Performing common virtual machine-related tasks with command-line utilities

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides a side-by-side comparison of performing virtual machine-related tasks using different VMware utilities and command line methods.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere Management Assistant 5.5
VMware vSphere CLI 4.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vSphere PowerCLI 5.0
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x

Resolution

In these examples:

vcenter is your vCenter Server hostname
esxhost is your ESX/ESXi hostname
datastore is the display name of your datastore
path_to_vmx_on_datastore is the path to the virtual machine's vmx file relative to the datastore on which it resides
vm_name is the display name of a virtual machine
path_to_vmx_file is the full path to a virtual machine's vmx file
snapshot_name is the name given to a virtual machine snapshot
guest_admin_user is a user account with administrative access within a virtual machine's guest OS
guest_admin_password is the password for the account noted by guest_admin_user

	PowerCLI	vMA	cli
Register a VM	`New-VM –vmfilepath “[datastore] path_to_vmx_on_datastore” –vmhost esxhost`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost –s register path_to_vmx_file` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost –s register path_to_vmx_file`	`vim-cmd solo/registervm path_to_vmx_file`
Unregister a VM	`Remove-VM vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost –s unregister path_to_vmx_file` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost –s unregister path_to_vmx_file`	vim-cmd vmsvc/unregister vmid
Delete a VM	`Remove-VM vm_name -deletepermanently`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost –s unregister path_to_vmx_file` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost –s unregister path_to_vmx_file vifs --server esxhost --rm “[datastore] path_to_vmx_on_datastore”`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/destroy vmid`
Get a listing of VMs on a host	`Get-VM –location esxhost`	`vmware-cmd –-server esxhost –-username root –l` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter –-vihost esxhost -l`	esxcli vm process list vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
Determine if a VM has a snapshot	`Get-VM –name vm_name \| Get-Snapshot`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file hassnapshot` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file hassnapshot`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/get.snapshot vmid`
Take a snapshot of a VM	`Get-VM –name vm_name \| New-Snapshot –name snapshot_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file createsnapshot snapshot_name` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file createsnapshot snapshot_name`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/snapshot.create vmid snapshot_name`
Remove a snapshot of a VM	`Get-VM –name vm_name \| Get-Snapshot –name snapshot_name \| Remove-Snapshot`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file removesnapshots` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file removesnapshots`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/snapshot.remove vmid`
Get the current power state of a VM	`Get-VM –name vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file getstate` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file getstate`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate vmid`
Get the uptime for a VM	`Get-Stat -entity vm_name -stat sys.uptime.latest -MaxSamples 1`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file getuptime` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file getuptime`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/get.summary vmid \|grep uptimeSeconds`
Power on a VM	`Start-VM –vm vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file start` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file start`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on vmid`
Shutdown a VM	`Shutdown-VMGuest –vm vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file stop soft` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file stop soft`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/power.shutdown vmid`
Power off a VM	`Stop-VM –vm vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file stop hard` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file stop hard`	`esxcli vm process kill –w world_id` `vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off vmid`
Reboot a VM	`Restart-VMGuest –vm vm_name`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file reset soft` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file reset soft`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/power.reboot vmid`
Reset a VM	Restart-VM –vm vm_name	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file reset hard` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file reset hard`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/power.reset vmid`
Upgrade VMware Tools in a VM	`Update-Tools –vm vm_name`	`N/A`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/tools.upgrade vmid`
Display the IP address of a VM	`Get-VMGuestNetworkInterface –vm vm_name -guestuser guest_admin_user -guestpassword guest_admin_password`	`vmware-cmd --server esxhost path_to_vmx_file getguestinfo ip` `vmware-cmd --server vcenter --vihost esxhost path_to_vmx_file getguestinfo ip`	`vim-cmd vmsvc/get.guest vmid \|grep -m 1 "ipAddress = \""`

Additional Information

The VMware vCLI can also be used. The commands are almost the same as the vMA commands, but vmware-cmd and vifs are vmware-cmd.pl and vifs.pl, respectively.

For more information about VMware scripting solutions, see: