Building a Super Bash Script for Nutanix in Enterprise Environments

Introduction

In enterprise environments, admins require a consolidated script that executes multiple Nutanix operational tasks safely and consistently. This article presents a production-grade “super script” that consolidates health checks, VM inventory, snapshot rotation, and alert generation, suited for daily use in mission-critical deployments.

My Personal Repository on GitHub

Nutanix Repository on GitHub

Diagram: Super Script Flow

Script Design Goals

• Modular: Easy to add/remove functions
• Logged: Full audit trail
• Alerting: On failures, warnings, or anomalies
• Secure: Handles credentials and outputs responsibly
• Maintainable: Uses functions, configs, and safe patterns

Super Bash Script: nutanix_ops_master.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

log="/var/log/nutanix_ops_$(date +%F).log"
warn_days=30
host="ntx-prism.example.com"
report_recipient="ops@example.com"

header() { echo "========== $1 =========="; }

cluster_health_check() {
  header "CLUSTER HEALTH"
  ncli cluster get-health
}

vm_inventory_report() {
  header "VM INVENTORY"
  ncli vm list | grep -E "Name|Power State"
}

snapshot_rotation() {
  header "SNAPSHOT ROTATION"
  vms=("web01" "db01")
  for vm in "${vms[@]}"; do
    snap_name="${vm}_snap_$(date +%Y%m%d)"
    acli vm.snapshot_create "$vm" snapshot_name="$snap_name"
    snaps=$(acli vm.snapshot_list "$vm" | awk 'NR>2 {print $1}' | sort)
    [[ $(echo "$snaps" | wc -l) -gt 3 ]] && {
      echo "$snaps" | head -n -3 | while read old; do
        acli vm.snapshot_delete "$vm" snapshot_name="$old"
      done
    }
  done
}

cert_expiry_check() {
  header "CERTIFICATE EXPIRY"
  expiry_date=$(echo | openssl s_client -connect "${host}:9440" -servername "$host" 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -enddate | cut -d= -f2)
  days_left=$(( ( $(date -d "$expiry_date" +%s) - $(date +%s) ) / 86400 ))
  echo "Cert expires in $days_left days"
  (( days_left < warn_days )) && echo "⚠️ Certificate expiring soon!" 
}

main() {
  {
    echo "Nutanix Daily Enterprise Ops Report - $(date)"
    cluster_health_check
    vm_inventory_report
    snapshot_rotation
    cert_expiry_check
  } >> "$log" 2>&1

  mailx -s "Nutanix Ops Dashboard $(date +%F)" "$report_recipient" < "$log"
}

main

Scheduling in Production

0 6 * * * /usr/local/bin/nutanix_ops_master.sh

Executes daily at 6:00 AM and emails the consolidated report to the ops team.

Customization Options

• Include VM memory and disk stats
• Add backup status from ncli
• Push metrics to Prometheus or Splunk
• Pull data from multiple clusters in loop

Summary

This all-in-one Nutanix script brings together critical operations into a single, repeatable, and secure daily runbook. It’s adaptable, audit-friendly, and ideal for enterprise environments requiring consistency across clusters.

External Documentation:

• Nutanix CLI Command Reference