Specifications

Basic System Administration
42 VMware, Inc.
IfyourDNSservercannotmapthehost’snametoitsDHCP‐generatedIPaddress,you
mustdeterminetheserviceconsoleʹsnumericIPaddressyourself.Anothercaution
againstusingDHCPisthatthenumericIPaddressmightchangeasDHCPleasesrun
outorwhenthesystemisrebooted.For
thisreason,VMwaredoesnotrecommend
usingDHCPfortheserviceconsoleunlessyourDNSservercanhandlethehostname
translation.
Connecting to the Service Console
Whetheryouusetheserviceconsolelocallyorthrougharemoteconnection,youmust
loginusingavalidusernameandpassword.
IfyouhavedirectaccesstothecomputerwhereESXServer3isrunning,youcanlogin
tothephysicalconsoleonthatcomputer.
To log in to the ESX Server 3 service console
PressAlt‐
F2togettotheloginscreen.
DependingonthesecuritysettingsforyourESXServer3computer,youmightbeable
toconnectremotelytotheserviceconsoleusingSSHorTelnet.Formoreinformation
onthesecuritysettings,seetheESXServer3ConfigurationGuide.
Using Commands on the Service Console
TheserviceconsolerunsamodifiedversionofLinux,andmanyofthecommands
availableonLinuxorUNIXarealsoavailableontheserviceconsole.Detailedusage
notesformostserviceconsolecommandsareavailableasmanualormanpages.
CAUTIONDonotusedynamic(DHCP)addressingwhensharingthenetworkadapter
assignedtotheserviceconsolewithvirtualmachines.ESXServer3requiresastaticIP
addressfortheserviceconsolewhensharinganetworkadapter.
NOTEESXServer3idoesnothaveaserviceconsole.However,manyofthefunctions
providedbytheserviceconsoleareavailablethroughtheRemoteCLI.SeetheESX
Server3iConfigurationGuideformoreinformationonusingandinstallingtheRemote
CLI.