Specifications

VMware, Inc. 31
Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware ESX Server
! Authentication!daemon!(vmauthd)!–!Authenticates!remote!users!of!the!
management!interface!and!remote!consoles!using!the!username/password!
database.!Any!other!authentication!store!that!can!be!accessed!using!the!Pluggable!
Authentication!Module!(PAM)!capabilities!present!in!the!service!console!can!also!
be!used.!This!allows!the!use!of!passwords!from!a
!Windows!domain!controller,!
LDAP!or!RADIUS!server,!or!similar!central!authentication!store!to!use!with!
VMware!ESX!Server!for!remote!access.
! SNMP!server!(ucd-snmpd)!–!Implements!the!SNMP!data!structures!and!traps!an!
administrator!can!use!to!integrate!an!ESX!Server!system!into!an!SNMP‐based!
system!management!tool.
! Service!console!(in!addition!to!VMware!supplied!services)!–!Use!to!run!other!
system!wide!or!hardware‐dependent!management!tools.!These!include!
hardware‐specific!health!monitors!(such!as!IBM!Director,!HP!Insight!Manager,!and!
others),!full‐system!backup!and!disaster!recovery!software,!and!clustering!and!
high!availability!products.!
The!server!and
!virtual!machine!resources!and!configuration!attributes!that!are!available!
through!the!SNMP!and!HTTP!interfaces!are!also!visible!through!a!file!system!in!the!
service!console.!The!files!in!this!/proc/vmware!name!space!may!be!examined!and!
modified!by!users!logged!in!to!the!service!console!with!sufficient!permissions!or!
may!
be!used!as!a!point!of!integration!for!home‐grown!or!commercial!scripts!and!
management!tools.
Using VMware ESX Server
VMware!ESX!Server!contains!many!features!to!help!you!manage!your!virtual!machines’!
resources.!In!this!section,!some!of!these!features!are!highlighted!by!listing!tasks!that!you!
perform!on!your!ESX!Server!system.
The!information!contained!in!this!table!presumes!that!you!have!successfully!installed!
and!configured!ESX!Server!on!
your!hardware.!For!help,!refer!to!the!VMware!ESX!Server!
Installation!Guide.