worked with previous OS versions may not apply to newly created templates, requiring credential verification.
• If errors persist, verify that Salt minion installation and remote execution permissions are properly configured.