VMware VM machine-related tasks with command-line utilities

Purpose

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

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	Esxi 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.