Common Options for vCLI Host Management Command Execution

vCLI Connection Options lists options that are available for all vCLI host management commands in alphabetical order. The table includes options for use on the command line and variables for use in configuration files. Options for executing DCLI commands are different.

Important Starting with vSphere 5.5, vCLI supports both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.

See Running Host Management Commands from a Windows System and Running Host Management Commands from a Linux System.

vCLI Connection Options 

Option and Environment Variable	Description
--cacertsfile <certsfile> -t <certs_file> VI_CACERTFILE=<cert_file_path>	ESXCLI commands only. Used to specify the CA (Certificate Authority) certificate file, in PEM format, to verify the identity of the vCenter Server system or ESXi system to run the command on. In vCLI 6.0 and later, you can only run ESXCLI commands if a trust relationship exists between the host you are running the command on and the system you are targeting with the --server option (ESXi host or vCenter Server system). You can establish the trust relationship by specifying the CA certificate file or by passing in the thumbprint for each target server (ESXi host or vCenter Server system).
- -config <cfg_file_full_path> VI_CONFIG=<cfg_file_full_path>	Uses the configuration file at the specified location. Specify a path that is readable from the current directory.
- -credstore <credstore> VI_CREDSTORE=<credstore>	Name of a credential store file. Defaults to <HOME>/.vmware/credstore/vicredentials.xml on Linux and <APPDATA>/VMware/credstore/vicredentials.xml on Windows. Commands for setting up the credential store are included in the vSphere SDK for Perl, which is installed with vCLI. The vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide explains how to manage the credential store.
- -encoding <encoding> VI_ENCODING=<encoding>	Specifies the encoding to be used. Several encodings are supported. ■ utf8 ■ cp936 (Simplified Chinese) ■ shftjis (Japanese) ■ iso-885901 (German). You can use - -encoding to specify the encoding vCLI should map to when it is run on a foreign language system.
- -passthroughauth VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTH	If you specify this option, the system uses the Microsoft Windows Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) for authentication. Trusted users are not prompted for a user name and password. See the Microsoft Web site for a detailed discussion of SSPI. This option is supported only if you are connecting to a vCenter Server system.
- -passthroughauthpackage <package> VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTHPACKAGE= <package>	Use this option with - -passthroughauth to specify a domain-level authentication protocol to be used by Windows. By default, SSPI uses the Negotiate protocol, which means that client and server try to negotiate a protocol that both support. If the vCenter Server system to which you are connecting is configured to use a specific protocol, you can specify that protocol using this option. This option is supported only if you are running vCLI on a Windows system and connecting to a vCenter Server system.
- -password <passwd> VI_PASSWORD=<passwd>	Uses the specified password (used with - -username) to log in to the server. ■ If - -server specifies a vCenter Server system, the user name and password apply to that server. If you can log in to the vCenter Server system, you need no additional authentication to run commands on the ESXi hosts that server manages. ■ If - -server specifies an ESXi host, the user name and password apply to that server. Use the empty string (' ' on Linux and “ “ on Windows) to indicate no password. If you do not specify a user name and password on the command line, the system prompts you and does not echo your input to the screen.
- -portnumber <number> VI_PORTNUMBER=<number>	Uses the specified port to connect to the system specified by --server. Default is 443.
- -protocol <HTTP|HTTPS> VI_PROTOCOL=<HTTP|HTTPS>	Uses the specified protocol to connect to the system specified by --server. Default is HTTPS.
--psc <hostname_or_IP> VI_PSC=<hostname_or_IP>	Host name or IP address of the Platform Services Controller instance that is associated with the vCenter Server system that manages the host. In many cases, the Platform Services Controller is embedded in the vCenter Server system, but external Platform Services Controller instances are supported as well. For those cases, use the --server option to specify the vCenter Server system that manages the host. This option implies user authentication with vCenter Single Sign-On. The user you specify must be able to authenticate to vCenter Single Sign-On.
- -savesessionfile <file> VI_SAVESESSIONFILE=<file>	Saves a session to the specified file. The session expires if it has been unused for 30 minutes.
- -server <server> VI_SERVER=<server>	Uses the specified ESXi or vCenter Server system. Default is localhost. If - -server points to a vCenter Server system, you can also specify the --psc option to log in to the vCenter Server system with vCenter Single Sign-On. Use the - -vihost option to specify the ESXi host that you want to run the command against. See Authenticating Through vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On.
- -servicepath <path> VI_SERVICEPATH=<path>	Uses the specified service path to connect to the ESXi host. Default is /sdk/webService.
- -sessionfile <file> VI_SESSIONFILE=<file>	Uses the specified session file to load a previously saved session. The session must be unexpired.
--thumbprint <thumbprint> VI_THUMBPRINT=<thumbprint>	Expected SHA-1 host certificate thumbprint if no CA certificates file is provided in the --cacertsfile argument. The thumbprint is returned by the server in the error message if you attempt to run a command without specifying a thumbprint or certificate file.
- -url <url> VI_URL=<url>	Connects to the specified vSphere Web Services SDK URL.
- -username <u_name> VI_USERNAME=<u_name>	Uses the specified user name. ■ If - -server specifies a vCenter Server system, the user name and password apply to that server. If you can log in to the vCenter Server system, you need no additional authentication to run commands on the ESXi hosts that server manages. ■ If - -server specifies an ESXi system, the user name and password apply to that system. If you do not specify a user name and password on the command line, the system prompts you and does not echo your input to the screen.
- -vihost <host> -h <host>	When you run a vCLI command with the - -server option pointing to a vCenter Server system, use - -vihost to specify the ESXi host to run the command against. Note: This option is not supported for each command. If supported, the option is included when you run <cmd> --help.

vCLI Common Options lists options not used as connection options that you can use when you run a vicfg- vCLI command.

vCLI Common Options 

Option	Description
- -help	Prints a brief usage message. The message lists first each command-specific option and then each of the common options.
- -verbose	Displays additional debugging information.
- -version	Displays version information.