6.5

Table Of Contents
vSphere 4.x vSphere 5.0
Host Host conguration les. You must
specify the le’s unique name
identier.
Specify host locations by using
the /host/<path> syntax.
Host conguration les. You must
specify the le’s unique name
identier.
Specify host locations by using
the /host/<path> syntax.
You cannot list subdirectories
of /host.
Temp
The /tmp directory and les in that
directory.
Specify temp locations by using
the /tmp/dir/subdir syntax.
Not supported.
Datastores Datastore les and directories. You have two choices for specifying a
datastore.
n
Use datastore prex style '[ds_name] relative_path' as demonstrated
in the following example.
'[myStorage1] testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx'(Linux) or "[myStorage1]
testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx" (Windows)
n
Use URL style /folder/dir/subdir/file?dsName=<name> as
demonstrated in the following example.
'/folder/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx?dsName=myStorage1' (Linux)
"/folder/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx?dsName=myStorage1" (Windows)
The two example paths refer to a virtual machine conguration le for the
VM1 virtual machine in the testvms/VM1 directory of the myStorage1
datastore.
To avoid problems with directory names that use special characters or spaces, enclose the path in quotes for
both operating systems.
When you run vifs, you can specify the operation name and argument and one of the standard connection
options. Use aliases, symbolic links, or wrapper scripts to simplify the invocation syntax.
I The concepts of working directory and last directory or le operated on are not supported with
vifs.
vifs Options
vifs command-specic options allow you to retrieve and upload les from the remote host and perform a
number of other operations.
All vifs options work on datastore les or directories. Some options also work on host les and les in the
temp directory. You must also specify connection options.
Command Description Target Syntax
--copy
-c <source>
<target>
Copies a le in a datastore to another location
in a datastore. The <source> must be a
remote source path, the <target> a remote
target path or directory.
The --force option replaces existing
destination les.
Datastore
Temp
copy src_file_path
dst_directory_path [--
force]
copy src_file_path
dst_file_path [--force]
--dir
-D <remote_dir>
Lists the contents of a datastore directory. Datastore
Temp
dir
datastore_directory_path
--force
-F
Overwrites the destination le. Used with --
move and --copy.
Datastore
Temp
copy src_file_path
dst_file_path [--force]
vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples
36 VMware, Inc.