6.5
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 Commands Available on Different ESXi Hosts
- Trust Relationship Requirement for ESXCLI Commands
- Using ESXCLI Output
- 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
- Detach a Device and Remove a LUN
- Reattach a Device
- Working with Permanent Device Loss
- Managing Paths
- Managing Path Policies
- Scheduling Queues for Virtual Machine I/O
- Managing NFS/NAS Datastores
- Monitor and Manage FibreChannel 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
- Set Up Ports for iSCSI Multipathing
- Managing iSCSI Sessions
- Managing Third-Party Storage Arrays
- Managing Users
- Managing Virtual Machines
- Managing vSphere Networking
- Introduction to vSphere Networking
- Retrieving Basic Networking Information
- Troubleshoot a Networking Setup
- 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
- Managing VMkernel Network Interfaces with ESXCLI
- Add and Configure an IPv4 VMkernel Network Interface with ESXCLI
- Add and Configure an IPv6 VMkernel Network Interface with ESXCLI
- Managing VMkernel Network Interfaces with vicfg-vmknic
- Add and Configure an IPv4 VMkernel Network Interface with vicfg-vmknic
- Add and Configure an IPv6 VMkernel Network Interface with vicfg-vmknic
- Setting Up vSphere Networking with vSphere Distributed Switch
- Managing Standard Networking Services in the vSphere Environment
- Setting the DNS Configuration
- Manage an NTP Server
- Manage the IP Gateway
- Setting Up IPsec
- Manage the ESXi Firewall
- Monitor VXLAN
- Monitoring ESXi Hosts
- Index
Using ESXCLI Output
Many ESXCLI commands generate output you might want to use in your application. You can run esxcli
with the --formatter dispatcher option and send the resulting output as input to a parser.
The --formatter options supports three values - csv, xml, and keyvalue and is used before any namespace.
The following example lists all le system information in CSV format.
esxcli --formatter=csv storage filesystem list
You can pipe the output to a le.
esxcli --formatter=keyvalue storage filesystem list > myfilesystemlist.txt
I You should always use a formaer for consistent output.
Connection Options for vCLI Host Management Commands
You can run host management commands such as ESXCLI commands, vicfg- commands, and other
commands with several dierent connection options.
You can target hosts directly or target a vCenter Server system and specify the host you want to manage. If
you are targeting a vCenter Server system, specify the Platform Services Controller, which includes the
vCenter Single Sign-On service, for best security.
I For connections to ESXi hosts version 6.0 or later, vCLI supports both the IPv4 protocol and the
IPv6 protocol. For earlier versions, vCLI supports only IPv4. In all cases, you can congure IPv6 on the
target host with several of the networking commands.
See the Geing Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces documentation for a complete list and examples.
Connection Options for DCLI Commands
DCLI is a CLI client to the vSphere Automation SDK interface for managing VMware SDDC services. A
DCLI command talks to a vSphere Automation SDK endpoint to get the vSphere Automation SDK
command information, executes the command, and displays result to the user.
You can run DCLI commands locally or from an administration server.
n
Run DCLI on the Linux shell of a vCenter Server Appliance.
n
Install vCLI on a supported Windows or Linux system and target a vCenter Server Windows
installation or a vCenter Server Appliance. You have to provide endpoint information to successfully
run commands.
DCLI commands support other connection options than other commands in the command set.
See the Geing Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces documentation for a complete list and examples.
vCLI Host Management Commands and Lockdown Mode
For additional security, an administrator can place one or more hosts managed by a vCenter Server system
in lockdown mode. Lockdown mode aects login privileges for the ESXi host.
See the vSphere Security document in the vSphere Documentation Center for a detailed discussion of normal
lockdown mode and strict lockdown mode, and of how to enable and disable them.
Chapter 1 vSphere CLI Command Overviews
VMware, Inc. 19