From 201e579d851280d92861893c8a42898f43a4decc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Charlie Silverman <ackitsme3@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:50:36 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Create VMFolderTools.ps1

---
 vSphere Tools/VMFolderTools.ps1 | 303 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 303 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 vSphere Tools/VMFolderTools.ps1

diff --git a/vSphere Tools/VMFolderTools.ps1 b/vSphere Tools/VMFolderTools.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7cda57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vSphere Tools/VMFolderTools.ps1	
@@ -0,0 +1,303 @@
+param (
+	[string]$vCenter = "",
+	[string]$datafile = "",
+	[switch]$backup = $false,
+	[switch]$restore = $false,
+	[switch]$savecred = $false,
+	[switch]$help = $false
+)
+
+$fileVersion = "2.0.0"
+$fileDate = "2025-09-29"
+
+function ConnectVcenter {
+	try {
+		if ((Test-Path -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\VMFolderTools-${vCenter}.cred" -PathType Leaf) -and (-not $savecred)) {
+			Write-Host "Using stored credentials for $vCenter."
+			$cred = Import-CliXML -path "$env:USERPROFILE\VMFolderTools-${vCenter}.cred"
+		} else {
+			$cred = Get-Credential -Message "Enter credentials for vCenter $vCenter"
+		}
+		Write-Host "Connecting to vCenter server $vCenter..." -NoNewLine
+		$vcServer = connect-viserver $vCenter -credential $cred -ErrorAction Stop
+		Write-Host " Success" -ForegroundColor Green
+	} catch {
+		Write-Host " Failure" -ForegroundColor Red
+		Write-Host "ERROR:  Invalid credentials"
+		exit
+	}
+	if ($savecred) {
+		Write-Host "Storing credentials for $vCenter."
+		$cred | Export-CliXML -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\VMFolderTools-${vCenter}.cred"
+	}
+}
+
+function BackupFolderStructure {
+	New-VIProperty -Name 'FolderPath' -ObjectType 'VirtualMachine' -Value {
+		param($vm)
+
+		function Get-ParentName{
+			param($object)
+
+			if($object.Folder){
+				$blue = Get-ParentName $object.Folder
+				$name = $object.Folder.Name
+			}
+			elseif($object.Parent -and $object.Parent.GetType().Name -like "Folder*"){
+				$blue = Get-ParentName $object.Parent
+				$name = $object.Parent.Name
+			}
+			elseif($object.ParentFolder){
+				$blue = Get-ParentName $object.ParentFolder
+				$name = $object.ParentFolder.Name
+			}
+			if("vm","Datacenters" -notcontains $name){
+				$blue + "/" + $name
+			}
+			else{
+				$blue
+			}
+		}
+
+		(Get-ParentName $vm).Remove(0,1)
+	} -Force | Out-Null
+
+	ConnectVcenter
+
+	while ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($datacenter)) {
+		Write-Host "`n`nSelect datacenter:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+		$datacenters =  Get-Datacenter  -Server $vcServer | sort-object -property Name
+		$counter = 1
+		foreach ($dc in $datacenters) {
+			$dcName = $dc.Name
+			Write-host -NoNewLine "${counter}" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+			Write-Host ": $dcName" -ForegroundColor Green
+			++$counter
+		}
+		try {
+			$dcNum = [int](Read-Host "`nSelection")
+		} catch {
+			$dcNum = 0
+		}
+		if (($dcNum -ne 0) -and ($dcNum -le $datacenters.Length)) {
+			$datacenter = $datacenters[$dcnum - 1]
+		}
+	}
+
+	$dcName = $datacenter.Name
+
+	$clusterlist = Get-Datacenter $datacenter | Get-Cluster | sort-object -property Name
+
+	Write-Host "--------------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor White
+	while($true) {
+		Write-Host "`n`nSelect cluster to inventory:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+		$counter = 1
+		for($counter = 1; $counter -le $clusterlist.Length; ++$counter) {
+			$cluster = $clusterlist[$counter-1]
+			$clusterName = $cluster.Name
+			Write-host -NoNewLine "${counter}" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+			Write-Host ": $clusterName" -ForegroundColor Green
+		}
+		Write-Host -NoNewLine "$counter" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+		Write-Host ": All Clusters" -ForegroundColor Green
+		try {
+			$clusterNum = [int](Read-Host "`nSelection")
+		} catch {
+			$clusterNum = 0
+		}
+		if (($clusterNum -ne 0) -and ($clusterNum -le $clusterlist.Length + 1)) {
+			$clusters = @()
+			if ($clusterNum -eq $counter) {
+				$clusters = $clusterlist
+				break
+			} else {
+				$cluster = $clusterlist[$clusterNum - 1]
+				$clusters += $cluster
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	Write-Host "`n`nProcessing..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+
+	$vmdata = [PSCustomObject]@{"vCenter" = $vCenter}
+	$vmdata | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Clusters" -Value @()
+
+	foreach ($cluster in $clusters) {
+		$clusterName = $cluster.Name
+		Write-Host "Gathering folder inventory for cluster $clusterName"
+		$myhosts = $cluster | get-VMHost
+		if ($myhosts.Count -lt 1) { 
+			continue
+		}
+		$mydatacenter = ($myhosts[0] | get-datacenter).Name
+		$vmlist = Get-VM -Location (Get-Cluster $cluster) | Select Name, @{Label="VMHost";Expression={$_.VMHost.Name}}, FolderPath
+		$thiscluster = [PSCustomObject]@{Name="$clusterName";Datacenter="$mydatacenter"}
+		$thiscluster | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "VMs" -Value $vmlist
+		$vmdata.Clusters += $thiscluster
+	}
+	
+	$jsonOutput = $vmdata | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 4 #-Compress
+	$cwd = (Get-Location).Path
+	$jsonOutput | Out-File -FilePath "$cwd\$clusterName-Folder.json"
+	
+	Write-Host "`nProcessing complete." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+	Write-Host "Files have been placed into the folder $cwd."
+	disconnect-viserver $vCenter -Confirm:$false
+}
+
+function RestoreFolderStructure {
+	ConnectVcenter
+
+	$newClusters = Get-Cluster -Server $vcServer | Sort-Object -Property Name
+	$newClusters
+	
+	$data = Get-Content $datafile | Out-String | ConvertFrom-Json
+	
+	$oldvc = $data.vCenter
+
+	$oldClusters = $data.Clusters
+	
+ 	while($true) {
+		Write-Host "`n`nSelect source cluster from ${oldvc}:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+		$counter = 1
+		for($counter = 1; $counter -le $oldClusters.Length; ++$counter) {
+			$cluster = $oldClusters[$counter-1]
+			$clusterName = $cluster.Name
+			Write-host -NoNewLine "${counter}" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+			Write-Host ": $clusterName" -ForegroundColor Green
+		}
+		try {
+			$clusterNum = [int](Read-Host "`nSelection")
+		} catch {
+			$clusterNum = 0
+		}
+		if (($clusterNum -ne 0) -and ($clusterNum -le $oldClusters.Length)) {
+			$oldcluster = $oldClusters[$clusterNum - 1]
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	
+	$oldClusterName = $oldcluster.Name
+	$oldDC = $oldcluster.Datacenter
+
+	$newClusters
+	while($true) {
+		Write-Host "`n`nSelect destination cluster from ${vCenter}:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+		$counter = 1
+		for($counter = 1; $counter -le $newClusters.Length; ++$counter) {
+			$cluster = $newClusters[$counter-1]
+			$clusterName = $cluster.Name
+			Write-host -NoNewLine "${counter}" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+			Write-Host ": $clusterName" -ForegroundColor Green
+		}
+		try {
+			$clusterNum = [int](Read-Host "`nSelection")
+		} catch {
+			$clusterNum = 0
+		}
+		if (($clusterNum -ne 0) -and ($clusterNum -le $newClusters.Length)) {
+			$newcluster = $newClusters[$clusterNum - 1]
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	
+	$newClusterName = $newcluster.Name
+	$newDC = $newcluster | Get-Datacenter
+	
+	Write-Host "`n"
+	$clusterData = $oldcluster.VMs
+	
+	$clusterData | %{
+		$location = "vm"
+		$folderPath = $_.FolderPath
+		if ($folderpath -eq "") { 
+			$location = Get-Folder -Name "vm" -Server $vCenterenter -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue  | Select-Object -First 1
+			$folderpath = "/"
+		} else {
+			$_.FolderPath.TrimStart('/').Split('/') | %{
+				$tgtFolder = Get-Folder -Name $_ -Server $vCenterenter -Location $location -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -First 1
+				if(!$tgtFolder){
+					$location = New-Folder -Name $_  -Server $vCenterenter -Location $location
+				}
+				else{
+					$location = $tgtFolder
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		
+		try {
+			$vmName = $_.Name
+			$thisVM = Get-VM $vmName -Server $vCenterenter -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+			if ($thisVM -and (($thisVM.Folder | Select-Object -First 1).Name -ne $location.Name)) {
+				Write-Host -NoNewLine "Moving VM $vmName to folder $folderPath..."
+				$result = Move-VM -VM $thisVM -InventoryLocation $location -Confirm:$false
+				Write-Host " Success" -ForegroundColor Green
+			} else {
+				If (($thisVM.Folder | Select-Object -First 1).Name -eq $location.Name) {
+					Write-Host "VM $vmName does not need to be moved."
+				} else {
+					Write-Host "VM $vmName cannot be found in this Datacenter"
+				}
+			}
+		} catch {
+			Write-Host "Failure" -ForegroundColor Red
+			Write-Host "ERROR:  Unable to move VM $vmName"
+		}
+	}		
+	disconnect-viserver $vCenter -Confirm:$false
+}
+
+Write-Host "--------------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor White
+Write-Host "vSphere VM Folder Structure Backup/Restore Utility" -ForegroundColor Green
+Write-Host "Version ${FileVersion} (${FileDate})" -ForegroundColor Green
+Write-Host "Written by Charlie Silverman" -ForegroundColor Green
+Write-Host "--------------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor White
+
+if ($backup) { $cmdoption = "backup" }
+if ($restore) { $cmdoption = "restore" }
+if ($help) { $cmdoption = "backup" }
+
+switch($cmdoption) {
+	"help" {
+		Write-Host "Command Syntax:" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host 'VMFolderTools.ps1 -oldvc="VCURI" [-$vCenter="VCURI"] -backup/-restore/-help [-savecred]' -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host ""
+		Write-Host "Command line options:" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "---------------------" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-$vCenter - Specify the URI for the appropriate vCenter server" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-backup   - Backup folder structure to CSV" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-restore  - Restore folder structure from CSV" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-datafile - Specify the path to a file created with a backup process" -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-savecred - Save Credentials.  If credentials were previously saved and this option is not selected," -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "            they will be used." -ForegroundColor Green
+		Write-Host "-help     - Show this help information." -ForegroundColor Green
+		exit
+	}
+	"backup" {
+		if ($vCenter -eq "") {
+			Write-Host "ERROR:  vCenter not specified." -ForegroundColor Red
+			exit
+		}
+		BackupFolderStructure
+	}
+	"restore" {
+		if ($vCenter -eq "") {
+			Write-Host "ERROR:  vCenter not specified." -ForegroundColor Red
+			exit
+		}
+		if ($datafile -eq "") {
+			Write-Host "ERROR:  Data file not specified." -ForegroundColor Red
+			exit
+		} else {
+			if (-not (Test-Path -Path $datafile)) {
+				Write-Host "ERROR:  Data file specified (${datafile}) does not exist." -ForegroundColor Red
+				exit
+			}
+		}
+		RestoreFolderStructure
+	}
+	default {
+		Write-Host "ERROR:  Command option not specified." -ForegroundColor Red
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file