Specifications

Administration Guide
52 VMware, Inc.
executes!by!modifying!the!/etc/vmware/dualconf.vm!startup!script!in!the!guest!to!
start!the!guest!service!with!the!following!command!line!options:!
/etc/vmware/vmware-guestd --halt-command <command>
where!<command>!is!the!command!to!execute!when!ESX!Server!asks!the!guest!service!
to!halt!the!guest!operating!system.
/etc/vmware/vmware-guestd --reboot-command <command>
where!<command>!is!the!command!to!execute!when!ESX!Server!asks!the!guest!service!
to!reboot!the!guest!operating!system.
Passing a String from the Service Console to the Guest Operating
System
With!ESX!Server!and!knowledge!of!a!scripting!language!like!Perl!or!NetShell,!you!can!
pass!a!string!(machine.id) from!your!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!to!the!guest!
operating!system!when!you!use!the!configuration!file!to!launch!a!virtual!machine.!
Determine!the!content!of!the!string!you!pass!to!the
!guest!operating!system.
For!additional!details!and!sample!scripts,!including!information!on!passing!messages!
both!ways!between!the!service!console!and!a!guest,!see!the!VMware!Scripting!API!
documentation!at!http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/.
Use!this!feature!only!if!you!have!a!good!understanding!of!a!scripting!language!and!
know!how!to!modify!
system!startup!scripts.!
Example of Passing a String from the Service Console to the Guest
If!you!use!multiple!configuration!files!that!point!to!the!same!virtual!disk,!each!
configuration!file!can!contain!its!own!unique!machine.id!line.!
<config_file_1>.vmx!contains:!
scsi0:1.present = TRUE
scsi0:1.name = “my_common_virtual_hard_drive.vmdk”
scsi0:1.mode = “persistent”
machine.id = “the_id_for_my_first_vm”
<config_file_2>.vmx!contains:!
scsi0:1.present = TRUE
scsi0:1.name = “my_common_virtual_hard_drive.vmdk”
scsi0:1.mode = “persistent”
machine.id = “the_id_for_my_second_vm”
Using!machine.id,!you!may!pass!such!strings!as!the!Windows!system!ID!(SID),!a!
machine!name,!or!an!IP!address.!In!the!guest!operating!system!startup!script,!you!can!