Automate your infrastructure with the HPE Combined PowerShell toolkit

[mhardi01]

The HPE Hybrid Cloud team has updated their Combined PowerShell toolkit, with updated commands and broadened product support, along with a growing set of demo videos showing best practices for using the expanded set of scripts. The latest version of the toolkit is available now through the My HPE Software Center.

PowerShell has continued to be an important means of managing and automating Microsoft environments, and HPE continues to invest in maintaining currency and innovation in their infrastructure toolkits.

IT admin automates Storage infrastructure with PowerShell

HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit: the fix for infrastructure automation

There’s a new version of the HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit available for free download today. Version 4.0 has just released, which covers the HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000, HPE Alletra 9000, HPE Alletra 6000, HPE Alletra 5000, Primera, HPE 3PAR, HPE Nimble Storage, and HPE MSA series storage arrays.

The toolkit software itself is actually a set of toolkits combined into a single download package with separate files to cover different generations of storage arrays. The process of installing the toolkit will connect to the given array type and then load the commands specific to that type of array.

This recent release involved updating hundreds of commands, correcting parameters, removing duplicate or depreciated commands, fixing bugs, and streamlining operations. It’s been updated and the signed code and is available for free through GitHub and the HPE software page.

These commands were tested against PowerShell version 7.x. If you run into problems, consider downloading PowerShell 7.x and run the commands in that version.

Writing the script on IT infrastructure administration

PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation solution made up of a command-line shell, a scripting language, and a configuration management framework. It was initially developed for Windows, titled “Windows PowerShell”, but has since become open-source and cross-platform with the introduction of PowerShell Core.

Along with the bringing the general benefits of automation, the benefits of using PowerShell include consistency, modular code, documentation, and having an audit trail.

Key aspects of PowerShell include:

• Command-Line Shell - provides an interactive environment for executing commands and scripts
• Scripting Language - allows users to write scripts to automate repetitive tasks
• .NET Objects - works with .NET objects rather than plain text, enabling more complex operations
• Modules - supports modules that extend its functionality
• Cross-Platform - available on Windows, macOS, Linux
• Automation - widely used for system administration, task automation and configuration management
• PowerShell Gallery - central repository for sharing and acquiring PowerShell code, including modules, scripts, and DSC resources

PowerShell is updated regularly, with the latest version being PowerShell 7.5.0 as of April 2025. It is not installed by default on Windows, and it needs to be installed manually.

PowerShell best practices: watch and learn

Along with the new code, a series of new demo videos are being recorded and published to youtube. The series begins with a comparison of the new and old versions, with a focus on the get-help feature. It continues with guidance on how to import Certificates from the target arrays to allow for secure communication. Other videos demonstrate running key new features of the toolkit.

This demo series is currently being published to the Chris Lionetti channel on youtube -- watch the new version 4.0 sessions being published here: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisLionetti

See the updated PowerShell toolkit in action today

HPE Hybrid Cloud infrastructure customers running Windows will realize administrative cost savings through automating tasks with our free PowerShell toolkits.

Using PowerShell brings with it the benefits of automation, and this latest version of the HPE Combined PowerShell toolkit addresses past issues, and provides a unified scripting experience across all HPE Storage systems with a consistent look and feel for a range of automation scripts, within a single download package.

Get the signed software for free on the HPE Software Center.