Azure VMs – Improving the Display XML

The cmdlets that come with Azure (all 508 of them) also come with a little bit of display XML. But as I play with the cmdlets, I find either the display XML non-existent or less than helpful. To that end, I've started developing some supplemental .format.ps1xml.

Today, I was playing with the output of Get-AzureVM. By default, the output looks like this:

I have taken the liberty of creating some new display XM, and with that output, Get-AzureVM now produces better looking (IMHO) output.

As you can see, there is some more information (including IP address, FQDN) that is useful when you are troubleshooting.

To get the display XML, take a look at http://pshscripts.blogspot.com/2015/01/azurevmformatps1xml.html and there you can grab the screen, save it in a local file, then use Update-FormatData to load it.

It's kind of cool to be able to improve released cmdlet sets! I wonder if anyone from the Azure team reads this. If so, you guys are welcome to the  XML!

del.icio.us Tags: AzureVM,Display XML,Azure,Powerhell