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VMware ESXi 6.5 - ESXCLI Command Reference

ESXCLI is a powerful command line tool on an ESXi host. You may need it for troubleshooting, configuration or for automated ESXi installations by using a kickstart file. I'm having a esxcli command line reference on my desktop since vSphere 5.x and I am using it quite often. Here is the command line reference for the latest release of vSphere ESXi 6.5.

Download: esxi65-esxcli-command-reference.txtRead More »VMware ESXi 6.5 - ESXCLI Command Reference

vSphere 6.0 - How to use ESXCLI Commands in PowerCLI

PowerCLI, a set of PowerShell extensions for vSphere, is a great tool for automating VMware configuration and management tasks. It allows you to change a lot of ESXi host and vCenter settings. One powerful cmdlet is Get-EsxCli which allows you to run ESXCLI tasks from your PowerCLI console. ESXCLI is the main configuration command on an ESXi host. This post explains how to use the Get-EsxCli cmdlet.

get-esxcli

Read More »vSphere 6.0 - How to use ESXCLI Commands in PowerCLI

ESXi 6.0 - ESXCLI Command Mindmap

In vSphere 6.0 the command line interface esxcli has 2 new namespaces. The esxcli is a complete set of commands that you can use for troubleshooting, configuration or kickstart files. I have created and printed a mindmap to navigate through the namespaces more quickly. This post covers only basic namespaces, available on all ESXi 6.0 hosts. If you've installed additional software you might see more namespaces. I've also created a mindmap for ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.5.

ESXCLI in version 6.0 has 15 namespaces:Read More »ESXi 6.0 - ESXCLI Command Mindmap

vSphere 6.0 - New ESXCLI Namespaces

In vSphere 6.0 the command line interface esxcli has been extended by the new features. This post introduces the new and extended namespaces. Remarkable changes in esxcli version 6.0.0 are:

  • Local user management with the system.account namespace
  • Certificate Store management with the system.security.certificatestore namespace
  • Virtual Volumes management with the storage.vvol namespace
  • Remote direct memory access management with the rdma namespace
  • The network.fence namespace has been removed
  • The network.vswitch.dvs.vmware.vxlan namespace has been removed

esxcli-vsphere-60

Read More »vSphere 6.0 - New ESXCLI Namespaces

ESXi 5 Network Troubleshooting Commands

Check if a remote host is online and reachable.

~ # ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=58 time=13.701 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=10.176 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=58 time=9.055 ms

--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 9.055/10.977/13.701 ms

Ping from a specific VMkernel adapter.

~ # ping -I vmk1 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=58 time=9.991 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=9.270 ms

Read More »ESXi 5 Network Troubleshooting Commands

How to kill an Unresponsive VM (ESXi 5.x)

When a Virtual Machine crashed it might happen that you cannot power it off with the vSphere Client. In that case, you have to kill the VM through the ESXi command-line.

Connect to the ESXi host with SSH. (If a virtual machine crashed in a cluster and you cannot identify where it is running, you have to identify the ESXi Hosts where the VM is running)

Locate the World ID with esxcli vm process list or vmdumper -lRead More »How to kill an Unresponsive VM (ESXi 5.x)

Patch ESXi to a Specific Version with the Command-line

This post describes how to patch an ESXi host to a specific version with the command-line. It is highly recommended to use the vSphere Update Manager (VUM) for patch management, but there are some cases where you need an alternative. It's probably noting you would do in production, but you might need a specific version to reproduce problems or to comply with policies.

In this example, I am going to patch a standalone ESXi 5.5 host with internet access to build number 2068190. The host is currently running ESXi 5.5.0 Build 2302651. (It's a downgrade)

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ESXi 5.5 - ESXCLI Command Mindmap

In vSphere 5.5 the command line interface esxcli has 3 new namespaces. The esxcli is a complete set of commands that you can use for troubleshooting, configuration or kickstart files. I have created and printed a mindmap to navigate through the namespaces more quickly. This post covers only basic namespaces, available on all ESXi 5.5 hosts. If you've installed additional software you might see more namespaces. I've also created a Mindmap for ESXi 5.1 some time ago.

ESXCLI in version 5.5 has 13 namespaces:Read More »ESXi 5.5 - ESXCLI Command Mindmap

ESXi 5.5 - ESXCLI Command Reference

ESXCLI is the most powerful command line tool on an ESXi host. You may need it for troubleshooting, configuration or for ESXi installations by using a kickstart file. I'm having this command line reference on my desktop since a couple of month and I am using it quite often. Maybe someone else is able to make use of it too. It's a collection of help pages from all esxcli commands.

Download: esxcli-550-command-reference.txt

Read More »ESXi 5.5 - ESXCLI Command Reference