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Table Of Contents
Managing vSphere with Command-
Line Interfaces 1
vSphere supports several command-line interfaces for managing your virtual infrastructure including a set
of ESXi Shell commands, PowerCLI commands, and DCLI (Datacenter CLI) commands for management of
vCenter services. You can run commands locally, from an administration server, or from scripts.
You can choose the CLI best suited for your needs, and write scripts to automate your management tasks.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Overview of vSphere Command-Line Interfaces,” on page 7
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“Using ESXCLI for Host Management,” on page 10
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“Using PowerCLI to Manage Hosts and Virtual Machines,” on page 12
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“Using DCLI to Manage vCenter Services,” on page 12
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“vCLI Package Contents,” on page 13
Overview of vSphere Command-Line Interfaces
vSphere includes commands for managing dierent aspects of your environment.
The following CLIs are available for managing hosts, either directly or through the vCenter Server system
that manages the host. You can also manage vCenter services by using DCLI.
VMware, Inc.
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