Specifications

VMware, Inc. 51
Chapter 2 Creating and Configuring Virtual Machines
Shutting Down or Restarting a Virtual Machine from the VMware
Management Interface
You!can!click!!to!shut!down!or!!to!restart!a!virtual!machine!from!the!VMware!
Management!Interface.!After!you!select!one!of!these!operations,!click!to!the!Users!and!
Events!page!for!this!virtual!machine!to!respond!to!any!messages!that!require!a!
response.
Shutting!down!is!the!equivalent!of!using!
the!guest!operating!system’s!shut!down!
command,!and!turning!off!power!to!the!virtual!machine.!Restarting!is!the!equivalent!of!
using!the!guest!operating!system’s!restart!command.
If!you!receive!an!event!log!message!stating,!“You!will!need!to!power!off!or!reset!the!
virtual!machine!at!this!point,”!connect!to!
the!virtual!machine!with!a!remote!console!and!
click!Power!Off!or!Reset!to!complete!the!operation.!
You!can!also!force!power!off!or!force!reset!from!the!menu.!These!commands!bypass!the!
guest!service!and!perform!the!virtual!equivalent!of!shutting!off!the!power!to!a!physical!
machine!or!pressing
!a!physical!reset!button.!
For!more!information,!see!“Changing!the!Power!State!of!a!Virtual!Machine”!on!page 88.
Shutting Down or Restarting a Virtual Machine from the Command Line
You!can!shut!down!and!restart!a!virtual!machine!from!the!service!console!command!
line!using!the!vmware-cmd!utility.!
The!following!commands!return!you!to!the!command!prompt,!before!they!finish!
executing,!although!the!shut!down!or!restart!process!can!take!some!time!to!complete:!
vmware-cmd <vm-cfg-path> stop <powerop_mode>
vmware-cmd <vm-cfg-path> reset <powerop_mode>
where!hard,!soft,!or!trysoft!specifies!the!behavior!of!the!power!operation!
<powerop_mode>.!If!<powerop_mode>!is!not!specified,!the!default!behavior!is!soft.!For!
more!information,!see!the!VMware!Scripting!API!User’s!Manual,!available!at!
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer.
Executing Commands to Halt or Reboot a Virtual Machine
In!a!Linux!guest,!you!can!have!the!guest!service!execute!specific!commands!when!ESX!
Server!asks!it!to!halt!or!reboot!the!virtual!machine’s!guest!operating!system.!If!you!use!
nonstandard!utilities!or!want!to!do!additional!actions!before!shutting!down!or!
rebooting!the!guest!operating!system,!override!the!default
!commands!the !guest!service!
NOTE !Power!Off!and!Reset!are!not!available!while!these!operations!are!in!progress.!