6.0

Procedure
1 Right-click the host, select Shut down host or Reboot host.
N If the host is not in maintenance mode, shuing down or rebooting it does not stop the virtual
machines that are running on this host safely and unsaved data may be lost. If the host is part of a
Virtual SAN cluster, you might lose access to the Virtual SAN data on the host.
2 Click Shut down or Reboot to complete the procedure.
Using the ESXi Shell
The ESXi Shell, which was formerly referred to as Tech Support Mode or TSM, is disabled by default on
ESXi. You can enable local and remote access to the shell if necessary.
Enable the ESXi Shell for troubleshooting only. The ESXi Shell can be enabled or disabled when the host is
running in lockdown mode. The host running in lockdown mode does not prevent you from enabling or
disabling the ESXi Shell. See vSphere Security.
ESXi Shell
Enable this service to access the ESXi Shell locally.
SSH
Enable this service to access the ESXi Shell remotely by using SSH. See
vSphere Security.
The root user and users with the Administrator role can access the ESXi Shell. Users who are in the Active
Directory group ESX Admins are automatically assigned the Administrator role. By default, only the root
user can execute system commands (such as vmware -v) by using the ESXi Shell.
N Do not enable the ESXi Shell until you actually need access.
Enable the Secure Shell (SSH) in the VMware Host Client
Enable the Secure Shell (SSH) to access the ESXi Shell remotely by using SSH.
Procedure
1 To enable or disable the Secure Shell (SSH), right-click Host in the VMware Host Client inventory.
2 Select Services from the drop-down menu and select Secure Shell (SSH).
3 Select a task to perform.
n
If SSH is enabled, click Disable to disable it.
n
If SSH is disabled, click Enable to enable it.
Enable the ESXi Console Shell in the VMware Host Client
When you enable this service while running in lockdown mode, you can log in locally to the direct console
user interface as the root user and disable lockdown mode. You can then access the host using a direct
connection to the VMware Host Client or by enabling the ESXi Shell.
Procedure
1 To enable or disable the Console Shell, right-click Host in the VMware Host Client inventory.
2 Select Services from the drop-down menu and select Console Shell.
3 Select a task to perform.
n
If the Console Shell is enabled, click Disable to disable it.
n
If the Console Shell is disabled, click Enable to enable it.
Chapter 2 Host Management with the VMware Host Client
VMware, Inc. 23