VMWare Command Line Cheet Sheet

List all registered VMs on the ESXi host:

vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms

Manipulate the power for a selected VM ( get the vmid from the list above):

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate VMID

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.shutdown VMID

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off VMID

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on VMID

List HBAs:

esxcli storage core adapter list

Rescan specific HBA:

esxcli storage core adapter rescan --adapter <vmkernel SCSI adapter name>

Rescan all HBAs:

esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all

List VMFS filesystems:

esxcli storage filesystem list

Register a VM form the CLI:

vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/VM_directory/VM_name.vmx

Reset VSphere Inventory database:

# service vmware-inventoryservice stop

# mv /storage/db/inventoryservice/data /storage/db/inventoryservice/data.old

# /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/inventoryservice/scripts/ds-invoke.sh -Dvim.logdir=/var/log/vmware/vpx/inventoryservice com.vmware.vim.dataservices.CreateDb /storage/db/inventoryservice/data changeme default changeme

# service vmware-inventoryservice start

# /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/inventoryservice-registration/vcregtool.sh -Dvim.logdir=/var/log/vmware/vpx/inventoryservice-registration com.vmware.vim.dataservices.vcregtool.RegisterVC -action register -lookupserviceurl https://vcenter_fqdn:7444/lookupservice/sdk -isurl https://vcenter_fqdn:10443 -vcurl https://vcenter_fqdn/sdk/vimService -vccert /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/rui.crt -vcprivkey /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/rui.key -vcinstancecfg /etc/vmware-vpx/instance.cfg -vcendpointsdir /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/endpoints -vcextensionsdir /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/extensions

# service vmware-vpxd restart

Network commands:

esxcli network nic list

esxcli network nic get -n vmnic0

esxcli network vswitch standard list

esxcli network ip interface ipv4

vmkping –I vmk1 10.10.10.1 – send ICMP request through vmk1 interface

esxcli system module get -m elxnet

esxcfg-module -g elxnet

esxcli elxnet stats get -p 0

Other commands:

/etc/init.d/vpxa restart – restart vCenter Agent on host

cat /etc/chkconfig.db – view current running status of all ESXi services

vmkfstools –i test.vmdk testclone.vmdk – clones test.vmdk

esxtop - Like top, with vmware specific information

vscsiStats - VMWare specific SCSI stats

dcui - console menu prompt (reconfigure management interface, etc)

vm-support - create a support bundle

vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter - enter maintenance mode