6.5

Table Of Contents
Managing Users 7
An ESXi system grants access to its resources when a known user with appropriate permissions logs on to
the system with a password that matches the one stored for that user.
You can use the vSphere SDK for all user management tasks. You cannot create ESXi users by using the
vSphere Web Client.
You can use the vicfg-user command to create, modify, delete, and list local direct access users on an ESXi
host. You cannot run this command against a vCenter Server system.
I Starting with vSphere 5.1, you can no longer manage groups with vicfg-user.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Users in the vSphere Environment,” on page 117
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“vicfg-user Command Syntax,” on page 118
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“Managing Users with vicfg-user,” on page 118
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Assigning Permissions with ESXCLI,” on page 120
Users in the vSphere Environment
Users and roles control who has access to vSphere components and what actions each user can perform.
User management is discussed in detail in the vSphere Security documentation.
I You cannot use vicfg-user to create roles. You can manage system-dened roles.
vCenter Server and ESXi systems authenticate a user with a combination of user name, password, and
permissions. Servers and hosts maintain lists of authorized users and the permissions assigned to each user.
Privileges dene basic individual rights that are required to perform actions and retrieve information. ESXi
and vCenter Server use sets of privileges, or roles, to control which users can access particular vSphere
objects. ESXi and vCenter Server provide a set of pre-established roles.
The privileges and roles assigned on an ESXi host are separate from the privileges and roles assigned on a
vCenter Server system. When you manage a host by using a vCenter Server system, only the privileges and
roles assigned through the vCenter Server system are available. You cannot create ESXi users by using the
vSphere Web Client.
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