Q: What VMware PowerCLI commands will create a datacenter and cluster, and then join hosts?

A: VMware PowerCLI is a command-line shell for executing Windows PowerShell scripts or commands against VMware ESX or ESXi servers. A separate installation, PowerCLI can be downloaded from VMware's site.

Four commands are necessary to connect to a vCenter server, create a datacenter and cluster, and then join hosts to the cluster. Those four commands, in order, are

Connect-VIServer –username -password

New-DataCenter –Location –Name

New-Cluster –Location -Name -DRSEnabled –DrsAutomationLevel FullyAutomated –HAEnabled –HAAdmissionControlEnabled

Add-VMHost -Location -Password

Note in the third command above that both DRS and HA are enabled for the created cluster, and that the DRS automation level is set to Fully Automated.