Vmware Getting Started With VSphere Command Line Interfaces V Center Server 6.0 Sphere Esxi Vcenter 60 Interface Qg En

User Manual: vmware vCenter Server - 6.0 - Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces Free User Guide for VMware vCenter Software, Manual

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 46

Getting Started with vSphere

Command-Line Interfaces

ESXi 6.0

vCenter Server 6.0

This document supports the version of each product listed and

supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced

by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this

document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN--001469-00

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave.

Palo Alto, CA 94304

www.vmware.com

2VMware, Inc.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

docfeedback@vmware.com

Copyright © 2007–2015 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information

VMware, Inc. 3

Contents

AboutThisBook 5

1ManagingvSpherewithCommand‐LineInterfaces 7

OverviewofvSphereCommand‐LineInterfaces 8

UsingESXCLIforHostManagement 10

ESXCLISyntax 10

RunningESXCLIvCLICommands 10

ESXCLICommandSupportwhenHostandvCLIVersionDoNotMatch 11

UsingPowerCLItoManageHostsandVirtualMachines 11

UsingDCLItoManagevCenterServices 11

DCLISyntax 12

vCLIPackageContents 12

2InstallingvCLI 15

InstallationOverview 15

OverviewofLinuxInstallationProcess 16

InstallingthevCLIPackageonRedHatEnterpriseLinux 18

InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforRedHatEnterpriseLinux 18

InstallingthevCLIPackageonRHEL(NoInternetAccess) 18

InstallingvCLIonLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess 19

InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess 19

InstallingthevCLIPackageonaLinuxSystemwithInternetAccess 20

UninstallingthevCLIPackageonLinux 21

InstallingandUninstallingvCLIonWindows 21

UninstallingthevCLIPackageonWindows 22

EnablingCertificateVerification 22

DeployingvMA 22

3RunningHostManagementCommandsintheESXiShell 23

ESXiShellAccesswiththeDirectConsole 23

EnablingLocalESXiShellAccess 23

ESXiShellTimeout 24

UsingtheESXiShell 24

RemoteESXiShellAccesswithSSH 24

EnablingSSHfortheESXiShell 25

UsingtheESXiShellwithSSH 25

LockdownMode 26

RunningESXCLICommandsintheESXiShell 26

4RunningvCLIHostManagementCommands 27

OverviewofRunningvCLIHostManagementCommands 27

TargetingtheHostDirectly 27

TargetaHostThatisManagedbyavCenterServerSystem 28

ProtectingPasswords 28

OrderofPrecedenceforvCLIHostManagementCommands 29

AuthenticatingThroughvCenterServerandvCenterSingleSign‐On 29

Examples 29

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

4VMware, Inc.

AuthenticatingDirectlytotheHost 30

UsingaSessionFile 30

UsingEnvironmentVariables 30

UsingaConfigurationFile 31

UsingCommand‐LineOptions 31

UsingMicrosoftWindowsSecuritySupportProviderInterface 32

vCLIandLockdownMode 32

TrustRelationshipRequirementforESXCLICommands 33

DownloadingandInstallingthevCenterServerCertificate 33

Usingthe‐‐cacertsfileOption 33

Usingthe‐‐thumbprintOption 33

UsingtheCredentialStore 34

CommonOptionsforvCLIHostManagementCommandExecution 34

UsingvCLICommandsinScripts 36

RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaWindowsSystem 37

RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaLinuxSystem 37

5RunningDCLICommands 39

OverviewofRunningDCLICommands 39

DCLISyntax 40

DCLIOptions 40

RunningDCLICommands 41

DisplayingHelpInformationforDCLICommands 41

RunningDCLICommandsIncludedinthevCLIPackage 42

RunningDCLICommandsonthevCenterServerAppliance 42

UsingDCLIwithaCredentialStoreFile 42

OrderofPrecedenceforDCLIAuthentication 43

Input,Output,andReturnCodes 43

UsingDCLIwithVariables 43

DCLIHistoryFile 44

VMware, Inc. 5

GettingStartedwithvSphereCommand‐LineInterfacesgivesanoverviewofcommand‐lineinterfacesin

vSphere 5.0andlaterandgetsyoustartedwithESXiShellcommandsandvCLI(VMware®vSphere

Command‐LineInterface)commands.ThisbookalsoincludesinstructionsforinstallingvCLIandareference

toconnectionparameters.

Intended Audience

ThisbookisforexperiencedWindowsorLinuxsystemadministratorswhoarefamiliarwithvSphere

administrationtasksanddatacenteroperations.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMwareTechnicalPublicationsprovidesaglossaryoftermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.Fordefinitions

oftermsastheyareusedinVMwaretechnicaldocumentation,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Document Feedback

VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhavecomments,sendyour

feedbacktodocfeedback@vmware.com.

Related Documentation

ThedocumentationforvCLIisavailableinthevSphereDocumentationCenterandonthevCLI

documentationpage.Gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli.

Command‐LineManagementinvSphere5andvSphere6forServiceConsoleUsersisatechnicalnoteforusers

whoarecurrentlyusingESXserviceconsolecommands,scripts,agents,orlogs.Youlearnhowto

transitiontoanoff‐hostimplementationortousetheESXiShellinspecialcases.

vSphereCommand‐LineInterfaceConceptsandExamplespresentsusageexamplesformanyhost

managementcommands,andexplainshowtosetupsoftwareandhardwareiSCSI,addvirtualswitches,

placehostsinmaintenancemode,andsoon.ThedocumentincludesthesameexamplewiththeESXCLI

commandandwiththevicfg-command.

vSphereCommand‐LineInterfaceReferenceisareferencetobothESXCLIcommandsandvicfg-commands.

Thevicfg-commandhelpisgeneratedfromthePODavailableforeachcommand,runpod2htmlfor

anyvicfg-commandtogenerateindividualHTMLfilesinteractively.TheESXCLIreferenceinformation

isgeneratedfromtheESXCLIhelp.

DCLIReferenceisareferencetoDCLIcommandsformanagingvCenterservices.

ThedocumentationforPowerCLIisavailableinthevSphereDocumentationCenterandonthePowerCLI

documentationpage.

About This Book

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

6VMware, Inc.

ThevSphereSDKforPerldocumentationexplainshowyoucanusethevSphereSDKforPerlandrelated

utilityapplicationstomanageyourvSphereenvironment.

ThevSphereManagementAssistantGuideexplainshowtoinstallandusethevSphereManagementAssistant

(vMA).vMAisavirtualmachinethatincludesvCLIandotherprepackagedsoftware.See“DeployingvMA”

onpage 22.

BackgroundinformationforthetasksdiscussedinthisbookisavailableinthevSpheredocumentationset.The

vSpheredocumentationconsistsofthecombinedVMwarevCenterServerandESXidocumentation.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.Toaccessthecurrentversion

ofthisbookandotherbooks,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone Support

Touseonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductandcontractinformation,and

registeryourproducts,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support.

Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthefastestresponseon

priority1issues.Gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.

Support Offerings

TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto

http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Professional Services

VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehands‐onlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials

designedtobeusedason‐the‐jobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive

online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides

offeringsto helpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout

educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/services.

VMware, Inc. 7

1

vSpheresupportsseveralcommand‐lineinterfacesformanagingyourvirtualinfrastructureincludingasetof

ESXiShellcommands,PowerCLIcommands,andDCLIcommandsformanagementofvCenterservices.You

canruncommandslocally,fromanadministrationserver,orfromscripts.

YoucanchoosetheCLIbestsuitedforyourneeds,andwritescriptstoautomateyourmanagementtasks.

Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics:

“OverviewofvSphereCommand‐LineInterfaces”onpage 8

“UsingESXCLIforHostManagement”onpage 10

“UsingPowerCLItoManageHostsandVirtualMachines”onpage 11

“UsingDCLItoManagevCenterServices”onpage 11

“vCLIPackageContents”onpage 12

Managing vSphere with

Command-Line Interfaces

1

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

8VMware, Inc.

Overview of vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

vSphereincludescommandsformanagingdifferentaspectsofyourenvironment.ThefollowingCLIsare

availableformanaginghosts,eitherdirectlyorthroughthevCenterServersystemthatmanagesthehost.

Figure 1-1. vSphere CLIs for host management.

ThefollowingcommandsetsareavailableandarediscussedeitherinthismanualorotherVMware

documentation.

Command set Description See

ESXCLIcommands ManagemanyaspectsofanESXihost.YoucanrunESXCLI

commandsremotelyorintheESXiShell.

vCLIpackage.InstallthevCLIpackageontheserverofyour

choice,ordeployavMAvirtualmachineandtargettheESXi

systemthatyouwantmanipulate.YoucanrunESXCLI

commandsagainstavCenterServersystemandtargetthe

hostindirectly.RunningagainstvCenterServersystemsby

usingthe-vihostparameterisrequiredifthehostisin

lockdownmode.

ESXiShell.RunESXCLIcommandsinthelocalESXishell

tomanagethathost.

YoucanalsorunESXCLIcommandsfromthevSpherePowerCLI

promptbyusingtheGet-EsxClicmdlet.

“UsingESXCLIforHost

Management”onpage 10

“InstallingvCLI”on

page 15

vSphereCommand‐Line

ConceptsandExamples

vSphereManagement

AssistantGuide

vSphereCommand‐Line

InterfaceReference

vicfg-andother

vCLIcommands

Allowuserstomanagehostsremotely.InstallthevCLIpackage

onaWindowsorLinuxsystemordeployavMAvirtualmachine,

andtargettheESXisystemthatyouwantmanipulate.

YoucanrunthecommandsagainstESXisystemsoragainsta

vCenterServersystem.IfyoutargetavCenterServersystem,use

the--vihostoptiontospecifythetargetESXisystem.

Note:IftheESXisystemisinstrictlockdownmode,youmustrun

commandsagainstthevCenterServersystemthatmanagesyour

ESXisystem.

“InstallingvCLI”onpage 15

vSphereCommand‐Line

ConceptsandExamples

vSphereCommand‐Line

InterfaceReference

ESXi ESXi

vCenter Server

API

API API

ESXCLI

esxcfg-*

ESXCLI

esxcfg-*

Linux vSphere

Management

Assistant

Windows

vCLI

vicfg-*

ESXCLI

Others (esxtop, vimcmd, vsish, rvc...)

PowerCLI

VMware, Inc. 9

Chapter 1 Managing vSphere with Command-Line Interfaces

esxcfg-commands AvailableintheESXiShell.esxcfg-commandsarestillincluded

inthisreleasebutaredeprecated.MigratetoESXCLIwhere

possible.

Command‐LineManagement

ofvSphere5andvSphere6

forServiceConsoleUsers

DCLIcommands ManageVMwareSDDCservices.

DCLIisaCLIclienttothevCloudSuiteSDKinterfacefor

managingVMwareSDDCservices.ADCLIcommandtalkstoa

vCloudSuiteAPIendpointtolocaterelevantinformation,and

thenexecutesthecommandanddisplaysresulttotheuser.

YoucanrunDCLIcommandsasfollows.

vCenterServerappliance.RunDCLIcommandsfromthe

vCenterServerApplianceshell.See“RunningDCLI

CommandsonthevCenterServerAppliance”onpage 42.

vCenterServerWindowscommandprompt.InstallvCenter

ServeronasupportedWindowssystemandrunDCLI

commandsfromthecommandprompt.

vCLIpackage.

OpenacommandpromptonaLinuxorWindows

systemonwhichyouinstalledvCLI.Entercommands

intothatcommandprompt,specifyingconnection

options.See“RunningDCLICommands”onpage 41.

AccessthevMALinuxconsole.DCLIdoesnotsupport

thevi‐fastpassconnections.

PreparescriptsthatincludeDCLIcommandsandrunthe

scriptsasvCLIscriptsfromthevCenterServerWindows

commandpromptorfromthevCenterServerAppliance

shell.

“RunningDCLI

Commands”onpage 39

SeethevCloudSuiteSDK

documentationfor

informationabout

currentlysupported

servicesandhowthey

interact.

VMwarePowerCLI

cmdlets

VMwarevSpherePowerCLIprovidesaWindowsPowerShell

interfacetothevSphereAPI.vSpherePowerCLIincludes

PowerShellcmdletsforadministeringvSpherecomponents.

vSpherePowerCLIincludesmorethan370cmdlets,asetof

samplescripts,andafunctionlibraryformanagementand

automation.ThevSphereImageBuilderPowerCLIandthe

vSphereAutoDeployPowerCLIareincludedwhenyouinstall

vSpherePowerCLI.

VMwarePowerCLI

documentationset.

localclicommands SetofcommandsforusewithVMwareTechnicalSupport.

localclicommandsareequivalenttoESXCLIcommands,but

bypassthehostedaemon(hostd).Thelocalclicommandsare

onlyforsituationswhenhostdisunavailableandcannotbe

restarted.Afteryourunalocalclicommand,youmustrestart

hostd.RunESXCLIcommandsaftertherestart.

Warning:Ifyouusealocalclicommand,aninconsistent

systemstateandpotentialfailurecanresult.

pktcap-uwutility Enablesyoutomonitorthetrafficthatflowsthroughphysical

networkadapters,VMkerneladapters,andvirtualmachine

adapters,andtoanalyzethepacketinformationbyusing

conventionalnetworkanalysistoolssuchasWireshark.

vSphereNetworking

documentation

dir-cli

vecs-cli

certool

CommandsformanagingthevCenterSingleSign‐Onand

certificateinfrastructure.

vSphereSecurity

documentation

appliancesh EnablesyoutoconfigureandtroubleshootthevCenterServer

Applianceandtomonitortheprocessesandservicesrunningin

theappliance.

vCenterServerAppliance

Configuration

documentation

Command set Description See

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

10 VMware, Inc.

Using ESXCLI for Host Management

YoucanmanagemanyaspectsofanESXihostwithcommandsintheESXCLIcommandset.Youcanrun

ESXCLIcommandsasvCLIcommands,orrunthemintheESXiShellintroubleshootingsituations.

YoucanalsorunESXCLIcommandsfromthePowerCLIshellbyusingtheGet-EsxClicmdlet.SeethevSphere

PowerCLIAdministrationGuideandthevSpherePowerCLIReference.

ThesetofESXCLIcommandsthatareavailableonahostdependsonthehostconfiguration.ThevSphere

Command‐LineInterfaceReferencelistshelpinformationforallESXCLIcommands.Youcanrunesxcli

--server <MyESXi> --helpbeforeyourunacommandonahosttomakesurethatthecommandisdefined

onthehostyouaretargeting.

ESXCLI Syntax

EachESXCLIcommandusesthesamesyntax.

esxcli [dispatcher options] <namespace> [<namespace> ...] <cmd> [cmd options]

dispatcheroptions.Predefinedoptionsforconnectioninformationsuchastargethost,username,andso

on.SeeChapter 4,“RunningvCLIHostManagementCommands,”onpage 27.Notrequiredwhenyou

runthecommandintheESXiShell.IfthetargetserverisavCenterServersystem,specifythetargetESXi

hostbeforeanyESXCLInamespaces,commands,andsupportedoptions.

ManyESXCLIcommandsgenerateoutputyoumightwanttouseinyourapplication.Youcanrunesxcli

withthe--formatterdispatcheroptionandsendtheresultingoutputasinputtoaparser.

namespace.GroupsESXCLIcommands.vSphere5.0andlatersupportnestednamespaces.

command.Reportsonormodifiesstateonthesystem.

Examples

esxcli --server myESXi --username user1 --password 'my_password' storage nfs list

esxcli --server myVCServer --username user1 --password 'my_pwd' --vihost myESXi.mycompany.com

storage nfs list

options.Manycommandssupportoneormoreoptions,displayedinthehelporthevCLIReference.For

somecommands,multipleoptionvalues,separatedbyspaces,arepossible.

Example

esxcli system module parameters set -m <module> -p "a=1 b=1 c=1"

Running ESXCLI vCLI Commands

YoucanrunanESXCLIvCLIcommandintheESXiShellfortroubleshootingandremotelyagainstaspecific

hostoragainstavCenterServersystem.Youhavethefollowingchoices:

DeploythevMAapplianceonanESXisystemandauthenticateagainstasetoftargetservers.Youcan

thenrunESXCLIcommandsagainstanytargetserverbyspecifyingthe--hostdispatcheroption.No

additionalauthenticationisrequired.SeethevSphereManagementAssistantGuide.

IMPORTANTStartingwithvSphere6.0,ESXCLIexpectsatrustrelationshipbetweenthetargethostand

thesystemonwhichyourunthecommand.Youcanestablishthisrelationshipinoneoftheseways:

Usethe--cacertsfileoptionorVI_CACERTFILE variable

Storethethumbprintinthesessionfile.

Specifythethumbprintwiththe--thumbprintoptionorVI_THUMBPRINTvariable.

Youcanpassinthethumbprintthatisreturnedintheerrorifyoutrustthehostyouaretargeting.See

“TrustRelationshipRequirementforESXCLICommands”onpage 33foranexample.

VMware, Inc. 11

Chapter 1 Managing vSphere with Command-Line Interfaces

InstallthevCLIpackageononeofthesupportedWindowsorLinuxsystems.TheESXCLIcommandset

isincluded.SpecifyconnectionoptionstoruncommandsagainstanESXihostdirectly,ortargetavCenter

ServersystemandspecifytheESXihosttorunthecommandagainst.See“InstallingvCLI”onpage 15.

SeeChapter 4,“RunningvCLIHostManagementCommands,”onpage 27.

ESXCLI Command Support when Host and vCLI Version Do Not Match

WhenyourunanESXCLIvCLIcommand,youmustknowthecommandssupportedonthetargethost

specifiedwith--serverorasavMAtarget.Forexample:

IfyouruncommandsagainstESXi4.xhosts,ESXCLI4.xcommandsaresupported.

IfyouruncommandsagainstESXi5.0hosts,ESXCLI5.0commandsaresupported.ESXCLI5.1

commandsthatwereincludedinESXCLI5.0arealsosupported.

IfyouruncommandsagainstESXi5.1hosts,ESXCLI5.1andESXCLI5.0commandsaresupported.

VMwarepartnersmightdevelopcustomESXCLIcommandsthatyoucanrunonhostswherethepartnerVIB

isinstalled.

Runesxcli --server <target> --helpforalistofnamespacessupportedonthetarget.Youcandrill

downintothenamespacesforadditionalhelp.

Using PowerCLI to Manage Hosts and Virtual Machines

VMwarevSpherePowerCLIcontainssnap‐insandmodulesbasedonMicrosoftPowerShellforautomating

vSphereandvCloudDirectoradministration.PowerCLIprovidesC#andPowerShellinterfacestovSphere

andotherVMwareproductadministration.

vSpherePowerCLIisbasedonMicrosoftPowerShellandusesthePowerShellbasicsyntaxandconcepts.

MicrosoftPowerShellisbothacommand‐lineandscriptingenvironment,designedforWindows.Itusesthe

.NETobjectmodelandprovidesadministratorswithsystemadministrationandautomationcapabilities.To

workwithPowerShell,youruncommands,whicharecalledcmdlets.

PowerShellsupportsfeaturessuchaspipelines,wildcards,andeasyaccesstocommand‐linehelp.

YoucanuseESXCLIcommandsfromthevSpherePowerCLIconsole,asfollows:

Throughthecmdlet,whichprovidesdirectaccesstotheESXCLInamespaces,applications,and

commands.

Through.NETmethods,whichyouusetocreatemanagedobjectsthatcorrespondtospecificESXCLI

applications.ToaccesstheESXCLI,youcancallmethodsonthesemanagedobjects.

SeethevSpherePowerCLIUser’sGuideinthevSpheredocumentationcenter.

Using DCLI to Manage vCenter Services

TheDCLIcommandsetallowsyoutomanagevCenterservicesthatarenewinvSphere6.0.Youcannot

manageservicesthatwerepartofvSphere5.5fromDCLI.DCLIisnotahostmanagementCLI.

DCLI(DatacenterCLI)isaCLIclientofthevCloudSuiteSDK.DCLIworkslikethis:

1TheuserrunsacommandintheDCLIdirectoryandspecifiesausername.

NOTEStartingwithvSphere6.0,atrustrelationshipmustexistbetweenthehostfromwhichyourun

ESXCLIcommandsandthetargetESXihostorvCenterServersystem.SeeAppendix 4,“Trust

RelationshipRequirementforESXCLICommands,”onpage 33.

NOTETorunanESXCLIcommandfromPowerCLI,youmustprovidevaluesforallparameters.Ifyou

wanttoomitagivenparameter,pass$nullasitsargument.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

12 VMware, Inc.

2Iftheuserisnotyetauthenticated,DCLIpromptsforapassword.

3Theuserspecifiesapassword.

4ThecommandconnectstothevCenterSingleSign‐Onserviceandcheckswhethertheuserspecifiedon

thecommand‐lineorinacertificatestorefilecanauthenticate.

5Iftheusercanauthenticate,DCLIcommunicateswiththevCenterServerandexecutethevCloudSuite

SDKcommandthatcorrespondstotheDCLIcommand.DifferentvCenterServersystemssupport

differentservices.

6DCLIdisplaystheresultoranerrortotheuser.

YoucanrunDCLIcommandsasfollows.

vCLIpackage.InstallthevCLIpackageontheserverofyourchoice,ordeployavMAvirtualmachine.

YoucanthenrunDCLIcommandsagainstanendpoint.See“RunningDCLICommands”onpage 41.

vCenterServerappliance.RunDCLIcommandsfromthevCenterServerApplianceshell.See“Running

DCLICommandsonthevCenterServerAppliance”onpage 42.

vCenterServerWindowscommandprompt.InstallvCenterServeronasupportedWindowssystemand

runDCLIcommandsfromthecommandprompt.

DCLI Syntax

EachDCLIcommandusesthesamesyntax.

Thecommandnamecanbefollowedbyconnectionandformattingoptions,eachprecededbya+sign.You

alsospecifythenamespace,thecommand,andthecommandoptions.Namespacesarenested.

dcli +[DCLI options] <namespace> [<namespace> ...] <cmd> --[cmd option] [option value]

DCLIoptions.PredefinedoptionsforconnectioninformationincludingthevCloudSuiteSDKendpoint

andformattingoptions.Alwaysprecededbya+sign.

NotrequiredwhenyourunthecommandinthevCenterServerApplianceshellorfromthecommand

promptofavCenterServerWindowsinstallation.

namespace.GroupsDCLIcommands.NamespacescorrespondtothevCloudSuiteSDKnamespacesand

arenested.

command.Reportsonormodifiesstateonthesystem.

optionandvalue.Commandoptionandvaluepairs.

Example

$dcli +server <vcenter-IP> com vmware cis tagging tag list

vCLI Package Contents

vCLIisnotacommandsetbutapackageofseveralcommandsets.YouusuallyinstallvCLIonan

administrationserverandrunscriptsfromthereagainstotherhostsor,forDCLI,againstvCenterServer

systems.SomevCLIcommandscanalsoberunlocallyontheESXihostorthevCenterServersystem.

WhenyouinstallthevCLIpackage,thefollowingcommandsetsbecomeavailable.

DCLICommands.TheDCLIcommandsarenewinvSphere6.0,andareavailableformanagingvCenter

servicesthatarenewinvSphere6.0.ThesecommandsareavailableaspartofvCLI,fromthevCenter

ServerVirtualAppliance,andfromthecommand‐promptofavCenterServerWindowsinstallation.

HostManagementCommands.Includesthefollowingcommandsets.

NOTETheorderinwhichDCLIoptionsareprovidedonthecommandlineisnotimportant.However,you

mustspecifyDCLIoptionswithaplus(+)andcommand‐specificoptionswithaminus(‐).

VMware, Inc. 13

Chapter 1 Managing vSphere with Command-Line Interfaces

ESXCLIcommands.TheESXCLIcommandsincludedinthevCLIpackageareequivalenttothe

ESXCLIcommandsavailableintheESXiShell.

vicfg‐commands.Thevicfg-commandsetissimilartothedeprecatedesxcfg-commandsetin

theESXiShell.

Miscellaneouscommands.AsmallsetofcommandsformanagingandmonitoringESXihosts,

includingvmkfstoolsandresxtop.Inmanycases,equivalentbutslightlydifferentcommandsare

availableintheESXiShell.

YoucanrunvCLIcommandsfromaWindowsorLinuxsystem,orusevMA.

InstallthevCLIcommandsetontheWindowsorLinuxsystemfromwhichyouwanttoadministeryour

ESXisystemsandrunvCLIcommands.See“InstallingvCLI”onpage 15.

DeployavMAvirtualmachinetoanESXisystemandrunvCLIcommandsfromthere.

AfteryouhaveinstalledthevCLIpackage,youcanrunthehostmanagementcommandsinthesetagainst

ESXihosts.YoucanruntheDCLIcommandsagainstaserverbyspecifyingtheIPaddressandcanmanagethe

servicesassociatedwiththatserver.

YoumustspecifyconnectionparameterswhenyourunavCLIcommand.Theconnectionparametersdiffer

forDCLIcommandsandforothercommands.See“RunningvCLIHostManagementCommands”onpage 27

and“RunningDCLICommands”onpage 41.

IMPORTANTESXiShellisintendedforexperiencedusersonly.Minorerrorsintheshellcanresultin

seriousproblems.InsteadofrunningcommandsdirectlyintheESXiShell,usevCLIorPowerCLI.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

14 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 15

2

YoucaninstallavCLIpackageonaLinuxoraMicrosoftWindowssystem,ordeploythevSphere

ManagementAssistant(vMA)onanESXihost.

Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics:

“InstallationOverview”onpage 15

“OverviewofLinuxInstallationProcess”onpage 16

“InstallingthevCLIPackageonRedHatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18

“InstallingvCLIonLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess”onpage 19

“UninstallingthevCLIPackageonLinux”onpage 21

“InstallingandUninstallingvCLIonWindows”onpage 21

“UninstallingthevCLIPackageonWindows”onpage 22

“EnablingCertificateVerification”onpage 22

“DeployingvMA”onpage 22

Installation Overview

YoucaninstallavCLIpackageonasupportedplatformordeploythevMAvirtualmachineonanESXihost.

InstallablePackage.InstallavCLIpackageonaphysicalorvirtualmachine.See“InstallingthevCLI

PackageonRedHatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18,“InstallingvCLIonLinuxSystemswithInternet

Access”onpage 19,and“InstallingandUninstallingvCLIonWindows”onpage 21.

ThevCLIinstallerinstallsbothvSphereSDKforPerlandvCLIbecausemanyvCLIcommandsrunontop

ofthevSphereSDKforPerl.Thecontentsoftheinstallerpackagediffersfordifferentplatforms.

Installing vCLI 2

Platform Installation Process

Windows TheinstallationpackageincludesvCLI,vSphereSDKforPerl,andprerequisitePerl

modules.

RedHatEnterprise

Linux

Youmustinstallrequiredsoftware.See“InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforRed

HatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18.

TheinstallerforRHELpromptsyouwhetheryouwanttoinstallothermissingmodules

fromtheInternetorfromthepackage.

IfyouhaveInternetaccess,youcanhavetheinstallerdownloadPerlmodulesfrom

CPAN.

TheinstallercaninsteadinstallPerlmodulesthatitdoesnotfindonyoursystemfrom

theinstallerpackage.

SLESandUbuntu YoumustinstallrequiredsoftwareandyoumusthaveInternetaccess.See“Installing

RequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess”onpage 19.

TheinstallerdownloadsotherPerlmodulesfromCPAN.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

16 VMware, Inc.

Afterinstallation,youcanrunvCLIcommandsandvSphereSDKforPerlutilityapplicationsfromthe

operatingsystemcommandline.Eachtimeyourunacommand,youspecifythetargetserverconnection

optionsdirectlyorindirectly.YoucanalsowritescriptsandmanageyourvSphereenvironmentusing

thosescripts.

vSphereManagementAssistant(vMA).DeployvMA,avirtualmachinethatadministratorscanuseto

runscriptsthatmanagevSphere,onanESXihost.vMAincludesvCLI,vSphereSDKforPerl,andother

prepackagedsoftwareinaLinuxenvironment.

vMAsupportsnoninteractivelogin.IfyouestablishanESXihostasatargetserver,youcanrunvCLIhost

managementcommandsandvSphereSDKforPerlcommandsagainstthatserverwithoutadditional

authentication.IfyouestablishavCenterServersystemasatargetserver,youcanrunmostvCLI

commandsagainstallESXisystemsthatservermanageswithoutadditionalauthentication.See

“DeployingvMA”onpage 22.

Overview of Linux Installation Process

TheinstallationscriptforvCLIissupportedontheLinuxdistributionsthatarelistedintheReleaseNotes.

ThevCLIpackageinstallerinstallsthevCLIscriptsandthevSphereSDKforPerl.Theinstallationproceedsas

follows.

1Theinstallercheckswhetherthefollowingrequiredprerequisitepackagesareinstalledonthesystem:

2Iftherequiredsoftwareisfound,theinstallerproceeds.Otherwise,theinstallerstopsandinformsyou

thatyoumustinstallthesoftware.See“InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforRedHatEnterprise

Linux”onpage 18and“InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforLinuxSystemswithInternet

Access”onpage 19forinstructions.

3TheinstallercheckswhetherthefollowingPerlmodulesarefound,andwhetherthecorrectversionis

installed.

Crypt‐SSLeay‐0.55(0.55‐0.9.7or0.55‐0.9.8)

IO‐Compress‐Base‐2.037

Compress‐Zlib‐2.037

IO‐Compress‐Zlib‐2.037

Compress‐Raw‐Zlib‐2.037

Archive‐Zip‐1.28

Data‐Dumper‐2.121

XML‐LibXML‐1.63

libwww‐perl‐5.805

LWP‐Protocol‐https‐6.02

XML‐LibXML‐Common‐0.13

XML‐NamespaceSupport‐1.09

Perl Perlversion5.8.8orversion5.10mustbeinstalledonyoursystem.

OpenSSL ThevCLIrequiresSSLbecausemostconnectionsbetweenthesystemonwhichyourunthecommand

andthetargetvSpheresystemareencryptedwithSSL.

TheOpenSSLlibrary(libssl-develpackage)isnotincludedinthedefaultLinuxdistribution.See

“InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforRedHatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18and“Installing

RequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess”onpage 19.

LibXML2 UsedforXMLparsing.ThevCLIclientrequires2.6.26orhigherversion.Ifyouhaveanolderversion

installed,pleaseupgradeto2.6.26orhigher.

Thelibxml2packageisnotincludedinthedefaultLinuxdistribution.See“InstallingRequired

PrerequisiteSoftwareforRedHatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18and“InstallingRequiredPrerequisite

SoftwareforLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess”onpage 19.

uuid Includedinuuid-develforSLES11andine2fsprogs-develforotherLinuxplatforms.Requiredby

theUUIDPerlmodule.

VMware, Inc. 17

Chapter 2 Installing vCLI

XML‐SAX‐0.16

Data‐Dump‐1.15

URI‐1.37

UUID‐0.03

SOAP‐Lite‐0.710.08

HTML‐Parser‐3.60

version‐0.78

Class‐MethodMaker‐2.10

JSON‐PP‐2.27203

Devel‐StackTrace‐131

Class‐Data‐Inheritable‐0.08

Convert‐ASN1‐0.26

Cyrpt‐OpenSSL‐RSA‐0.28

Crypt‐X509‐0.51

Exception‐Class‐1.37

MIME‐Base64‐3.14

UUID‐Random‐0.04

Socket6‐023

IO‐Socket‐INET6‐2.71

Net‐INET6Glue‐0.600_1

Earlierversionsoflibwww‐perlincludetheLWP‐Protocol‐httpsmodule.Morerecentversionsof

libwww‐perldonotincludetheLWP‐Protocol‐httpsmoduleandyouhavetoinstallthatmodule.

4TheinstallerproceedsdependingontheLinuxdistribution.

NOTEIfyouintendtorunvCLIcommandswithSSLcertification,besuretocheckthatLWP::UserAgent

6.00orlaterisinstalled.Theinstallerdoesnotcheckthismodule,andearlierversionsdonotworkwith

SSL.

Linux distribution Installer behavior

RHEL(NoInternet

access)

OnRHEL,theinstallerallowsyoutoinstallPerlmoduleswithCPANifInternetaccessis

available.

IfnoInternetaccessisavailable,andamoduleisnotcurrentlyonyoursystem,theinstaller

installsit.Ifadifferentversionofamoduleisfound,theinstallerdoesnotinstallitand

proceedswithinstallation.Attheendoftheinstallationprocess,theinstallerinformsyou

iftheversiononthesystemdoesnotmatchtherecommendedversion,andrecommends

thatyouinstalltheversionthatvCLIwastestedwith.Youcaninstallthemodulesusingthe

packageinstallerforyourplatform,theinstallationCD,orCPAN.

Note:TheinstallerdoesnotoverwriteexistingversionsofrecommendedPerlmodules.

Youmustexplicitlyupdatethosemodulesyourself.

AllLinux

distributions

(Internetaccess)

TheinstallerproceedsdependingonwhetherthePerlmodulesarefound.

IfarecommendedPerlmoduleisnotfoundatall,theinstallerinstallsitusingCPAN.

YoumustmeettheinstallationprerequisitesortheinstallercannotinstallthePerl

modulesandstops.See“InstallingvCLIonLinuxSystemswithInternetAccess”on

page 19.

Ifalowerversionofarecommendedmoduleisfound,theinstallerdoesnotinstalla

differentversionfromCPANandproceedswithinstallation.Aftercompleting

installation,theinstallerdisplaysamessagethattheversiononthesystemdoesnot

matchtherecommendedversion,andrecommendsthatyouinstalltheversionvCLI

wastestedwith.Youcaninstallthemodulesusingthepackageinstallerforyour

platform,theinstallationCD,orCPAN.

Ifahigherversionofarecommendedmoduleisfound,theinstallerproceedswith

installationanddoesnotdisplayamessageafterinstallation.

Note:TheinstallerdoesnotoverwriteexistingversionsofrecommendedPerlmodules.

Youmustexplicitlyupdatethosemodulesyourself.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

18 VMware, Inc.

5AfterallrequiredsoftwareandallprerequisitePerlmodulesareinstalled,youcaninstallvCLI.See

“InstallingthevCLIPackageonRedHatEnterpriseLinux”onpage 18and“InstallingthevCLIPackage

onaLinuxSystemwithInternetAccess”onpage 20.

IfapreviousversionofvCLI,RemoteCLI,orvSphereSDKforPerlisinstalledonyoursystem,andyouinstall

vCLIinadifferentdirectory,youmustresetthePATHenvironmentvariable.Youcandosobeforeorafterthe

installation,usingthecommandappropriateforyourdistributionandshell(setenv,export,andsoon).If

youdonotresetthepath,thesystemmightstilllookforexecutablesintheoldlocation.

Installing the vCLI Package on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

vCLIissupportedonRedHatEnterpriseLinuxversionsthatarelistedintheReleaseNotes.OnRHEL,the

vSphereSDKforPerlinstallerpromptsyouwhetheryouwanttoinstallrequiredPerlmodulesfromthe

installationpackageorfromCPAN.Followthesestepstoinstallthesoftware.

1Installrequiredprerequisitesoftware.See“InstallingRequiredPrerequisiteSoftwareforRedHat

EnterpriseLinux”onpage 18.

2Whenprompted,directtheinstallertoinstalladditionalprerequisitesfromtheinstallationpackage(see

“InstallingthevCLIPackageonRHEL(NoInternetAccess)”onpage 18)orfromCPAN(see“Installing

thevCLIPackageonaLinuxSystemwithInternetAccess”onpage 20).

Installing Required Prerequisite Software for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

PrerequisitesoftwareonRHELincludesrequiredsoftwareandrecommendedPerlmodules.

Required Software

Ifrequiredsoftwareisnotinstalled,thevCLIinstallerstops.Youcaninstallprerequisitesusingyum,theRHEL

packageinstaller(recommended),orfromtheinstallationDVD,asfollows:

Recommended Perl Modules

Whentheinstallerfinishes,itmightissueawarningthattheversionofamoduleinstalledonyoursystemdoes

notmatchtheversionwithwhichvCLIwastested.InstallthatversionusingyumorCPANtoresolvetheissue.

See“OverviewofLinuxInstallationProcess”onpage 16foracompletelistofmodules.

Installing the vCLI Package on RHEL (No Internet Access)

BeforeyouinstallvCLI,youmustremoveallpreviousversionsofthatsoftware.Theprocessdiffersfrom

simplyuninstallingvCLI.

To remove previous versions of vCLI

1Runtheuninstallscript,forexample,ifyouinstalledvCLIinthedefaultlocation,runthefollowing

command:

/usr/bin/vmware-uninstall-vSphere-CLI.pl

2 DeleteexistingversionsofvSphere-CLI.xxxx.tar.gzanddeletethevmware-vsphere-cli-distrib

directory.

RHEL6.332bit yum install e2fsprogs-devel libuuid-devel

yum install perl-XML-LibXML

RHEL6.364bit yum install e2fsprogs-devel libuuid-devel

yum install glibc.i686

yum install perl-XML-LibXML

NOTETheinstallerdoesnotoverwriteexistingPerlmodules.

VMware, Inc. 19

Chapter 2 Installing vCLI

To install vCLI on RHEL

1UntarthevCLIbinarythatyoudownloaded.

tar –zxvf VMware-vSphere-CLI-6.X.X-XXXXX.XXXX.x86_64.tar.gz

Avmware-vsphere-vcli-distribdirectoryiscreated.

2Loginassuperuserandruntheinstaller:

/<location>/sudo vmware-vsphere-cli-distrib/vmware-install.pl

3Toacceptthelicenseterms,typeyesandpressEnter.

4ToinstallPerlmoduleslocally,typeyesandpressEnter.

5Specifyaninstallationdirectory,orpressEntertoacceptthedefault,whichis/usr/bin.

Acompleteinstallationprocesshasthefollowingresult:

Asuccessmessageappears.

Theinstallerlistsdifferentversionnumbersforrequiredmodules(ifany).

Thepromptreturnstotheshellprompt.

Ifyouacceptedthedefaultsduringinstallation,youcanfindtheinstalledsoftwareinthefollowinglocations:

vCLIscripts–/usr/bin

vSphereSDKforPerlutilityapplications–/usr/lib/vmware-vcli/apps

vSphereSDKforPerlsamplescripts–/usr/share/doc/vmware-vcli/samples

SeethevSphereSDKforPerldocumentationforareferencetoallutilityapplications.

AfteryouinstallthevCLI,youcantesttheinstallationbyrunningacommandfromthecommandprompt.See

“RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaLinuxSystem”onpage 37.

Installing vCLI on Linux Systems with Internet Access

BeforeyoucaninstallthevCLIpackageonaLinuxsystemwithInternetaccess,thatsystemmustmeet

followingprerequisites.

Internetaccess.YoumusthaveInternetaccesswhenyouruntheinstallerbecausetheinstallerusesCPAN

toinstallprerequisitePerlmodules.

DevelopmentToolsandLibraries.YoumustinstalltheDevelopmentToolsandLibrariesfortheLinux

platformthatyouareworkingwithbeforeyouinstallvCLIandprerequisitePerlmodules.

Proxysettings.IfyoursystemisusingaproxyforInternetaccess,youmustsetthehttp://andftp://

proxies,asfollows:

export http_proxy=<proxy_server>:port

export ftp_proxy=<proxy_server>:port

Installing Required Prerequisite Software for Linux Systems with Internet

Access

Ifrequiredprerequisitesoftwareisnotinstalled,theinstallerstopsandrequeststhatyouinstallit.Installation

ofprerequisitesoftwaredependsontheplatformthatyouareusing.SeetheReleaseNotesforthesupported

versionsofeachLinuxplatform.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

20 VMware, Inc.

Installing the vCLI Package on a Linux System with Internet Access

InstallthevCLIpackageandrunacommandtoverifyinstallationwassuccessful.

To install vCLI

1Loginasroot.

2UntarthevCLIbinarythatyoudownloaded.

tar –zxvf VMware-vSphere-CLI-6.X.X-XXXXX.i386.tar.gz

Avmware-vsphere-vcli-distribdirectoryiscreated.

3 (Optional)IfyourserverusesaproxytoaccesstheInternet,andifyourhttp://andftp://proxywere

notsetwhenyouinstalledprerequisitesoftware,setthemnow.

export http_proxy=<proxy_server>:port

export ftp_proxy=<proxy_server>:port

4Runtheinstaller:

sudo vmware-vsphere-cli-distrib/vmware-install.pl

5Toacceptthelicenseterms,typeyesandpressEnter.

TheinstallerconnectstoCPANandinstallsprerequisitesoftware.Establishingaconnectionmighttakea

longtime.

6OnRHEL,whenpromptedtoinstallprecompiledPerlmodules,typenoandpressEntertouseCPAN

TheinstallerconnectstoCPANandinstallsprerequisitesoftware.Establishingaconnectionmighttakea

longtime.

7Specifyaninstallationdirectory,orpressEntertoacceptthedefault,whichis/usr/bin.

Table 2-1. Installing Required Prerequisite Software

Platform Installation

RHEL6.332bit FindtherequiredmodulesontheinstallationDVD,oruseyumtoinstallthem.

yum install e2fsprogs-devel libuuid-devel

yum install perl-XML-LibXML

RHEL6.364bit FindtherequiredmodulesontheinstallationDVD,oruseyumtoinstallthem.

yum install e2fsprogs-devel libuuid-devel

yum install glibc.i686

yum install perl-XML-LibXML

SUSEEnterprise InstalltheprerequisitepackagesfromtheSLESSDKDVD.WhenyouinserttheDVD,itoffersto

autorun.CanceltheautorundialogboxandusetheyastpackageinstallertoinstallOpenSSLor

othermissingrequiredpackages.

SLES1164bit.yast -i openssl-devel libuuid-devel libuuid-devel-32bit

SLES1132bit.yast -i openssl-devel libuuid-devel

SomeusersmightbeauthorizedtousetheNovellCustomerCenteranduseyasttoretrieve

missingpackagesfromthere.

Ubuntu1.ConnecttotheInternet.

2.Updatethelocalrepositoryoflibrariesfromaterminalwindow.

sudo apt-get update

3.Installtherequiredlibrariesfromaterminalwindow.

32bit.sudo apt-get install build-essential gcc uuid uuid-dev perl libssl-dev

perl-doc liburi-perl libxml-libxml-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl

64bit.sudo apt-get install ia32-libs build-essential gcc uuid uuid-dev perl

libssl-dev perl-doc liburi-perl libxml-libxml-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl

ForUbuntu10.0464bit,theresxtopandESXCLIcommandsdonotworkifyoudonotinstall

the32‐bitcompatibilitylibraries.

VMware, Inc. 21

Chapter 2 Installing vCLI

Acompleteinstallationprocesshasthefollowingresult:

Asuccessmessageappears.

Theinstallerlistsdifferentversionnumbersforrequiredmodules(ifany).

Thepromptreturnstotheshellprompt.

Ifyouacceptedthedefaultsduringinstallation,youcanfindtheinstalledsoftwareinthefollowinglocations:

vCLIscripts–/usr/bin

vSphereSDKforPerlutilityapplications–/usr/lib/vmware-vcli/apps

vSphereSDKforPerlsamplescripts–/usr/share/doc/vmware-vcli/samples

SeethevSphereSDKforPerldocumentationforareferencetoallutilityapplications.AfteryouinstallvCLI,

youcantesttheinstallationbyrunningavCLIcommandorvSphereSDKforPerlutilityapplicationfromthe

commandprompt.

Uninstalling the vCLI Package on Linux

YoucanuseascriptincludedintheinstallationtouninstallthevCLIpackage.

To uninstall vCLI on Linux

1 ChangetothedirectorywhereyouinstalledvCLI(defaultis/usr/bin).

2Runthevmware-uninstall-vSphere-CLI.pl script.

ThecommanduninstallsvCLIandthevSphereSDKforPerl.

Installing and Uninstalling vCLI on Windows

BeforeyoucanrunvCLIcommandsfromyourWindowssystem,youmustinstallthevCLIpackageandtest

theinstallationbyrunningacommand.

ThevCLIinstallationpackageforWindowsincludestheActivePerlruntimefromActiveStateSoftwareand

requiredPerlmodulesandlibraries.ThevCLIissupportedontheWindowsplatformsthatarelistedinthe

ReleaseNotes.

To install the vCLI Package on Windows

1 DownloadthevCLIWindowsinstallerpackage.

YoucanfindtheinstallerintheAutomationToolsandSDKssectionoftheDrivers&Toolstabofthe

vSpheredownloadpage.

2Starttheinstaller.

3 (Optional)IfpromptedtoremoveolderversionsofvSphereSDKforPerlorvCLI,youcaneitheraccept

orcanceltheinstallation,andinstallthevCLIpackageonadifferentsystem.

4ClickNextintheWelcomepage.

5ToinstallthevCLIinanondefaultdirectory,clickChangeandselectthedirectory.

ThedefaultlocationisC:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI.

6ClickNext.

IMPORTANTIfyouwanttorunESXCLIcommandsincludedinvCLIfromaWindowssystem,youmusthave

theVisualC++2008redistributablefor32bitinstalledonthatsystem.Findvcredist_x86.exeforVisualC++

2008andinstallitonyourWindowssystem.

IMPORTANTTheinstallerreplacesboththevSphereSDKforPerlandvCLI.Tokeepanolderversion,

installthispackageonadifferentsystem.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

22 VMware, Inc.

7ClickInstalltoproceedwiththeinstallation.

Theinstallationmighttakeseveralminutestocomplete.

8 Rebootyoursystem.

Withoutreboot,pathsettingsmightnotbecorrectonyourWindowsplatform.

Uninstalling the vCLI Package on Windows

YoucanuninstallthevCLIpackageasyouwouldotherprograms.

To uninstall vCLI on Windows

1FindtheoptionforaddingandremovingprogramsontheWindowsoperatingsystemyouareusing.

2Inthepanelthatappears,selectVMwarevSphereCLI,andclickRemove.

3ClickYeswhenprompted.

ThesystemuninstallsthevSphereSDKforPerl,thevCLI,andallprerequisitesoftware.

Enabling Certificate Verification

ThevSphereSDKforPerlandvCLIuseCrypt::SSLEaytosupportcertificateverification.Crypt::SSLEay

allowsverificationofcertificatessignedbyaCertificateAuthority(CA)ifyousetthefollowingtwovariables:

HTTPS_CA_FILE–TheCAfile.

HTTPS_CA_DIR–TheCAdirectory.

SeetheCrypt::SSLEaydocumentationfordetailsonsetup.

Deploying vMA

Asanalternativetoapackageinstallation,youcandeployvMAonanESXihostandrunvCLIcommandsfrom

there.vMAisavirtualmachineyoucanusetorunscriptstomanageESXisystems.vMAincludesaLinux

environment,vCLI,andotherprepackagedsoftware.

SettingupvMAconsistsofafewtasks.ThevSphereManagementAssistantGuidediscusseseachtaskindetail.

1DeployvMAtoanESXisystemthatmeetsthehardwareprerequisites.

SeethevSphereManagementAssistantGuideforprerequisitesanddeploymentdetails.

2ConfigurevMA.

WhenyoubootvMA,youmustspecifythefollowingrequiredconfigurationinformationwhen

prompted:

Networkinformation(thedefaultisoftenacceptable)

HostnameforvMA.

Passwordforthevi‐adminuser.Thevi‐adminuserhassuperuserprivilegesonvMA.Youcannotlog

intovMAastherootuser.

3 (Optional)AddavCenterServersystemoroneormoreESXisystemsastargets.YouconfigurevMAfor

ActiveDirectoryauthenticationandcanthenaddESXiandvCenterServersystemstovMAwithout

havingtostorepasswordsinthevMAcredentialstore.SeethevSphereManagementAssistantGuide.

CAUTIONIfthetwoenvironmentvariablesHTTPS_CA_FILEandHTTPS_CA_DIRaresetincorrectlyorifa

problemwiththecertificateexists,vCLIcommandsdonotcomplete,anddonotprinterrororwarning

messages.UseHTTPS_DEBUGfortroubleshootingbeforerunningvCLIcommands.

VMware, Inc. 23

3f

Inmostcases,installingvCLIandrunningcommandsfromaremotesystem,withoneormorehostsastargets,

isrecommended.However,formaintenanceandtroubleshootingtasksyoumightprefertorunESXCLI

commandsintheESXiShellorconnecttotheESXiShellwithSSH.

Youfirstestablishaccess,andcanthenruncommands.

“ESXiShellAccesswiththeDirectConsole”onpage 23

“RemoteESXiShellAccesswithSSH”onpage 24

“LockdownMode”onpage 26

“RunningESXCLICommandsintheESXiShell”onpage 26

ESXi Shell Access with the Direct Console

AnESXisystemincludesaDirectConsoleUserInterface(DCUI)thatallowsyoutostartandstopthesystem

andtoperformalimitedsetofmaintenanceandtroubleshootingtasks.Thedirectconsoleallowsaccesstothe

ESXiShell,whichisdisabledbydefault.YoucanenabletheESXiShellinthedirectconsoleorbyusingthe

vSphereWebClient.Youcanenablelocalshellaccessorremoteshellaccess:

LocalshellaccessallowsyoutologintotheshelldirectlyfromtheDirectConsole.See“EnablingLocal

ESXiShellAccess”onpage 23.

Remoteshell(SSH)accessallowsyoutoconnecttothehostusingashellsuchasPuTTY,specifyauser

nameandpassword,andruncommandsintheshell.See“RemoteESXiShellAccesswithSSH”on

page 24.

TheESXiShellincludesallESXCLIcommands,asetofdeprecatedesxcfg-commands,andasetof

commandsfortroubleshootingandremediation.

Enabling Local ESXi Shell Access

YoucanenabletheESXiShellfromthedirectconsoleorfromthevSphereWebClientorthevSphereClient.

Ifyouhaveaccesstothedirectconsole,youcanenabletheESXiShellfromthere.

To enable the ESXi Shell in the direct console

1AtthedirectconsoleoftheESXihost,pressF2andprovidecredentialswhenprompted.

2ScrolltoTroubleshootingOptionsandpressEnter.

Running Host Management

Commands in the ESXi Shell 3

IMPORTANTAllESXCLIcommandsthatareavailableintheESXiShellarealsoincludedinthevCLIpackage.

VMwarerecommendsyouinstallthevCLIpackageonasupportedWindowsorLinuxsystemordeploythe

vMAvirtualappliance,andruncommandsagainstyourESXihosts.RuncommandsintheESXiShelldirectly

orthroughSSHonlyintroubleshootingsituations.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

24 VMware, Inc.

3 ChooseEnableESXiShellandpressEnter.

Ontheleft,EnableESXiShellchangestoDisableESXiShell.Ontheright,ESXiShellisDisabled

changestoESXiShellisEnabled.

4PressEscuntilyoureturntothemaindirectconsolescreen.

IfyoudonothaveaccesstotheDirectConsoleInterface,youcanenabletheESXiShellfromthevSphereWeb

Client.

To enable the ESXi Shell from the vSphere Web Client or the vSphere Client

1 Selectthehost,clickManage,andkeepSettingsselected.

2ClickSecurityProfile.

3IntheServicessection,clickEdit.

4 SelectESXiShell.

Totemporarilystartorstoptheservice,clicktheStartorStopbutton.

TochangetheStartuppolicyacrossreboots,selectStartandstopwithhostandrebootthehost.

5ClickOK.

AfteryouhaveenabledtheESXiShell,youcanuseitfromthatmonitororthroughaserialport.

ESXi Shell Timeout

TheESXiShellsupportsatimeoutforESXiShellavailabilityandatimeoutforidleESXiShellsessions.

Availabilitytimeout:Theavailabilitytimeoutsettingistheamountoftimethatcanelapsebeforeyou

mustloginaftertheESXiShellisenabled.Afterthetimeoutperiod,theserviceisdisabledandusersare

notallowedtologin.

Idletimeout:IfauserenablestheESXiShellonahost,butforgetstologoutofthesession,theidlesession

remainsconnectedindefinitely

YoucansetbothtimeoutvaluesfromtheDirectConsoleUserInterface,fromthevSphereWebClient,orfrom

thevSphereClient.SeethevSphereSecuritydocumentinthevSphereDocumentationCenterfordetailed

instructions.

Using the ESXi Shell

AfteryouenabletheESXiShellinthedirectconsole,youcanuseitfromthemaindirectconsolescreenor

remotelythroughaserialport.

To use the local ESXi Shell

1Atthemaindirectconsolescreen,pressAlt‐F1toopenavirtualconsolewindowtothehost.

2Providecredentialswhenprompted.

Whenyoutypethepassword,charactersarenotdisplayedontheconsole.

3Entershellcommandstoperformmanagementtasks.

4Tologout,typeexitintheshell.

5Toreturntothedirectconsole,typeAlt‐F2.

SeevSphereInstallationandSetupdocumentationforinformationonserialportsetup.

Remote ESXi Shell Access with SSH

IfSSHconnectionsareenabledforyourESXihost,youcanrunshellcommandsbyusingaSecureShellclient

suchasSSHorPuTTY.

VMware, Inc. 25

Chapter 3 Running Host Management Commands in the ESXi Shell

Enabling SSH for the ESXi Shell

Bydefault,remotecommandexecutionisdisabledonanESXihost,andyoucannotlogintothehostusinga

remoteshell.YoucanenableremotecommandexecutionfromthedirectconsoleorfromthevSphereWeb

Client.

To enable SSH access in the direct console

1AtthedirectconsoleoftheESXihost,pressF2andprovidecredentialswhenprompted.

2ScrolltoTroubleshootingOptionsandpressEnter.

3 ChooseEnableSSHandpressEnteronce.

Ontheleft,EnableSSHchangestoDisableSSH.Ontheright,SSHisDisabledchangestoSSHis

Enabled.

4PressEscuntilyoureturntothemaindirectconsolescreen.

To enable SSH from the vSphere Client

1 SelectthehostandclicktheConfigurationtab.

2ClickSecurityProfileintheSoftwarepanel.

3IntheServicessection,clickProperties.

4 SelectSSHandclickOptions.

5 ChangetheSSHoptions.

TochangetheStartuppolicyacrossreboots,clickStartandstopwithhostandrebootthehost.

Totemporarilystartorstoptheservice,clicktheStartorStopbutton.

6ClickOK.

To enable SSH from the vSphere Web Client

1 Selectthehost,clickManage,andkeepSettingsselected.

2ClickSecurityProfile.

3IntheServicessection,clickEdit.

4 SelectSSH.

Totemporarilystartorstoptheservice,clicktheStartorStopbutton.

TochangetheStartuppolicyacrossreboots,selectStartandstopwithhostandrebootthehost.

5ClickOK.

AfteryouhaveenabledSSH,youlogintotheESXiShellremotelyandrunESXiShellcommands.

Using the ESXi Shell with SSH

IfSSHisenabledonyourESXihost,youcanruncommandsonthatshellusinganSSHclient.

To access the remote ESXi Shell

1OpenanSSHclient.

2SpecifytheIPaddressordomainnameoftheESXihost.

PrecisedirectionsvarydependingontheSSHclientthatyouareusing.Seevendordocumentationand

support.

3Providecredentialswhenprompted.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

26 VMware, Inc.

Lockdown Mode

ToincreasethesecurityofyourESXihosts,youcanputtheminlockdownmode.Inlockdownmode,all

operationsmustbeperformedthroughvCenterServer.Bydefault,onlythevCenterServersystem,

representedbythevpxuseruser,hasauthenticationpermissions.Nootheruserscanperformoperations

againstahostinLockdownMode.

vSphere5.xandlatersupportsnormallockdownmode,asdiscussedinthevSphere5.xdocumentationcenter.

vSphere6.0andlatersupportsfinergrainedmanagement:

Innormallockdownmode,youcanadduserstotheDCUI.Accessadvancedoptionwhichcanaccessthe

DirectConsoleUserInterfaceregardlessoftheirprivilegesonthehost.StartingwithvSphere6.0,youcan

alsousethevSphereWebClienttoaddExceptionusers,whichcanaccesstheDirectConsoleUser

Interfaceiftheyhavehostmanagementprivileges.

Instrictlockdownmode,userscannotaccesstheDirectConsoleUserInterface.IfvCenterServerbecomes

unavailable,thehostcannolongerbemanaged.

Whenahostisinnormalorstrictlockdownmode,youcannotrunvSphereCLIcommandsagainstthehost

directly.Instead,youtargetthevCenterServersystemthatmanagesthehostwiththe--serveroptionand

specifytheESXihostwiththe--vihostoption.

Whenyouenablestrictlockdownmode,theDirectConsoleUserInterfaceserviceisdisabled.

YoucanenablelockdownmodeusingtheAddHostwizardtoaddahosttovCenterServer,usingthevSphere

WebClienttomanageahost,orusingtheDirectConsoleUserInterface(DCUI).

SeethevSphereSecuritydocumentationfordetailsonLockdownModeinvSphere6.0.

Running ESXCLI Commands in the ESXi Shell

ESXCLIcommandsintheESXiShellarefullysupportedunlesstheyaremarkedasinternalintheonlinehelp.

TheESXiShellisdisabledbydefault.YoumustenabletheESXiShellbeforeyoucanruncommandsinthe

shell.See“ESXiShellAccesswiththeDirectConsole”onpage 23.

To run an ESXCLI command in the shell

1Log

intotheshell.

2Runthecommand.Forexample,tolistNASstoragedevices,runthefollowingcommand.

esxcli storage nfs list

Youcanuse--helpatanylevelofesxcliforhelponavailablenamespaces,commands,oroptions.

VMware, Inc. 27

4f

YoucanrunvSphereCommand‐LineInterface(vCLI)hostmanagementcommandsfromthecommandline

ofthesystemwhereyouinstalledthepackage,fromthevMAcommandline,andfromscripts.

Hostmanagementcommands,whichincludeESXCLIandvicfg-commands,requireataminimumthe

targetservertorunthecommandon.Usersmustauthenticatetothehost,andcanonlyperformtasksthatthey

areauthorizedtoperform.

Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics:

“OverviewofRunningvCLIHostManagementCommands”onpage 27

“ProtectingPasswords”onpage 28

“AuthenticatingThroughvCenterServerandvCenterSingleSign‐On”onpage 29

“AuthenticatingDirectlytotheHost”onpage 30

“TrustRelationshipRequirementforESXCLICommands”onpage 33

“CommonOptionsforvCLIHostManagementCommandExecution”onpage 34

“UsingvCLICommandsinScripts”onpage 36

“RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaWindowsSystem”onpage 37

“RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaLinuxSystem”onpage 37

Overview of Running vCLI Host Management Commands

YoucanrunvCLIcommandsinteractivelyorinscripts,andyoucantargetthehostdirectlyortargetavCenter

Serversystemthatmanagesthehost.

Targeting the Host Directly

YoucantargetthehostdirectlyfromanadministrationserveronwhichyouinstalledVCLI,usevMA,orrun

scripts.

OpenacommandpromptonaLinuxorWindowssystemonwhichyouinstalledvCLI.Entercommands

intothatcommandprompt,specifyingconnectionoptions.See“AuthenticatingDirectlytotheHost”on

page 30.

Running vCLI Host Management

Commands

4

NOTESee“RunningDCLICommands”onpage 39forinformationaboutDCLIcommands,whichyoucan

usetomanagevCenterServerservices.

IMPORTANTIfanESXisystemthatyoutargetisinlockdownmode,youcannotrunvCLIcommandsagainst

thatsystemdirectly.YoumusttargetavCenterServersystemthatmanagestheESXisystemandusethe

--vihostoptiontospecifytheESXitarget.See“vCLIandLockdownMode”onpage 32.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

28 VMware, Inc.

AccessthevMALinuxconsole.SetuptargetserversandrunvCLIcommandsagainstthetargetswithout

additionalauthentication.

PreparescriptsthatcontainvCLIcommands.ThenrunthescriptsfromasystemthathasthevCLI

packageinstalledorfromthevMALinuxconsole.See“UsingvCLICommandsinScripts”onpage 36.

WhenyouruncommandsagainstanESXihost,youmustbeauthenticatedforthathost.

Target a Host That is Managed by a vCenter Server System

WhenyoutargetahostthatismanagedbyavCenterServersystem,youcanruncommandsindifferentways.

SpecifythevCenterSingleSign‐Onservicewith--pscand,ifmultiplevCenterServersystemsare

associatedwiththevCenterSingleSign‐Onservice,thevCenterServersystemwith--server.Specify

alsothehostwith--vihost.

SpecifythevCenterServersystemwith--serverandtheESXihostwith--vihost.

SpecifyonlytheESXihostwith--vihost.

WhenyoucanauthenticatetoavCenterSingleSign‐OnserviceortoavCenterServersystem,youcantarget

allESXihoststhatvCenterServermanageswithoutadditionalauthentication.See“AuthenticatingThrough

vCenterServerandvCenterSingleSign‐On”onpage 29.

Protecting Passwords

Followoneofthefollowingapproachesforprotectingpasswords.

IfyouuseavCLIhostmanagementcommandinteractivelyanddonotspecifyausernameandpassword,

youarepromptedforthem.Thescreendoesnotechothepasswordyoutype.

Fornoninteractiveuse,youcancreateasessionfileusingthesave_sessionoption.See“UsingaSession

File”onpage 30.

TargetavCenterServersystemandauthenticatetovCenterSingleSign‐On.Youcansavethe

correspondingsessionanduseitforsubsequentconnections.See“AuthenticatingThroughvCenter

ServerandvCenterSingleSign‐On”onpage 29.

Usevariablesorconfigurationfiles.

IfyouarerunningonaWindowssystem,youcanusethe--passthroughauthoption.Iftheuserwho

runsthecommandwiththatoptionisaknownActiveDirectoryuser,nopasswordisrequired.

IfyouarerunningvMA,youcansetuptargetserversandrunmostvCLIcommandsagainsttargetservers

withoutadditionalauthentication.SeethevSphereManagementAssistantGuide.

vCLIallowsyoutorunscriptsagainstmultipletargetserversfromthesameadministrationserver.Youmust

havethecorrectprivilegestoperformtheactionsoneachtarget,andyoumustauthenticatetothetarget.

NOTEDifferentcommandsetsinthevCLIpackagerequiredifferentconnectionoptions.

CAUTIONIfyouspecifypasswordsinplaintext,youriskexposingthepasswordtootherusers.Thepassword

mightalsobecomeexposedinbackupfiles.Donotprovideplain‐textpasswordsonproductionsystems.

IMPORTANTAdministratorscanplaceESXihostsinlockdownmodeforenhancedsecurity.Bydefault,not

eventherootusercanrunvCLIcommandsdirectlyagainstESXihostsinlockdownmode.See“vCLIand

LockdownMode”onpage 32andthevSphereSecuritydocumentation.

VMware, Inc. 29

Chapter 4 Running vCLI Host Management Commands

Order of Precedence for vCLI Host Management Commands

WhenyourunavCLIhostmanagementcommand,authenticationhappensintheorderofprecedenceshown

inTable 4‐1.Thisorderofprecedencealwaysapplies.Thatmeans,forexample,thatyoucannotoverridean

environmentvariablesettinginaconfigurationfile.

IfyouareauthenticatingthroughvCenterSingleSign‐On,theorderofprecedenceispreserved,forexample,

informationyouspecifyonthecommandlineoverridesinformationinanenvironmentvariable.

Authenticating Through vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On

ForallESXihoststhataremanagedbyavCenterServersystemthatisintegratedwithvCenterSingleSign‐On

6.0andlater,youcanauthenticatedirectlytothevCenterServersystem,oryoucanauthorizetovCenter

ServerthroughvCenterSingleSign‐On.

BestpracticeistoauthenticatethroughvCenterSingleSign‐On.ThevCenterSingleSign‐Onserviceis

includedinthePlatformServicesController.ThePlatformServicesControllercanbeembeddedinyour

vCenterServerinstallation,oronePlatformServicesControllercanhandleauthentication,certificate

management,andsomeothertasksformultiplevCenterServersystems.

Youusethe--pscoptionand,optionally,the--server option.

psc‐SpecifiesthePlatformServicesControllerinstanceassociatedwiththevCenterServersystemthat

managesthehost.

server‐SpecifiesthevCenterServersystemthatmanagesthehost.RequiredifthePlatformServices

ControllerinstanceisassociatedwithmorethanonevCenterServersystem.

vihost‐SpecifiestheESXihost,asinearlierversionsofvCLI.

Examples

vicfg-nics -l --username <sso_username> --password "<admin_pwd>" --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>

--psc <psc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>

esxcli --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username <USERNAME>

--password <PASSWORD> --psc <psc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> hardware clock get

IfthespecifieduserisknowntovCenterSingleSign‐On,asessioniscreated.Youcansavethesessionwiththe

--savesessionfileargument,andlaterusethatsessionwiththe--sessionfile argument.Forexample,

youcansavethesessionbyrunningthiscommand:

NOTEAvailableoptionsandorderofprecedencearedifferentforDCLI.See“OrderofPrecedenceforDCLI

Authentication”onpage 43.

Table 4-1. vCLI Authentication Precedence

Authentication Description See

Commandline Password(--password),sessionfile

(--sessionfile),orconfigurationfile

(--config)specifiedonthecommandline.

“UsingaSessionFile”onpage 30

Environment

variable

Passwordspecifiedinanenvironmentvariable.“UsingEnvironmentVariables”onpage 30

Configurationfile Passwordspecifiedinaconfigurationfile.“UsingaConfigurationFile”onpage 31

Currentaccount

(ActiveDirectory)

Currentaccountinformationusedtoestablish

anSSPIconnection.AvailableonlyonWindows.

“UsingMicrosoftWindowsSecuritySupport

ProviderInterface”onpage 32

Credentialstore Passwordretrievedfromthecredentialstore.vSphereWebServicesSDKProgrammingGuide

andvSphereSDKforPerlProgrammingGuide.

Prompttheuserfor

apassword.

Passwordisnotechoedtoscreen.

NOTEYoucannotusethisapproachifvCenterServerisintegratedwithvCenterSingleSign‐On5.0.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

30 VMware, Inc.

vicfg-nics -l --username <sso_username> --password "<admin_pwd>" --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>

--psc <psc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>

UsingasessionfileresultsinlessoverheadandbetterperformancethanconnectingtothePlatformServices

Controllerrepeatedly.

Authenticating Directly to the Host

vCLIoffersseveraloptionsforauthenticatingdirectlytothehost.

Using a Session File

Youcancreateasessionfilewiththesave_sessionscript.Thescriptisinthe/apps/sessiondirectoryof

thevSphereSDKforPerl,whichisincludedinthevCLIpackage.Youcanusethesessionfile,whichdoesnot

revealpasswordinformation,whenyourunvCLIcommands.Ifthesessionfileisnotusedfor30 minutes,it

expires.

Ifyouuseasessionfile,otherconnectionoptionsareignored.

To create and use a session file

1 Connecttothedirectorywherethescriptislocated.

Forexample:

2Runsave_session.

Youcanusethesave_session.plscriptorthe--savesessionfileoptiontothevCLIcommand.You

mustspecifytheservertoconnecttoandthenameofasessionfileinwhichthescriptsavesan

authenticationcookie.

save_session --savesessionfile <location> --server <server>

Forexample:

Ifyouspecifyaserver,butnousernameorpassword,thescriptpromptsyou.

3WhenyourunvCLIcommands,passinthesessionfileusingthe--sessionfileoption.

<command> --sessionfile <sessionfile_location> <command_options>

Forexample:

Using Environment Variables

OnLinux,youcansetenvironmentvariablesinaLinuxbashprofileoronthecommandlinebyusinga

commandlikethefollowing:

export VI_SERVER=<your_server_name_or_address>

Windows: cd C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\Perl\apps\session

Linux: cd /usr/share/lib/vmware-vcli/apps/session

Windows: save_session.pl --savesessionfile C:\Temp\my_session --server my_server

--username <username> --password <password>

Linux: save_session --savesessionfile /tmp/vimsession --server <servername_or_address>

--username <username> --password <password>

Windows: esxcli --sessionfile C:\Temp\my_session network ip interface list

vicfg-mpath.pl --sessionfile C:\Temp\my_session --list

Linux: esxcli --sessionfile /tmp/vimsession network ip interface list

vicfg-mpath --sessionfile /tmp/vimsession --list

VMware, Inc. 31

Chapter 4 Running vCLI Host Management Commands

OnWindows,youcansetenvironmentvariablesintheEnvironmentpropertiesdialogboxoftheSystem

controlpanel.Forthecurrentsession,youcansetenvironmentvariablesatthecommandlinebyusinga

commandlikethefollowing:

set VI_SERVER=<your_server_name_or_address>

See“UsingvCLICommandsinScripts”onpage 36foranenvironmentvariableexample.

Using a Configuration File

Youcanuseatextfilethatcontainsvariablenamesandsettingsasaconfigurationfile.Variablescorresponding

totheoptionsareshowninTable 4‐2,“vCLIConnectionOptions,”onpage 34.

PassintheconfigurationfilewhenyourunvCLIcommands,asfollows:

<command> --config <my_saved_config> <option>

Forexample:

esxcli --config <my_saved_config> network ip interface list

vicfg-mpath --config <my_saved_config> --list

IfyouhavemultiplevCenterServerorESXisystemsandyouadministereachsystemindividually,youcan

createmultipleconfigurationfileswithdifferentnames.Torunacommandorasetofcommandsonaserver,

youpassinthe--configoptionwiththeappropriatefilenameatthecommandline.

Thefollowingexampleillustratesthecontentsofaconfigurationfile:

VI_PSC = XX.XXX.XXX.XX

VI_USERNAME = administrator@vsphere.local

VI_PASSWORD = admin_password

VI_PROTOCOL = https

VI_SERVER = my_vc

Ifyouhavesetupyoursystemtorunthisfile,youcanrunscriptsagainstthespecifiedESXihostafterwards.

Using Command-Line Options

Youcanpassincommand‐lineoptionsusingoptionnameandoptionvaluepairsinmostcases.ForESXCLI

commands,youcanuselongorshortoptions.Anequalsignbetweenoptionnameandoptionvalueis

optional.

esxcli --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username <privileged_user> --password <pw> --vihost

<esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> <namespace> [<namespace]...> <command>

--<option_name=option_value>

ForothervCLIcommands,uselongorshortoptions.Anequalsignisnotsupported.

<vicfg- command> --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username <privileged_user> --password <pw>

--vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --<option_name option_value>

Someoptions,suchas--help,havenovalue.

Thefollowingexamplesconnecttotheserverasusersnow-whitewithpassworddwarf$.

IMPORTANTDonotuseescapecharactersinenvironmentvariables.

CAUTIONLimitreadaccesstoaconfigurationfilethatcontainsusercredentials.

IMPORTANTEnclosepasswordsandothertextwithspecialcharactersinquotationmarks.

WhenrunningcommandsonWindows,usedoublequotes(“ “).WhenrunningcommandsonLinux,use

singlequotes(‘ ‘)orabackslash(\)asanescapecharacter.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

32 VMware, Inc.

Linux

esxcli --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username snow\-white --password dwarf\$ network ip

interface list

esxcli --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username snow\-white --password ‘dwarf$’ network ip

interface list

vicfg-mpath --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username snow\-white --password dwarf\$ --list

vicfg-mpath --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username ‘snow-white’ --password ‘dwarf$’ --list

Windows

esxcli --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username “snow-white” --password “dwarf$” network ip

interface list

vicfg-mpath.pl --server <esxo_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username “snow-white” --password “dwarf$” --list

Using Microsoft Windows Security Support Provider Interface

The--passthroughauthoption,whichisavailableifyourunvCLIcommandsfromaMicrosoftWindows

system,allowsyoutousetheMicrosoftWindowsSecuritySupportProviderInterface(SSPI).SeetheMicrosoft

WebsiteforadetaileddiscussionofSSPI.

Youcanuse--passthroughauthtoestablishaconnectionwithavCenterServersystem.Aftertheconnection

hasbeenestablished,authenticationforthevCenterServersystemoranyESXisystemitmanagesisnolonger

required.Using--passthroughauthpassesthecredentialsoftheuserwhorunsthecommandtothetarget

vCenterServersystem.Noadditionalauthenticationisrequirediftheuserwhorunsthecommandisknown

bythecomputerfromwhichyouaccessthevCenterServersystemandbythecomputerrunningthevCenter

Serversoftware.

IfvCLIcommandsandthevCenterServersoftwarerunonthesamecomputer,theuserneedsonlyalocal

accounttorunthecommand.IfthevCLIcommandandthevCenterServersoftwarerunondifferent

machines,theuserwhorunsthecommandmusthaveanaccountinadomaintrustedbybothmachines.

SSPIsupportsseveralprotocols.Bydefault,itselectstheNegotiateprotocol,whereclientandservertryto

findaprotocolthatbothsupport.Youcanuse--passthroughauthpackagetoexplicitlyspecifyaprotocol

thatissupportedbySSPI.Kerberos,theWindowsstandardfordomain‐levelauthentication,isused

frequently.IfthevCenterServersystemisconfiguredtoacceptonlyaspecificprotocol,specifyingtheprotocol

with --passthroughauthpackagemightberequiredforsuccessfulauthentication.Ifyouuse

--passthroughauth,youdonothavetospecifyauthenticationinformationbyusingotheroptions.

Example

esxcli --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --passthroughauth --passthroughauthpackage “Kerberos”

--vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> network ip interface list

vicfg-mpath.pl --server <vc_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --passthroughauth --passthroughauthpackage

“Kerberos” --vihost <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --list

ConnectstoaserverthatissetuptouseSSPI.Whenatrusteduserrunsthecommand,thesystemcallsthe

ESXCLIcommandorvicfg-mpathwiththe--listoption.Thesystemdoesnotpromptforausernameand

password.

vCLI and Lockdown Mode

LockdownmodecandisablealldirectrootaccesstoESXimachines.TomakechangestoESXisystemsin

lockdownmodeyoumustgothroughavCenterServersystemthatmanagestheESXisystem.Youcanusethe

vSphereWebClientorvCLIcommandsthatsupportthe--vihostoption.Thefollowingcommandscannot

runagainstvCenterServersystemsandarethereforenotavailableinlockdownmode:

vifs

vicfg-user

vicfg-cfgbackup

vihostupdate

vmkfstools

VMware, Inc. 33

Chapter 4 Running vCLI Host Management Commands

vicfg-ipsec

IfyouhaveproblemsrunningacommandonanESXihostdirectly(withoutspecifyingavCenterServer

target),checkwhetherlockdownmodeisenabledonthathost.SeethevSphereSecuritydocumentation.

Trust Relationship Requirement for ESXCLI Commands

StartingwithvSphere6.0,ESXCLIcheckswhetheratrustrelationshipexistsbetweenthemachinewhereyou

runtheESXCLIcommandandtheESXihost.Anerrorresultsifthetrustrelationshipdoesnotexist.

Toestablishthetrustrelationship,youhavetheseoptions.

Downloading and Installing the vCenter Server Certificate

YoucandownloadthevCenterServerrootcertificateusingaWebbrowserandaddittothetrustedcertificates

onthemachinewhereyouplanonrunningESXCLIcommands.

To download the certificate

1TypetheURLofthevCenterServersystemorvCenterServerVirtualApplianceintoaWebBrowser.

2ClicktheDownloadtrustedrootcertificateslink.

3 Changetheextensionofthedownloadedfileto.zip.(ThefileisaZIPfileofallcertificatesinthe

TRUSTED_ROOTSstore).

4ExtracttheZIPfile.

Theresultisacertsfolder.Thefolderincludesfileswiththeextension.0..1,andsoon,whichare

certificates,andfileswiththeextension.r0,r1,andsoonwhichareCRLfilesassociatedwiththe

certificates.

5Addthetrustedrootcertificatestothelistoftrustedroots.Theprocessdiffersdependingontheplatform

youareon.

YoucannowrunESXCLIcommandsagainstanyhostthatismanagedbythetrustedvCenterServerwithout

supplyingadditionalinformationifyouspecifythevCenterServerinthe--serveroptionandtheESXihost

inthe--vihostoption.

Using the --cacertsfile Option

Usingacertificatetoestablishthetrustrelationshipisthemostsecureoption.Youcanspecifythecertificate

withthe--cacertsfileparameterortheVI_CACERTFILEvariable.

Using the --thumbprint Option

Youcansupplythethumbprintforthetargetserver(ESXihostorvCenterServersystem)inthe--thumbprint

parameter(VI_THUMBPRINTvariable).

Whenyourunacommand,ESXCLIchecksfirstwhetheracertificatefileisavailable.Ifnot,ESXCLIchecks

whetherathumbprintofthetargetserverisavailable.Ifnot,anerrorlikethefollowingresults:

Connect to sof-40583-srv failed. Server SHA-1 thumbprint:

5D:01:06:63:55:9D:DF:FE:38:81:6E:2C:FA:71:BC:Usin63:82:C5:16:51 (not trusted).

Youcanrunthecommandwiththethumbprinttoestablishthetrustrelationship,oraddthethumbprintto

theVI_THUMBPRINTvariable.Forexample,usingthethumbprintoftheESXihostabove,youcanrunthe

followingcommand:

esxcli --server myESXi --username user1 --password 'my_password' --thumbprint

5D:01:06:63:55:9D:DF:FE:38:81:6E:2C:FA:71:BC:63:82:C5:16:51 storage nfs list

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

34 VMware, Inc.

Using the Credential Store

YourvCLIinstallationincludesacredentialstore.Youcanmanagethecredentialstorewiththe

credstore-adminutilityapplication,whichislocatedinthe/Perl/apps/generaldirectoryinsidethe

VMwarevSphereCLIdirectory.

To establish trust for a user with the credential store

1AddtheuserandpasswordforthetargetESXihosttothelocalcredentialstore.

credstore_admin.pl add --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username <user> --password <pwd>

2AddthethumbprintforthetargetESXihost.Thisthumbprintwasreturnedintheerrorwhenyou

attemptedtoconnecttothehost.

credstore_admin.pl add --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --thumbprint <thumbprint>

3Ifyouareusinganon‐defaultcredentialstorefile,youhavetopassitinwiththe--credstoreoption.

Otherwise,thisuserwillbeabletoaccessthehostwithoutauthenticationgoingforward.

Common Options for vCLI Host Management Command Execution

Table 4‐2listsoptionsthatareavailableforallvCLIhostmanagementcommandsinalphabeticalorder.The

tableincludesoptionsforuseonthecommandlineandvariablesforuseinconfigurationfiles.Optionsfor

executingDCLIcommandsaredifferent.

See“RunningHostManagementCommandsfromaWindowsSystem”onpage 37and“RunningHost

ManagementCommandsfromaLinuxSystem”onpage 37.

IMPORTANTUpdatingthecredentialstoreisatwo‐stepprocess.Firstyouaddtheuserandpasswordforthe

server,andthenyouaddthethumbprintfortheserver.

IMPORTANTStartingwithvSphere5.5,vCLIsupportsbothIPv4andIPv6connections.

Table 4-2. vCLI Connection Options

Option and Environment Variable Description

--cacertsfile <certsfile>

-t <certs_file>

VI_CACERTFILE=<cert_file_path>

ESXCLIcommandsonly.

UsedtospecifytheCA(CertificateAuthority)certificatefile,inPEMformat,

toverifytheidentityofthevCenterServersystemorESXisystemtorunthe

commandon.

InvCLI6.0andlater,youcanonlyrunESXCLIcommandsifatrust

relationshipexistsbetweenthehostyouarerunningthecommandonandthe

systemyouaretargetingwiththe--serveroption(ESXihostorvCenter

Serversystem).YoucanestablishthetrustrelationshipbyspecifyingtheCA

certificatefileorbypassinginthethumbprintforeachtargetserver(ESXihost

orvCenterServersystem).

--config <cfg_file_full_path>

VI_CONFIG=<cfg_file_full_path>

Usestheconfigurationfileatthespecifiedlocation.

Specifyapaththatisreadablefromthecurrentdirectory.

--credstore <credstore>

VI_CREDSTORE=<credstore>

Nameofacredentialstorefile.Defaultsto

<HOME>/.vmware/credstore/vicredentials.xmlonLinuxand

<APPDATA>/VMware/credstore/vicredentials.xmlonWindows.

CommandsforsettingupthecredentialstoreareincludedinthevSphereSDK

forPerl,whichisinstalledwithvCLI.ThevSphereSDKforPerlProgramming

Guideexplainshowtomanagethecredentialstore.

--encoding <encoding>

VI_ENCODING=<encoding>

Specifiestheencodingtobeused.Severalencodingsaresupported.

utf8

cp936(SimplifiedChinese)

shftjis(Japanese)

iso-885901(German).

Youcanuse--encodingtospecifytheencodingvCLIshouldmaptowhenit

isrunonaforeignlanguagesystem.

VMware, Inc. 35

Chapter 4 Running vCLI Host Management Commands

--passthroughauth

VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTH

Ifyouspecifythisoption,thesystemusestheMicrosoftWindowsSecurity

SupportProviderInterface(SSPI)forauthentication.Trustedusersarenot

promptedforausernameandpassword.SeetheMicrosoftWebsitefora

detaileddiscussionofSSPI.

ThisoptionissupportedonlyifyouareconnectingtoavCenterServersystem.

--passthroughauthpackage

<package>

VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTHPACKAGE=

<package>

Usethisoptionwith--passthroughauthtospecifyadomain‐level

authenticationprotocoltobeusedbyWindows.Bydefault,SSPIusesthe

Negotiateprotocol,whichmeansthatclientandservertrytonegotiatea

protocolthatbothsupport.

IfthevCenterServersystemtowhichyouareconnectingisconfiguredtouse

aspecificprotocol,youcanspecifythatprotocolusingthisoption.

ThisoptionissupportedonlyifyouarerunningvCLIonaWindowssystem

andconnectingtoavCenterServersystem.

--password <passwd>

VI_PASSWORD=<passwd>

Usesthespecifiedpassword(usedwith--username)tologintotheserver.

If--serverspecifiesavCenterServersystem,theusernameandpassword

applytothatserver.IfyoucanlogintothevCenterServersystem,you

neednoadditionalauthenticationtoruncommandsontheESXihoststhat

servermanages.

If--serverspecifiesanESXihost,theusernameandpasswordapplyto

thatserver.

Usetheemptystring(' 'onLinuxand“ “onWindows)toindicateno

password.

Ifyoudonotspecifyausernameandpasswordonthecommandline,the

systempromptsyouanddoesnotechoyourinputtothescreen.

--portnumber <number>

VI_PORTNUMBER=<number>

Usesthespecifiedporttoconnecttothesystemspecifiedby--server.Default

is443.

--protocol <HTTP|HTTPS>

VI_PROTOCOL=<HTTP|HTTPS>

Usesthespecifiedprotocoltoconnecttothesystemspecifiedby--server.

DefaultisHTTPS.

--psc <hostname_or_IP>

VI_PSC=<hostname_or_IP>

HostnameorIPaddressofthePlatformServicesControllerinstancethatis

associatedwiththevCenterServersystemthatmanagesthehost.Inmany

cases,thePlatformServicesControllerisembeddedinthevCenterServer

system,butexternalPlatformServicesControllerinstancesaresupportedas

well.Forthosecases,usethe--serveroptiontospecifythevCenterServer

systemthatmanagesthehost.

ThisoptionimpliesuserauthenticationwithvCenterSingleSign‐On.Theuser

youspecifymustbeabletoauthenticatetovCenterSingleSign‐On.

--savesessionfile <file>

VI_SAVESESSIONFILE=<file>

Savesasessiontothespecifiedfile.Thesessionexpiresifithasbeenunused

for30minutes.

--server <server>

VI_SERVER=<server>

UsesthespecifiedESXiorvCenterServersystem.Defaultislocalhost.

If--serverpointstoavCenterServersystem,youcanalsospecifythe--psc

optiontologintothevCenterServersystemwithvCenterSingleSign‐On.

Usethe--vihostoptiontospecifytheESXihostthatyouwanttorunthe

commandagainst.See“AuthenticatingThroughvCenterServerandvCenter

SingleSign‐On”onpage 29.

--servicepath <path>

VI_SERVICEPATH=<path>

UsesthespecifiedservicepathtoconnecttotheESXihost.Defaultis

/sdk/webService.

--sessionfile <file>

VI_SESSIONFILE=<file>

Usesthespecifiedsessionfiletoloadapreviouslysavedsession.Thesession

mustbeunexpired.

--thumbprint <thumbprint>

VI_THUMBPRINT=<thumbprint>

ExpectedSHA‐1hostcertificatethumbprintifnoCAcertificatesfileis

providedinthe--cacertsfile argument.Thethumbprintisreturnedbythe

serverintheerrormessageifyouattempttorunacommandwithout

specifyingathumbprintorcertificatefile.

--url <url>

VI_URL=<url>

ConnectstothespecifiedvSphereWebServicesSDKURL.

Table 4-2. vCLI Connection Options (Continued)

Option and Environment Variable Description

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

36 VMware, Inc.

Table 4‐3listsoptionsnotusedasconnectionoptionsthatyoucanusewhenyourunavicfg-vCLIcommand.

Using vCLI Commands in Scripts

Mostadministratorsrunscriptstoperformthesametaskrepeatedlyortoperformataskonmultiplehosts.

YoucanrunvCLIcommandsfromoneadministrationserveragainstmultipletargetservers.

Forexample,whenanewdatastorebecomesavailableinyourenvironment,youmustmakethatdatastore

availabletoeachESXihost.ThefollowingsamplescriptillustrateshowtomakeaNASdatastoreavailableto

threehosts(esxi_server_a,esx_server_b,andesxi_server_c).

Thesampleassumesthataconfigurationfile/home/admin/.visdkrc.<hostname>existsforeachhost.For

example,theconfigurationfileforesxi_server_ahasthefollowingcontents:

VI_SERVER = esxi_server_a

VI_USERNAME = root

VI_PASSWORD = xysfdjkat

ThescriptaddstheNASdatastoretoeachhostdefinedinVIHOSTS.

#!/bin/bash

VI_CONFIG_FILE=/home/admin/viconfig

VIHOSTS=(esxi_server_a esx_server_b esxi_server_c)

for VIHOST in ${VIHOSTS[@]}

do

echo "Adding NAS datastore for ${VIHOST} ..."

esxcli --config ${VI_CONFIG_FILE} storage nfs add --host ${VIHOST} --share <share point>

--volume-name <volume name>

esxcli --config ${VI_CONFIG_FILE} storage nfs list

done

--username <u_name>

VI_USERNAME=<u_name>

Usesthespecifiedusername.

If--serverspecifiesavCenterServersystem,theusernameand

passwordapplytothatserver.IfyoucanlogintothevCenterServer

system,youneednoadditionalauthenticationtoruncommandsonthe

ESXihoststhatservermanages.

If--serverspecifiesanESXisystem,theusernameandpasswordapply

tothatsystem.

Ifyoudonotspecifyausernameandpasswordonthecommandline,the

systempromptsyouanddoesnotechoyourinputtothescreen.

--vihost <host>

-h <host>

WhenyourunavCLIcommandwiththe--serveroptionpointingtoa

vCenterServersystem,use--vihosttospecifytheESXihosttorunthe

commandagainst.

NOTE:Thisoptionisnotsupportedforeachcommand.Ifsupported,the

optionisincludedwhenyourun<cmd> --help.

Table 4-3. vCLI Common Options

Option Description

--help Printsabriefusagemessage.Themessagelistsfirsteachcommand‐specificoptionandthen

eachofthecommonoptions.

--verbose Displaysadditionaldebugginginformation.

--version Displaysversioninformation.

Table 4-2. vCLI Connection Options (Continued)

Option and Environment Variable Description

VMware, Inc. 37

Chapter 4 Running vCLI Host Management Commands

Running Host Management Commands from a Windows System

AfteryouinstallvCLIandrebootyoursystem,youcantesttheinstallationbyrunningavCLIorSDKforPerl

commandfromtheWindowscommandprompt.

To run a vCLI command on Windows

1FromtheWindowsStartmenu,choosePrograms>VMware>VMwarevSphereCLI>Command

Prompt.

AcommandpromptshellforthelocationwherevCLIisinstalledappears.YouhaveeasyaccesstovCLI

andtovSphereSDKforPerlcommandsfromthatlocation.

2Runthecommand,passinginconnectionoptionsandotheroptions.

OnWindows,theextension.plisrequiredforvicfg-commands,butnotforESXCLI.

<command>.pl <conn_options> <params>

Forexample:

esxcli --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username “snow-white” --password “dwarf$” network ip

interface list

vicfg-mpath.pl --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username “snow-white” --password “dwarf$”

--list

Thesystempromptsyouforausernameandpassword.

Running Host Management Commands from a Linux System

Afterinstallation,youcanrunvCLIcommandsandvSphereSDKforPerlutilityapplicationsatthecommand

prompt.

To run a vCLI command on Linux

1Openacommandprompt.

2 (Optional)ChangetothedirectorywhereyouinstalledthevCLI(defaultis/usr/bin).

3Runthecommand,includingtheconnectionoptions.

<command> <conn_options> <params>

Specifyconnectionoptionsinaconfigurationfileorpassthemonthecommandline.Theextension.pl

isnotrequiredonLinux.Forexample:

esxcli --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username snow\-white --password dwarf\$ network ip

interface list

vicfg-mpath --server <esxi_HOSTNAME_OR_IP> --username snow\-white --password dwarf\$ --list

Thesystempromptsyouforausernameandpasswordforthetargetserver.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

38 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 39

5f

YoucanrunDCLIcommandsasvCLIcommands,fromthevCenterServerApplianceshell,andfromthe

commandpromptofavCenterServerWindowsinstallation.

“OverviewofRunningDCLICommands”onpage 39

“RunningDCLICommands”onpage 41

“Input,Output,andReturnCodes”onpage 43

“UsingDCLIwithVariables”onpage 43

“DCLIHistoryFile”onpage 44

Overview of Running DCLI Commands

YoucanrunDCLIcommandsinteractivelyorinscriptsinseveralways.

RunDCLIcommandslocallyfromthevCenterServerApplianceshell.

RunDCLIcommandslocallyfromyourvCenterServeronWindowscommandprompt.

RunDCLIcommandsthatareincludedinthevCLIpackage.

OpenacommandpromptonaLinuxorWindowssystemonwhichyouinstalledvCLI.Enter

commandsintothatcommandprompt,specifyingconnectionoptions.

AccessthevMALinuxconsole.DCLIdoesnotsupportthevi‐fastpassconnectionsavailablefrom

vMA.

PreparescriptsthatcontainDCLIcommands.ThenrunthescriptsasvCLIscripts,fromthevCenter

ServerWindowscommandprompt,orfromthevCenterServerApplianceshell.Usethecredentialstore

optionstoauthenticate,passwordsarenotsupportedinscripts.

Running DCLI Commands

5

IMPORTANTAuthenticationoptionsforDCLIcommandsdifferfromoptionsforvCLIhostmanagement

commands.

IMPORTANTUserswhorunDCLIcommandstomonitorandmanagevCenterservicesmusthavethe

appropriateprivileges.

WhenyourunDCLIcommandsincludedwithvCLI,youmustbeauserwhocanauthenticatetovCenter

SingleSign‐Onandwhoisalsoauthorizedtoperformtheservice,forexample,managevCentertags.

WhenyourunDCLIcommandsfromthevCenterServerApplianceshell,DCLIallowsyoutorunmany

commandswithoutadditionalauthentication.However,formanagementofcertainservices,youmight

bepromptedforausernameandpassword.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

40 VMware, Inc.

DCLI Syntax

EachDCLIcommandusesthesamesyntax.

ThecommandnameisfollowedbyDCLIconnectionandformattingoptions,eachprecededbya+sign.After

theDCLIoptionscomethenamespace,thecommand,andthecommandoptions,asinthefollowingexample:

dcli +[DCLI options] <namespace> [<namespace> ...] <cmd> --[cmd option] [option value]

DCLIoptions.Predefinedoptionsforconnectioninformationandformattingoptions.Alwayspreceded

bya+sign.

NotrequiredwhenyourunthecommandonthelocalhostattheWindowscommandpromptorthe

vCenterServerApplianceshell.

namespace.GroupsDCLIcommands.NamespacescorrespondtothevCloudSuiteSDKnamespaces.

command.Reportsonormodifiesstateonthesystem.

optionandvalue.Commandoptionandvaluepairsprecededbyminusminus(--).

Example

$dcli +server my_remote_vc +username user42 com vmware cis tagging tag list

DCLI Options

YoucanruneachDCLIcommandwithconnectionorformattingoptionsprecededbya+.

Formanyoftheoptions,youcaninsteadusevariables,discussedinTable 5‐3,“VariablesSupportedbyDCLI,”

onpage 43.

dcli [+server SERVER_IP]

[+interactive]

[+prompt PROMPT]

[+ssl-cert-file SSL_CERT_FILE]

[+ssl-key-file SSL_KEY_FILE]

[+cacert-file CACERT_FILE]

[+more]

[+formatter {simple,table,xml,json,html,csv}]

[+loglevel {debug, info, warning, error}]

[+username USERNAME] [+password]

[+credstore-file CREDSTORE_FILE]

[+credstore-add | +credstore-remove | +credstore-list]

[+session-manager SESSION_MANAGER] [args [args ...]]

Theseoptionsallowyoutoprovidethefollowinginformation.Ifyouareenteringoptionsinteractively,tab

completionissupportedonLinuxsystems.Inallcases,youcanspecifyapartialoptionaslongastheoption

isnotambiguous.Forexample,+iindicatesinteractive,butyouhavetospecify,ataminimum,+credstore-a

todisambiguatethatoption.

Table 5-1. DCLI Options

Option Description Default

server ThevCenterServersystemtowhichDCLIconnects.localhost

interactive RunsDCLIininteractiveshellmode,whichsupportstab

completionofcommands,options,andsomeoptionvalues.Italso

supportssavingthecommandhistoryacrossDCLIsessions.

InteractivemodeisfasterbecauseDCLIcachesthelistof

commandsavailableonavCenterServersystem.

prompt Promptthattheinteractiveshelluses.dcli>

ssl-key-file

ssl-cert-file

cacert-file

IftheCLIclientconnectstoavCenterServersystemthatisusing

HTTPSconnections,youcanusetheseoptionstoprovideSSL

authenticationoptions.

more Displayspage‐wiseoutput.

VMware, Inc. 41

Chapter 5 Running DCLI Commands

Running DCLI Commands

YoucandisplayhelpinformationforDCLIcommands,andrunthecommandsfromasystemwherevCLIis

installed,fromthevCenterServerApplianceshell,orfromavCenterServeronWindowscommandprompt.

Displaying Help Information for DCLI Commands

Youcandisplayhelpforeachnamespaceandcommandbyusingthe--helpcommand‐lineoption.Because

theavailablecommandsdependentirelyontheservicesthatareavailableinthevCenterenvironmentthatyou

aretargeting,youmustincludetheserverforaccuratehelpinformation.Helpreturnsthefollowing

informationforacommand:

Eachinputoption

Whethertheoptionisrequired

Inputtype

formatter Outputformatter,oneofthefollowing:

simple

table

xml

json

html

csv

Defaultistableforlistsof

structuresandsimplefor

allotheroutput.

loglevel Theloglevel,oneofdebug,info,warning,orerror.info

username Ifyourunfromthelocalshell,mostDCLIcommandsdonot

requiretheusername.IfyouarerunningvCLIcommands,theuser

youspecifymustbeabletoauthenticatetothevCenterServer

system.

Theuseryouspecifymusthavetheprivilegestoperformthetask,

asspecifiedthroughvCenterServerroles.

Youarepromptedforthepassword.Thepasswordisnotechoedto

screen.

credstore-file Pathtothecredentialstorefiletouseforcredentialstoreoperations

orforreadinglogincredentials.

Usethisoptiononlyifthedefaultcredentialstorefilenamedoes

notworkinyourenvironment.

Bydefault,thecredentialstorefileisinthe

.dcli\.dcli_credstoredirectoryinsidethehomedirectory.

$HOME/.dcli/.dcli_cr

edstore

credstore-add AddslogincredentialsenteredforacommandtotheDCLI

credentialstorefile.

ThisoptionstorestheserverIPaddress,sessionmanager,

usernameandpasswordforthecommandbeingexecuted.Ifan

entryalreadyexists,thecommandupdatestheentry.

dclidirectoryinsidethe

homedirectory.

$HOME/dcli

credstore-remove RemovesanentryfromtheDCLIcredentialstorefile.

ThisoptionremovestheentryforaspecifiedserverIPaddressand

usernameifonlyonesessionmanagerispresentforatargetserver

anduser.

Inrarecases,informationaboutmultiplesessionmanagerentries

ispresent.Youhavetoprovidethesessionmanagerwiththe

session-manager option.

credstore-list ListsallentriesstoredintheDCLIcredentialstorefile.Eachentry

includestheserverIPaddress,sessionmanager,andusername.

session-manager Usethisoptionifyouusethecredstore-removeoptionthesame

usernameandpasswordarestoredthroughmultiplesession

managers.Notusuallyrequired.

Table 5-1. DCLI Options

Option Description Default

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

42 VMware, Inc.

Example

dcli com vmware cis tagging tag create --help

usage: com vmware cis tagging tag create [-h] --create-spec-name CREATE_SPEC_NAME

--create-spec-description CREATE_SPEC_DESCRIPTION --create-spec-category-id

CREATE_SPEC_CATEGORY_ID

Creates a tag

Input Arguments:

-h, --help show this help message and exit

--create-spec-name CREATE_SPEC_NAME

The display name of the tag (required string)

--create-spec-description CREATE_SPEC_DESCRIPTION

The description of the tag (required string)

--create-spec-category-id CREATE_SPEC_CATEGORY_ID

The unique identifier of the parent category in which this tag will be

created (required string)

Running DCLI Commands Included in the vCLI Package

YourunvCLIcommandsfromanadministrationserveronwhichyouinstalledthevCLIpackage.After

installation,openacommandpromptintheVMware\VMware DCLI folder,whichisatthesamelevelasthe

VMwarevSphereCLIfolder.

Youspecifyaserver,username,andpassword.Ifyouspecifycredstore-add,DCLIcreatesacredentialstore

fileonthelocalmachineandyouarenolongerrequiredtospecifytheusernameandpasswordwhenyourun

DCLIcommandsagain.

Running DCLI Commands on the vCenter Server Appliance

TherootuseronthevCenterServerAppliancecanrunDCLIcommandsfromtheapplianceshell.

1SSHintotheshellorlogintotheshelldirectlyastherootuser.

Theadministrator@vsphere.localuserdoesnothaveprivilegestorunDCLIcommands.

2Youcanruncommandsindividually,orstarttheinteractiveDCLIshell.Theinteractiveshellhasseveral

advantagesincludingtabcompletionandahistoryfile.

>dcli +interactive

3Youcanlistcommands,displayhelpforcommands,andexecutecommands.Intheexamplebelow,the

interactiveshellusesthedcli>prompt,thedefault.

dcli> com vmware vapi metadata cli command list

Using DCLI with a Credential Store File

ToavoidtypingintheusernameandpasswordeachtimeyourunaDCLIcommand,youcanaddthecurrent

userandtheassociatedpasswordandserverIPaddresstoacredentialstorefilebyusingthecredstore-add

optiononthecommandline.

Passwordsareencryptedinthecredentialstorefile,butifyouwanttoremovecredentialstoreinformation,

youcanuse+credstore-removetodoso.

Bydefault,thecredentialstorefileislocatedin<homedir>/.dcli/.dcli_credstore,butyoucanchangethe

locationwiththe+credstore-fileoption.

Examples

Thefollowingexamplesillustratehowyoucaninteractwiththecredentialstore.

1Addanewcredentialstoreentry.

dcli com vmware cis tagging tag list +credstore-add +username user1

2Removeacredentialstoreentry.

VMware, Inc. 43

Chapter 5 Running DCLI Commands

dcli +credstore-remove +server <server> +username user1

3Listallcredentialstoreentries.

dcli +credstore-list

Order of Precedence for DCLI Authentication

WhenyourunaDCLIcommand,authenticationhappensintheorderofprecedenceshowninTable 5‐2,

“DCLIAuthenticationPrecedence,”onpage 43.Thisorderofprecedencealwaysapplies.Thatmeans,for

example,thatyoucanoverrideanenvironmentvariablesettingfromthecommandline.

IfyouareauthenticatingthroughvCenterSingleSign‐On,theorderofprecedenceispreserved.

Input, Output, and Return Codes

DCLIsupportsthefollowinginputarguments.

Basictypes.Youcanenterbasictypeslikestring,int,double,orbooleanonthecommandline.

Listtypes.ProvidethesameoptionmultipletimesonthecommandlineandDCLItreatsitasalist.

Structure.Forstructureinputfieldsusethedotnotation.Forexample,id.pathisthepathfieldintheid

structure.

Currentlysupportedoutputformattertypesaresimple,xml,html,table,csvandjson.Youcanchangethe

outputformatbypassingtheformatteroptiontoDCLI.

ForscriptingpurposesDCLIreturnsanon‐zeroerrorcodeforanunsuccessfulcommand.Toseethelast

commandstatusininteractivemode,runthe$?command.

Using DCLI with Variables

YoucanpredefineasetofvariablesintheenvironmentwhereyourunDCLIcommandssoyoudon’thaveto

passtheoptionseachtimeyourunacommand.Thefollowingenvironmentvariablesaresupported.

Table 5-2. DCLI Authentication Precedence

Authentication Description

Commandline Usernameandpassword,specifiedonthecommandlinetakesprecedence,evenifacredential

storeexists.

Environment

variable

Ausernamespecifiedinanenvironmentvariabletakesprecedenceoverusernamesinthe

credentialstore,butnotoverthecommandline.

Credentialstore Usernameandpasswordretrievedfromthecredentialstore.Acustomcredentialstorefileata

non‐defaultlocationhasprecedenceoverafileatthedefaultlocation.

Table 5-3. Variables Supported by DCLI

Variable Description

DCLI_SERVER SetthisvariabletopasstheserverIPaddress.

Passingtheserveroptiononthecommandlineoverridesthisvariable.

DCLI_SSLCERTFILE SetthisvariabletopassthepathofyourSSLcertificatefile.

Passingthessl-cert-fileoptiononthecommandlineoverridesthisvariable.

DCLI_SSLKEYFILE SetthisvariabletopassthepathofyourSSLkeyfile.

Passingthessl-key-file optiononthecommandlineoverridesthisvariable.

DCLI_CACERTFILE SetthisvariabletopassthepathofaCAcertificatefile.

Passingthecacert-fileoptiononthecommandlineoverridesthisvariable.

DCLI_USERNAME Setthisvariabletopasstheusernamerequiredforauthentication

Passingtheusernameoptiononcommandlineoverridesthisvariable.

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

44 VMware, Inc.

DCLI History File

DCLImaintainsahistoryfileforeachDCLIclientthatrunsininteractivemode.Thefilestoresinformationon

aper‐userbasisandnotonaper‐clientbasis.

SpecifythemaximumnumberofcommandstobestoredwiththeDCLI_HISTSIZEvariable.Defaultis500

commands.

Youcanfindthefileatthefollowinglocation:

Windows:C:\Users\<username>\AppData\VMware\vapi\dcli.log

vCenterServerAppliance:/var/log/vmware/vapi/dcli.log

DCLI_CREDFILE SetthisvariabletopointtoaDCLIcredentialstorefile.Defaultvalueis

~/.dcli/.dcli_credstore

Passingthecredstore-fileoptiononthecommandlineoverridesvariable.

DCLI_HISTFILE SetthisvariabletopointtoaDCLIinteractiveshellhistoryfilepath.Defaultvalueis

~/.dcli/.dcli_history.

DCLI_HISTSIZE SetthisvariabletospecifythemaximumnumberofcommandstobestoredintheDCLI

interactiveshellhistory.Defaultis500.

DCLI_LOGFILE SetthisvariabletospecifythelogfileforDCLI.

Table 5-3. Variables Supported by DCLI

Variable Description

VMware, Inc. 45

Index

A

Active Directory 22

authentication information 30

C

command-line connection parameters 31

configuration files

for authentication 31

usage 31

connection options 30, 34

cp936 encoding 34

creating session files 30

credential store precedence 29, 43

D

DCUI 23

deploying vMA 22

direct console 23

E

encoding

cp936 34

Shift_JIS 34

execution options 34

I

installing vCLI

Linux 18, 30

Windows 21

installing vMA 22

L

Linux

installing vCLI 18, 30

running vCLI commands 32, 37

vCLI 18

lockdown mode 32

M

Microsoft Windows Security Support Provider

Interface 32

O

options 34

order of precedence 29

P

Perl 15

precedence 29

prerequisites

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 18

R

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 18

required parameters 30

running commands

from vMA 22

Linux 18, 30

Windows 21

S

scripts with vCLI commands 36

session files 30

Shift_JIS encoding 34

SSPI protocol 32

U

uninstalling

Linux 21

on Linux 21

on Windows 22

Using 31

using session files 30

V

vCLI

command-line 31

configuration files 31

environment variables 30, 31

execution options 34

installing on Linux 18, 30

installing on Windows 21

vCLI package

installing on Linux 16

installing on Windows 21

uninstalling 21

unpacking 18, 20

vMA 22

environment variables 31

installing 22

multiple configuration files 31

vSphere Management Assistant 22

Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

46 VMware, Inc.

vSphere SDK for Perl 15

W

Windows

executing commands 32

installing vCLI 21

running vCLI commands 37

using vCLI 21