Not able to move to the next loop of vm list - azure

Question

I have a code that starts VM's in batches. I am able to start vm's in batches. I am facing an issue here where ('*adds*','*DB*','*') are vm's containing the following wildcard names and need to be started in the following order.The script only starts the first list of vms with 'adds' and continues to restart it in loop it does not move to the next. Any help guys.
$bubbleName="VmList"
do{
$vname=#('*adds*','*DB*','*')
$i=0
Write-Host "Starting VM with "$vname[$i]
$vmList = Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $bubbleName -Name $vname[$i]
$batch = #{
Skip = 0
First = 2
}
do{
do{
foreach($vm in ($vmList | Select-Object #batch)){
$params = #($vm.Name, $vm.ResourceGroupName)
$job = Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
param($ComputerName,$serviceName)
Start-AzVM -Name $ComputerName -ResourceGroupName $serviceName
} -ArgumentList $params
}
Wait-Job -Job $job
Get-Job | Receive-Job
Write-Host $batch
$batch.Skip += 2
}
until($batch.skip -ge $vmList.count)
}while($job.state -ne "Completed")
$i++
}while($vname[$i] -ne $null)

Answer 1

You changed this a bit from an earlier (now deleted) version. However, I continued working on the old one and I'll share my thoughts.
If I understand correctly you want to start VMs in orders
*adds*
*db*
* (everything else)
Honestly, I think you're going about your loops are a little convoluted. If it were me, I'd sort the a list of all VMs according to the above order. Then code a single traditional for loop to start 2 at a time and use Wait-Job in the loop.
I don't have an Azure environment to test with but here are my notes from earlier:
Step 1: get the list in the order you need it. This will prevent the funky stuff you're doing with -First & -Skip:
# Example data, substituting for VM objects
$Objects =
#(
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "adds1" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "DB1" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "adds2" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "DB2" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "something" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "another" }
[PSCustomObject]#{ Name = "last" }
)
$Objects =
$Objects.Where( { $_.Name -match 'adds'} ) +
$Objects.Where( { $_.Name -match 'db'} ) +
$Objects.Where( { $_.Name -notmatch '(adds|db)'} )
Obviously this is a simulation that you'd have to adjust to your VMs. Maybe Objects will actually be defined by Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $bubbleName -Name *. At any rate, you should be able to get the VMs in the desired order.
Step 2: a loop to start 2 at a time, waiting for them to start before moving on to the next 2:
$Step = 1
# Note: 1 means 2 at a time, $i and $i+$Step, in this case 1.
# So the first iteration will work on index 0 & 1
# You can modify $Step to different size chunks.
For($i = 0; $i -lt $Objects.Count; ++$i )
{
$ii = $i + $Step
$Jobs =
$Objects[$i..$ii] |
ForEach-Object{
# Run the Start-Job commands against the appropriate machines
}
# Note: The assignment of $Jobs solves another problem. You were only waiting
# for the 2nd of the 2 jobs that were started. Now Wait-Job -Job $Job
# will be an array of jobs, which is allowed by the cmdlet without piping..
# Wait-Job -Job $Jobs
# ...
# I also didn't understand why one of the loops was conditioned on While
# $job.State -ne 'Completed'. Wait job should be enough and the above code
# assumed that.
# Reassign $i so when the loop increments naturally it's 1 past $ii.
# Effectively this chunks 2 elements per iteration.
$i = $ii
}
Again, I don't have the right environment to test all this. But conceptually this should be enough to get you through. I'm sorry about the variable renaming, but given the disadvantage, I had to hack my way through purely on concept.