6.7

Using the Appliance Shell to
Configure the
vCenter Server Appliance 4
You can access all of the vCenter Server Appliance API commands and plug-ins that you can use for
monitoring, troubleshooting, and configuring the appliance by using the appliance shell.
You can run all commands in the appliance shell with or without the pi keyword.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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Access the Appliance Shell
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Enable and Access the Bash Shell from the Appliance Shell
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Keyboard Shortcuts for Editing Commands
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Get Help About the Plug-Ins and API Commands in the Appliance
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Plug-Ins in the vCenter Server Appliance Shell
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Browse the Log Files By Using the showlog Plug-In
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API Commands in the vCenter Server Appliance Shell
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Configuring SNMP for the vCenter Server Appliance
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Configuring Time Synchronization Settings in the vCenter Server Appliance
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Managing Local User Accounts in the vCenter Server Appliance
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Monitor Health Status and Statistics in the vCenter Server Appliance
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Using the vimtop Plug-In to Monitor the Resource Use of Services
Access the Appliance Shell
To access the plug-ins included in the appliance shell and to be able to see and use the API commands,
first access the appliance shell.
Procedure
1 Access the appliance shell.
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If you have direct access to the appliance console, press Alt+F1.
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If you want to connect remotely, use SSH or another remote console connection to start a session
to the appliance.
VMware, Inc.
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