How do I use node_load() with an array as first parameter?
The equivalent of $values = array('title' =&gt; $vcenter_name, 'type' =&gt; 'vcenter'); $nodes = node_load($values); for Drupal 8 is entity_load_multiple_by_properties(), whose first parameter is the entity type, differently from node_load().

Since entity_load_multiple_by_properties($entity_type, array $values) is deprecated, you should use the following code.

$nodes = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()
  -&gt;getStorage('node')
  -&gt;loadByProperties($values);