Command Syntax for esxcli iscsi and vicfg-iscsi

In vSphere 5.0, you can manage iSCSI storage by using either esxcli iscsi commands or vicfg-iscsi options. See the vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference. esxcli iscsi Command Syntax and vicfg-iscsi Command Syntax provide an overview.

esxcli iscsi Command Syntax

The esxcli iscsi command includes a number of nested namespaces. The following table illustrates the namespace hierarchy. Commands at each level are included in bold. Many namespaces include both commands and namespaces.

esxcli iscsi Command Overview

adapter [get|list|set]	auth	chap [set|get]
	discovery [rediscover]	sendtarget [add|list|remove]
			auth	chap [get|set]
			param [get|set]
		statictarget [add|list|remove]
		status get
	target [list]	portal [list]	auth	chap [get|set]
			param [get|set]
	capabilities get
	firmware [get|set]
	param [get|set]
networkportal [add|list|remove]	ipconfig [get|set]
physicalnetworkportal [list]	param [get|set]
session [add|list|remove]	connection list
ibftboot [get|import]
logicalnetworkportal list
plugin list
software [get|set]

Key to esxcli iscsi Short Options

ESXCLI commands for iSCSI management consistently use the same short options. For several options, the associated full option depends on the command.

Short Options for iSCSI ESXCLI Command Options

Lower-case Option	Option	Upper-case Option	Option	Number	Option
a	--address, alias	A	--adapter	1	--dns1
c	--cid			2	--dns2
d	--direction	D	--default
f	--file, force
g	--gateway
i	--ip	I	--inherit
k	--key
l	--level
m	--method	M	--module
n	--nic	N	--authname, --name
o	--option
p	--plugin
s	--isid, subnet, switch	S	--state, secret
v	--value

vicfg-iscsi Command Syntax

vicfg-iscsi supports a comprehensive set of options, listed in Options for vicfg-iscsi.

Options for vicfg-iscsi 

Option	Suboptions	Description
-A - -authentication
	-c <level> -m <auth_method> -b -v <ma_username> -x <ma_password> [-i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [-n <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>   - -level <level> - -method <auth_method> - -mutual - -mchap_username <ma_username> - -mchap_password <ma_password> [- -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [- -name <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>	Enables mutual authentication. You must enable authentication before you can enable mutual authentication.
-A - -authentication
	-c <level> -m <auth_method> -u <auth_u_name> -w <a_password> [-i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [-n <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>   - -level <level> - -method <auth_method> - -chap_password <auth_u_name> - -chap_username <chap_password> [- -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [- -name <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>	Enables authentication using the specified options.
-A - -authentication
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists supported authentication methods.
-D - -discovery
	-a -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname[:<portnum>] <adapter_name> - -add - -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] <adapter_name>	Adds a dynamic discovery address.
-D - -discovery
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists dynamic discovery addresses.
-D - -discovery
	-r -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname>[:<portnum>] <adapter_name> - -remove - -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] <adapter_name>	Removes a dynamic discovery address.
-H
	-l [<adapter_name>] - -list [<adapter_name>]	Lists all iSCSI adapters or a specified adapter.
-L - -lun
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists LUN information.
-L - -lun
	-l -t <target_ID> <adapter_name> - -list - -target_id <target_id> <adapter_name>	Lists LUN information for a specific target.
-N - -network (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists network properties.
-N - -network (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-i <ip_addr> <adapter_name> - -ip <ip_addr> <vmhba>	Sets the HBA IPv4 address to ip_addr.
-N - -network (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-s <subnet_mask> <adapter_name> - -subnetmask <subnet_mask> <adapter_name>	Sets the HBA network mask to subnet_mask.
-N - -network (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-g <default_gateway> <adapter_name> - -gateway <default_gateway> <adapter_name>	Sets the HBA gateway to default_gateway.
-N - -network (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-i <ip_addr> -s <subnet mask> -g <default_gateway> <adapter_name> - -ip <ip_addr> - -subnetmask <subnet_mask> - -gateway <default_gateway> <adapter_name>	Sets the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway in one command.
-p - -pnp (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists physical network portal options.
-p - -pnp (Independent hardware iSCSI only)
	-M <mtu_size> <adapter_name> - -mtu <mtu-size> <adapter_name>	Sets physical network portal options.
-I - -iscsiname
	-a <alias_name> <adapter_name> - -alias <alias_name> <adapter_name>	Sets the iSCSI initiator alias.
-I - -iscsiname
	-n <iscsi_name> <adapter_name> - -name <iscsi_name> <adapter_name>	Sets the iSCSI initiator name.
-I - -iscsiname
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists iSCSI initiator options.
-M --mtu
	-p -M <mtu_size> <adapter_name> --pnp - -mtu <mtu-size> <adapter_name>	Sets MTU size. Used with the --pnp option.
-S - -static
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists static discovery addresses.
-S - -static
	-r -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] -n <target_name> <adapter_name> - -remove - -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] -name <target_name> <adapter_name>	Removes a static discovery address.
-S - -static
	-a -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] -n <target_name> <adapter_name> - -add - -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] -name <target_name> <adapter_name>	Adds a static discovery address.
-P - -phba
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists external, vendor-specific properties of an iSCSI adapter.
-T - -target
	-l <adapter_name> - -list <adapter_name>	Lists target information.
-W - -parameter
	-l [-i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [-n <iscsi_name]] <adapter_name>   - -list [- -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [- -name <iscsi_name]] <adapter_name>	Lists iSCSI parameter information.
-W - -parameter
	-l -k [-i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [-n <iscsi_name]] <adapter_name>   - -list - -detail [- -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [- -name <iscsi_name]] <adapter_name>	Lists iSCSI parameter details.
-W - -parameter
	-W -j <name>=<value> -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:port_num>] [-n <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>   - -parameter - -set <name>=<value> - -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:port_num>] [- -name <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>	Sets iSCSI parameters.
-W - -parameter
	-W - o <param_name> -i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:port_num>] [-n <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>   -parameter - -reset <param_name> -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:port_num>] [-name <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>	Returns parameters in discovery target or send target to default inheritance behavior.
-z --reset_auth
	-a -z -m <auth_method> -b [-i <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [-n <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>   --authentication --reset_auth - -method <auth_method> [- -ip <stor_ip_addr|stor_hostname> [:<portnum>] [- -name <iscsi_name>]] <adapter_name>	Resets target level authentication properties to be inherited from adapter level. Used with the --authentication option.