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The Windows command-line interface provided for managing ESX/ESXi systems is an invaluable tool for managing ESX infrastructure at the command-line. When using ESXi without a service console the CLI becomes even more useful.
ESXi 4.0 RCLI:
List the NTP servers used by the host
vicfg-ntp.pl –server esx01 –list
Add a Software iSCSI NIC named vmk2
esxcli –server=esx01 swiscsi nic add -n vmk2 -d vmhba33
List the Software iSCSI NICs
esxcli –server=esx01 swiscsi nic list -d vmhba33
List the software iSCSI status on a host
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –swiscsi –list
Enable software iSCSI on an ESX host
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –swiscsi –enable
List the adapters bound to software iSCSI
esxcli –server=esx01 swiscsi nic list -d vmhba33
List the VMKernel NICs
vicfg-vmknic.pl –server esx01 –list
List the software iSCSI adapters
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –adapter –list
Set the iSCSI alias for the specified adapter
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –iscsiname –alias esx01 vmhba33
Bind a VMK software iSCSI NIC for MPIO PSA
esxcli –server=esx01 swiscsi nic add -n vmk2 -d vmhba33
Rescan a storage adapter bus
vicfg-rescan.pl –server esx01 vmhba33
Add a dynamic iSCSI discovery target
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –discovery –add –ip 10.1.1.10:3260 vmhba33
Add CHAP authentication to an iSCSI discovery target
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –authentication –level chapRequired –method CHAP –auth_username esxchap –auth_password chapacc3ss80 –ip 10.2.128.33:3260 vmhba33
Find the current ScratchConfig scratch location
vicfg-advcfg.pl –server esx01 -g ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation
Set the scratch location for ESXi
vicfg-advcfg.pl –server esx01 -s “/vmfs/volumes/esxds01/Scratch/esx01” ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation
Check if CIM OEM providers are enabled (such as Dell OM)
vicfg-advcfg.pl –server esx01 -g UserVars.CIMOEMProvidersEnabled
Enable CIM OEM Providers (such as Dell OM)
vicfg-advcfg.pl –server esx01 -s “1” UserVars.CIMOEMProvidersEnabled
Query the patches/updates/bulletins/VIBs installed on ESXi
vihostupdate.pl –server esx01 -q
Set the SNMP community for the ESXi host
vicfg-snmp.pl –server esx01 -c public
Enable the SNMP agent on an ESXi host
vicfg-snmp.pl –server esx01 -E
List the iSCSI node name
vicfg-iscsi.pl –server esx01 –list –iscsiname –adapter vmhba36
List the preferred nativte multipathing (NMP) path for a device
esxcli –server esx01 nmp fixed getpreferred -d naa.6090332880cfdc44fda634b1ca2457b8
Check whether round robin path selection is used for a device
esxcli –server esx01 nmp roundrobin getconfig -d naa.6090a02833cfdc7ffd4434b1ca5457b8
List the disk NAA/UUIDs known to a host
esxcli –server esx01 nmp device list
List the MPIO path to device mapping
esxcfg-mpath.pl –server esx01 -m
List the SCSI devices known to a host
vicfg-scsidevs.pl –server esx01 –list
List the available datastores on a host
vifs.pl –server esx01 –listds
List the contents of a datastore
vifs.pl –server esx01 –dir [datastore]
Upload a local file to a datastore through vifs
vifs.pl –server esx01 –put c:\temp\file.txt dir/file.txt?dsName=datastoreName
List virtual switches, port groups, uplinks and MTU
vicfg-vswitch.pl -l –server esx01
Browse the datastores or local host through ssl
https://esx01/folder or https://esx01/host
Find the vmnic configuration, including driver, current speed
vicfg-nics.pl –server esx01 -l
Set a vNIC to auto-negotiate
vicfg-nics.pl –server esx01 –vihost esx01 -a vmnic0
List the host-based files on an ESXi client
vifs.pl –server esx01 –dir /host