6.0
Table Of Contents
- vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples
- Contents
- About This Book
- vSphere CLI Command Overviews
- Introduction
- List of Available Host Management Commands
- Targets and Protocols for vCLI Host Management Commands
- Supported Platforms for vCLI Commands
- Commands with an esxcfg Prefix
- ESXCLI Overview
- Connection Options for vCLI Host Management Commands
- Connection Options for DCLI Commands
- vCLI Host Management Commands and Lockdown Mode
- Managing Hosts
- Managing Files
- Managing Storage
- Introduction to Storage
- Examining LUNs
- Detaching Devices and Removing a LUN
- Working with Permanent Device Loss
- Managing Paths
- Managing Path Policies
- Scheduling Queues for Virtual Machine I/O
- Managing NFS/NAS Datastores
- Monitoring and Managing SAN Storage
- Monitoring and Managing Virtual SAN Storage
- Monitoring vSphere Flash Read Cache
- Monitoring and Managing Virtual Volumes
- Migrating Virtual Machines with svmotion
- Configuring FCoE Adapters
- Scanning Storage Adapters
- Retrieving SMART Information
- Managing iSCSI Storage
- iSCSI Storage Overview
- Protecting an iSCSI SAN
- Command Syntax for esxcli iscsi and vicfg-iscsi
- iSCSI Storage Setup with ESXCLI
- iSCSI Storage Setup with vicfg-iscsi
- Listing and Setting iSCSI Options
- Listing and Setting iSCSI Parameters
- Enabling iSCSI Authentication
- Setting Up Ports for iSCSI Multipathing
- Managing iSCSI Sessions
- Managing Third-Party Storage Arrays
- Managing NMP with esxcli storage nmp
- Path Claiming with esxcli storage core claiming
- Managing Claim Rules
- Managing Users
- Managing Virtual Machines
- vmware-cmd Overview
- Listing and Registering Virtual Machines
- Retrieving Virtual Machine Attributes
- Managing Virtual Machine Snapshots with vmware-cmd
- Powering Virtual Machines On and Off
- Connecting and Disconnecting Virtual Devices
- Working with the AnswerVM API
- Forcibly Stopping Virtual Machines with EXCLI
- Managing vSphere Networking
- Introduction to vSphere Networking
- Retrieving Basic Networking Information
- Network Troubleshooting
- Setting Up vSphere Networking with vSphere Standard Switches
- Setting Up Virtual Switches and Associating a Switch with a Network Interface
- Retrieving Information About Virtual Switches
- Adding and Deleting Virtual Switches
- Checking, Adding, and Removing Port Groups
- Managing Uplinks and Port Groups
- Setting the Port Group VLAN ID
- Managing Uplink Adapters
- Adding and Modifying VMkernel Network Interfaces
- Setting Up vSphere Networking with vSphere Distributed Switch
- Managing Standard Networking Services in the vSphere Environment
- Setting the DNS Configuration
- Adding and Starting an NTP Server
- Managing the IP Gateway
- Setting Up IPsec
- Managing the ESXi Firewall
- Monitoring VXLAN
- Monitoring ESXi Hosts
- Index
Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces
28 VMware, Inc.
YoumanageNASstoragedevicesfromthevSphereWebClientorwiththeesxcli storage nfs
command.Thediagrambelowillustratesdifferenttypesofstorage,butitisforconceptualpurposesonly.
Itisnotarecommendedconfiguration.
Figure 3-1. Virtual Machines Accessing Different Types of Storage
Managing the Virtual Machine File System with vmkfstools
VMFSdatastoresprimarilyserveasrepositoriesforvirtualmachines.Youcanstoremultiplevirtualmachines
onthesameVMFSvolume.Eachvirtualmachine,encapsulatedinasetoffiles,occupiesaseparatesingle
directory.Fortheoperatingsysteminsidethevirtualmachine,VMFSpreservestheinternalfilesystem
semantics.
Inaddition,
youcanusetheVMFSdatastorestostoreotherfiles,suchasvirtualmachinetemplatesandISO
images.VMFSsupportsfileandblocksizesthatenablevirtualmachinestorundata‐intensiveapplications,
includingdatabases,ERP,andCRM,invirtualmachines.SeethevSphereStoragedocumentation.
Youusethevmkfstools
vCLItocreateandmanipulatevirtualdisks,filesystems,logicalvolumes,and
physicalstoragedevicesonanESXihost.Youcanusevmkfstoolstocreateandmanageavirtualmachinefile
system(VMFS)onaphysicalpartitionofadiskandtomanipulatefiles,suchasvirtualdisks,storedon
VMFS
‐3andNFS.Youcanalsousevmkfstoolstosetupandmanagerawdevicemappings(RDMs).
ThevSphereStoragedocumentationincludesacompletereferencetothevmkfstoolscommandthatyoucan
useintheESXiShell.YoucanusemostofthesameoptionswiththevmkfstoolsvCLIcommand.
Specifyone
oftheconnectionoptionslistedin“ConnectionOptionsforvCLIHostManagementCommands”onpage 18
inplaceof<conn_options>.
ThefollowingoptionssupportedbythevmkfstoolsESXiShellcommandarenotsupportedby the
vmkfstoolsvCLIcommand.
--breaklock -B
--chainConsistent -e
--eagerzero -k
--fix -x
--lock -L
iSCSI array NAS appliancefibre array
Host
VMFS
local
ethernet
SCSI
VMFS VMFS NFS
virtual
machine
virtual
machine
virtual
machine
virtual
machine
virtual
machine
SAN LAN LAN LAN
iSCSI
hardware
initiator
fibre
channel
HBA
ethernet
NIC
ethernet
NIC
software
initiator
requires TCP/IP connectivity
Key
physical
disk
datastore
virtual
disk
IMPORTANTThevmkfstoolsvCLIsupportsmostbutnotalloftheoptionsthatthevmkfstoolsESXiShell
commandsupports.SeeVMwareKnowledgeBasearticle1008194.
Youcannotrunvmkfstoolswith
--serverpointingtoavCenterServersystem.