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
Managing Files 3
The vSphere CLI includes two commands for le manipulation. vmkfstools allows you to manipulate VMFS
(Virtual Machine File System) and virtual disks. vifs supports remote interaction with les on your ESXi
host.
N See Chapter 4, “Managing Storage,” on page 41 for information about storage manipulation
commands.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Introduction to Virtual Machine File Management,” on page 29
n
“Managing the Virtual Machine File System with vmkfstools,” on page 30
n
“Upgrading VMFS3 Volumes to VMFS5,” on page 31
n
“Managing VMFS Volumes,” on page 31
n
“Reclaiming Unused Storage Space,” on page 34
n
“Using vifs to View and Manipulate Files on Remote ESXi Hosts,” on page 35
Introduction to Virtual Machine File Management
You can use the vSphere Web Client or vCLI commands to access dierent types of storage devices that your
ESXi host discovers and to deploy datastores on those devices.
N Datastores are logical containers, analogous to le systems, that hide specics of each storage device
and provide a uniform model for storing virtual machine les. Datastores can be used for storing ISO
images, virtual machine templates, and oppy images. The vSphere Web Client uses the term datastore
exclusively. In vCLI, the term datastore, as well as VMFS or NFS volume, refer to the same logical container
on the physical device.
Depending on the type of storage you use, datastores can be backed by the VMFS and NFS le system
formats.
n
Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) - High-performance le system that is optimized for storing
virtual machines. Your host can deploy a VMFS datastore on any SCSI-based local or networked storage
device, including Fibre Channel and iSCSI SAN equipment. As an alternative to using the VMFS
datastore, your virtual machine can have direct access to raw devices and use a mapping le (RDM) as
a proxy.
You manage VMFS and RDMs with the vSphere Web Client, or the vmkfstools command.
VMware, Inc.
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