vSphere Command-Line Interface 6.5 Release Notes

Released 19 Dec 2017

Build 7397310 is the 6.5 Update 1d release of the vSphere Command-Line Interface (vCLI).

Release notes last updated on 19 Dec 2017.

Check frequently for additions and updates to these release notes.

Released 15 Nov 2016

Build 4566394 is the 6.5 release of the vSphere Command-Line Interface (vCLI).

vCLI 6.5 Release Notes

Welcome to the vCLI 6.5 release notes. Version numbers referenced in this document are placeholders and do not represent any commitment by VMware to have any features included in specific software versions.

This document contains the following information:

About vCLI

The vCLI command set allows you to run common system administration commands from any machine with network access to those systems. vCLI includes a set of host management commands and DCLI commands for managing vCenter services that are new in vSphere 6 and later. You can run most host management commands against a vCenter Server system and target any ESXi system that the vCenter Server system manages.

Many vCLI commands run on top of the vSphere SDK for Perl. Both vCLI and the vSphere SDK for Perl are included in the same installation package.

What's New in vSphere CLI 6.5 Update 1d

vSphere CLI 6.5 Update 1d contains a number of security fixes.

  • The SSLv2 and SSLv3 protocols are disabled.
  • The Windows ESXCLI binary is now 64-bit instead of 32-bit.
  • Some bundled libraries are upgraded.

What's New in vSphere CLI 6.5

The ActivePerl installation is removed from the Windows installer. ActivePerl or Strawberry Perl version 5.14 or later must be installed separately before installing vCLI on a Windows system.

Deprecated vicfg- commands — Existing vicfg- commands have been deprecated as there exist equivalent esxcli commands.

The following list shows the deprecated vicfg- commands and the equivalent esxcli commands.

vicfg-module — esxcli system module
vicfg-mpath — esxcli storage core
vicfg-nas — esxcli storage nfs
vicfg-route — esxcli network ip route

ESXCLI new and removed commands — New commands have been added and existing commands have been removed.

The following commands have been added to the ESXCLI command set.

esxcli device driver list
esxcli fcoe adapter remove
esxcli fcoe nic enable
esxcli fcoe nic remove
esxcli graphics device stats list
esxcli graphics host get
esxcli graphics host refresh
esxcli graphics host set
esxcli hardware usb passthrough device disable
esxcli hardware usb passthrough device enable
esxcli hardware usb passthrough device list
esxcli network multicast group list
esxcli network nic coalesce high get
esxcli network nic coalesce high set
esxcli network nic coalesce low get
esxcli network nic coalesce low set
esxcli network nic queue count get
esxcli network nic queue count set
esxcli network nic queue filterclass list
esxcli network nic queue loadbalancer list
esxcli network nic queue loadbalancer set
esxcli nvme device get
esxcli nvme device list
esxcli nvme device feature aec get
esxcli nvme device feature aec set
esxcli nvme device feature ar get
esxcli nvme device feature ar set
esxcli nvme device feature er get
esxcli nvme device feature er set
esxcli nvme device feature ic get
esxcli nvme device feature ic set
esxcli nvme device feature ivc get
esxcli nvme device feature ivc set
esxcli nvme device feature nq get
esxcli nvme device feature pm get
esxcli nvme device feature pm set
esxcli nvme device feature tt get
esxcli nvme device feature tt set
esxcli nvme device feature vwc get
esxcli nvme device feature vwc set
esxcli nvme device feature wa get
esxcli nvme device feature wa set
esxcli nvme device firmware activate
esxcli nvme device firmware download
esxcli nvme device log error get
esxcli nvme device log fwslot get
esxcli nvme device log smart get
esxcli nvme device namespace format
esxcli nvme device namespace get
esxcli nvme device namespace list
esxcli nvme driver loglevel set
esxcli rdma iser add
esxcli software vib signature verify
esxcli storage core adapter capabilities list
esxcli storage core device purge
esxcli storage core device capacity list
esxcli storage core device latencythreshold list
esxcli storage core device latencythreshold set
esxcli storage vmfs reclaim config get
esxcli storage vmfs reclaim config set
esxcli system coredump vsan add
esxcli system coredump vsan get
esxcli system coredump vsan list
esxcli system coredump vsan remove
esxcli system coredump vsan set
esxcli system stats installtime get
esxcli system wbem get
esxcli system wbem set
esxcli system wbem provider list
esxcli system wbem provider set
esxcli vsan iscsi defaultconfig get
esxcli vsan iscsi defaultconfig set
esxcli vsan iscsi homeobject create
esxcli vsan iscsi homeobject delete
esxcli vsan iscsi homeobject get
esxcli vsan iscsi homeobject set
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup add
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup get
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup list
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup remove
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup initiator add
esxcli vsan iscsi initiatorgroup initiator remove
esxcli vsan iscsi status get
esxcli vsan iscsi status set
esxcli vsan iscsi target add
esxcli vsan iscsi target get
esxcli vsan iscsi target list
esxcli vsan iscsi target remove
esxcli vsan iscsi target set
esxcli vsan iscsi target lun add
esxcli vsan iscsi target lun get
esxcli vsan iscsi target lun list
esxcli vsan iscsi target lun remove
esxcli vsan iscsi target lun set

The following ESXCLI commands are not in this release.

esxcli network ip ipsec set
esxcli system kernellog list
esxcli system kernellog set

DCLI new commands — New commands have been added.

The following commands have been added to the DCLI command set.

cis data legacy resourcemodel
appliance monitoring
appliance monitoring
appliance vmon service
appliance networking interfaces
appliance networking dns servers
appliance networking dns hostname
appliance networking dns domains
appliance health load
appliance health system
appliance health storage
appliance health softwarepackages
appliance health mem
appliance health swap
appliance health databasestorage
appliance health applmgmt
appliance access shell
appliance access ssh
appliance access consolecli
appliance access dcui
appliance techpreview shutdown
appliance techpreview timesync
appliance techpreview ntp
appliance techpreview services
appliance techpreview networking routes
appliance techpreview networking ipv6
appliance techpreview networking ipv4
appliance techpreview networking proxy
appliance techpreview networking firewall addr inbound
appliance techpreview services status
appliance techpreview localaccounts user
appliance techpreview monitoring snmp
appliance techpreview ntp server
appliance techpreview system update
appliance recovery backup
appliance recovery restore
appliance recovery backup parts
appliance recovery backup job
appliance recovery restore job
appliance system storage
appliance system uptime
appliance system version
appliance system time
vcenter datacenter
vcenter network
vcenter folder
vcenter host
vcenter vm
vcenter datastore
vcenter resourcepool
vcenter cluster
vcenter iso image
vcenter vm hardware
vcenter vm power
vcenter vm hardware boot
vcenter vm hardware serial
vcenter vm hardware ethernet
vcenter vm hardware cdrom
vcenter vm hardware disk
vcenter vm hardware floppy
vcenter vm hardware memory
vcenter vm hardware parallel
vcenter vm hardware cpu
vcenter vm hardware adapter sata
vcenter vm hardware adapter scsi
vcenter vm hardware boot device

Documentation

vSphere CLI 6.5 documentation is available in the vSphere 6.5 Documentation Center.

Command-line help for each vicfg- command, esxcli command, and DCLI command is available. The reference is generated from the command-line help.

Supported Platforms

For this release, vCLI is supported on the following Linux platforms:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.6 (Server) — 64-bit
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.1 (Server) — 64-bit
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.2 (Server) — 64-bit
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.3 (Server) — 64-bit
  • Ubuntu 12.04 (LTS) — 64-bit
  • Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS) — 64-bit
  • Ubuntu 15.10 (LTS) — 64-bit
  • Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS) — 64-bit
  • SLES 11 SP3 — 64-bit
  • SLES 12 — 64-bit

For this release, vCLI is supported on the following Windows platforms:

  • Windows 8 (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Windows 2008 (64-bit)
  • Windows 2012 R2 (64-bit)

This release of vCLI is compatible with ESXi 6.0 Update 3 and vCenter Server 6.0 Update 3.

Installing vCLI

The vCLI installer behaves differently for RHEL and for other Linux distributions.

Installing vCLI on RHEL (No Internet Access)

On RHEL, the installer prompts you whether you want to install required Perl modules from the installation package or from CPAN. You can install from the package if you do not have Internet access.

  1. Uninstall any existing versions of vCLI or vSphere SDK for Perl by running <install_dir>/vmware-uninstall-vSphere-CLI.pl.
    The default installation directory is /usr/bin.
  2. Delete any existing versions of the vCLI or SDK for Perl installation.
    rm -rf <install_dir>/vmware-vsphere-cli-distrib
  3. Download and untar the vCLI package.
  4. Run the installer.
  5. When prompted, respond Yes to install the missing Perl modules from the installer package.

The installer stops installation if required modules cannot be found on your Linux system. The installer installs other missing Perl modules, but does not overwrite existing versions of those modules. See Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces for detailed installation instruction.

Installing vCLI on RHEL 7.3

On RHEL 7.3, you might have to install some components manually.

  1. If there are no compilers, install GCC by running yum group install "Development Tools".
  2. Install perl-5.24.0 and then install the following Perl modules.
    • Crypt-OpenSSL
    • Crypt-OpenSSL-RSA
    • Crypt-SSLeay
    • Socket6-0
    • Time::Piece

Installing vSphere vCLI on Systems with Internet Access

For all supported Linux distributions with Internet access, the vCLI installer uses CPAN, as it has since vCLI 5.0. You can also direct the RHEL installer to use CPAN.

  • Explicitly uninstalling previous versions of the software is no longer required.
  • You must have access to the Internet to successfully install vCLI.
  • Depending on your environment, you might need to set your http:// and ftp:// proxies, as follows:
    export http_proxy=http://<proxy_server>:port
    export ftp_proxy=http://<proxy_server>:port
  • The installer installs missing Perl modules from CPAN, but does not overwrite existing versions of those modules.

Note: Downloading modules from CPAN can take a long time.

See Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces, available in the vSphere Documentation Center, for detailed installation instructions.

Installing vCLI 6.5 on Windows

The vCLI Windows installer installs vSphere SDK for Perl and vSphere CLI, but does not install ActivePerl 5.14.4. You must manually install ActivePerl or Strawberry Perl version 5.14 or later before installing vCLI.

Important: Reboot your Windows system after installation. If you do not reboot, ActivePerl might report that it cannot find some of the Perl modules.

Resolved Issues

The following issues have been resolved in vCLI 6.5:

  • DCLI tab completion of input options in interactive mode not supported on Windows systems
    When you run a DCLI command on Linux, tab completion of input options is supported. When you run a DCLI command from the command prompt of a vCenter Server installation on Windows or on a Windows system on which vCLI is installed, tab completion of input options is not supported.

  • Changing the installation path for product installs DCLI on non-defined location
    If you change the installation path when installing vCLI, DCLI is installed on a non-defined location.
    Note: This issue is fixed, and the VMware DCLI directory is available inside the installed directory path now.

  • vicfg-user group management commands do not work
    Starting with vSphere 5.5, the vicfg-user commands are no longer supported with the group option. A SOAP fault results.

  • vmkfstools might print misleading error when running against free ESXi
    When you run the vmkfstools vCLI against an ESXi host with a free license, some options, e.g. vmkfstools createvirtualdisk, might return a message like the following:
    Unable to create virtual disk with specified parameters

  • resxtop not supported in replay mode
    The resxtop command is supported only in interactive mode and batch mode. The esxtop service console command is supported in interactive mode, batch mode, and replay mode.

  • Missing DLL error during first command execution after installation (Windows)
    A vCLI installation on Windows completes successfully. However, when you later run vCLI commands, errors about missing DLLs might result. For example:
    libxml2.dll wasn't found

  • Running a DCLI command from vCLI results in connection error
    If you run DCLI without options on a vCenter Server Appliance, a detailed introductory message results. If you run the same command on a system where you installed vCLI, a connection error results.

  • Using vCLI with the command prompt on Windows results in an error
    If you use vCLI with the command prompt on Windows, you receive an error message of type $VCLIPath is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Known Issues

vCLI 6.5 is known to have the following issues:

  • Using DCLI_HISTFILE without read and write permissions in DCLI interactive mode results in an error
    If the DCLI_HISTFILE environment variable is set to a file for which you do not have read and write permissions, DCLI interactive mode fails and you receive a Permission denied error message.

    Workaround: Either unset DCLI_HISTFILE to let DCLI use the default history file in your home directory, or give read and write permissions to DCLI_HISTFILE to allow DCLI interactive mode to work.

  • In interactive mode, DCLI uses previously entered credentials even if authorization failed with those
    If you run DCLI in interactive mode and invoke a command that requires authentication, DCLI prompts for credentials. If you enter credentials for a user who does not have permissions to perform the operation, you receive an Unauthorized error message. If you try to invoke the same command again, DCLI does not prompt you to enter new credentials and uses the credentials that you previously entered instead.

    Workaround: Either pass +username to specify different credentials, or save the correct credentials in the credential store.

  • Running VMware vSphere Automation SDK for Perl 6.5 samples on Windows fails with an error
    If you try to run VMware vSphere Automation SDK for Perl 6.5 samples on Windows, you receive an error message of type (pythondll) failed. The specified module could not be found.

    Workaround: Copy python27.dll from <vCLI_Install_Dir>/bin to <vCLI_Install_Dir>/Perl/lib/VMware.

  • The resxtop command runs in batch mode by default
    When you run the resxtop command on an RHEL 6.6 64-bit platform, it runs in batch mode by default. The command must run in interactive mode.

    Workaround: To run the command in interactive mode, set the TERMINFO environment variable.
    Run the command: export TERMINFO=/usr/share/terminfo
    The output of the resxtop command should be returned in interactive mode.

  • DCLI not included in default path in vSphere Management Assistant
    DCLI is not part of the path in vSphere Management Assistant. Unless you are in the DCLI directory, an error results if you run a DCLI command.

    Workaround: You have the following options.

    • Navigate to the dcli directory and then run the /usr/lib/vmware-vcli/bin/vmware-dcli/dcli command.
    • Add DCLI to the vSphere Management Assistant PATH as follows: export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/vmware-vcli/bin/vmware-dcli/.

  • vmkfstools reports the same volume twice.
    If a VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) volume and its snapshot are both mounted, vmkfstools reports the volume twice.

    Workaround: No workaround needed.

  • Parameter values with spaces result in error for esxcli image command.
    When you run esxcli image with --vib|-v, --depot|-d, or --meta|-m and supply a parameter value that contains spaces, the second part of that parameter value is treated as a separate argument. An error results.

    Workaround: Surround the parameter value with double quotes.

  • Cannot clone VMDK files from a non-VMFS directory using the vmkfstools vCLI
    When you attempt to run the vmkfstools vCLI to clone a VMDK file that is not located in a VMFS directory, the command fails with a message Invalid datastore path. The operation does not fail if you use the vmkfstools service console command.

    Workaround: Move the VMDK file into the VMFS datastore and repeat the clone operation.

  • Users with read-only role cannot display some information on target servers
    You create a user running the vicfg-user vCLI, and you assign the read-only role to the user. When that user attempts to retrieve information from an ESX/ESXi host, the information is not always available. For example, when the user runs vicfg-module <conn_options> --list, no modules are displayed even if those modules actually exist. When the user runs vicfg-dumppart <conn_options> --list, no diagnostic partitions are displayed.

    Workaround: No workaround for this issue. You can log in as a user with read and write permissions to display the information.

  • Problems using vmkfstools to create VMFS3 volume when using VML name of LUN
    When you run vmkfstools -C vmfs3 to create a VMFS3 volume, and you use the VML name for the LUN, the command might fail even if the VML name is a soft link to a device name (naa.xxx name). The command might fail, for example, if a VMFS3 volume already exists on the LUN.

    Workaround: Use the device name (naa.xxx or eui.xx) to refer to the LUN.

  • Running vmkfstools -C does not prompt for confirmation
    When you run vmkfstools -C to create a VMFS on a partition that already has a VMFS on it, the command erases the existing VMFS and creates the new VMFS without prompting for confirmation.

    Workaround: No workaround. Check the command carefully before running it.

  • Diagnostic partition change is not persistent under certain conditions
    If you call esxcfg-dumppart or vicfg-dumppart to change the diagnostic partition, and if your ESX/ESXi system experiences a failure within an hour after this change is made and before the host is rebooted, the diagnostic partition reverts to the original setting.

    Workaround: Use the esxcli system coredump commands instead. If using vicfg-dumppart, reboot the ESXi system immediately after changing the partition.

  • When using svmotion in interactive mode, cannot specify non-ASCII characters as input
    When you use svmotion in interactive mode, you cannot specify non-ASCII input, for example, a German datacenter name.

    Workaround: Run svmotion in non-interactive mode and use quotes around the datacenter name.

  • Error when using vicfg-iscsi to set up IP, subnet, and gateway separately
    You perform a factory reset on a QLogic hardware iSCSI card that results in an error. If you then use the vicfg-iscsi vCLI command to set IP address, subnet mask, and gateway separately, an error status results in which the addresses for IP, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS are set to NULL (0.0.0.0). This is also a problem if the address is 0.0.0.0 for other reasons.

    Workaround: Use the following command to reset the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway at the same time.

    vicfg-iscsi --network --ip <ip_addr> --subnetmask <subnet_mask> --gateway <default_gateway> <adapter_name>

  • Cannot modify hardware iSCSI adapter MTU using vicfg-iscsi
    When you call vicfg-iscsi <conn_params> --pnp --mtu <number> <vmhba> to modify the MTU for a hardware iSCSI adapter, the MTU does not actually changed and an error indicates the property cannot be set.

  • vicfg-vmknic completes successfully but displays error
    When you set up an ESXi Installable system with a DHCP IP address, and then set an explicit IP address by running vicfg-vmknic -i -n -p, the IP address is set successfully. However, a SOAP error is displayed. This problem has been found on ESXi Installable only.

    Workaround: No workaround needed, the IP address is set successfully.

  • vicfg-volume does not maintain global data center information in a distributed environment
    In a distributed environment you mounted (persistent/no persistent) an unresolved volume from one ESX/ESXi system using vicfg-volume -M. From another ESX/ESXi system, you run vicfg-volume -r to resignature that unresolved volume. If the mounted volume is not active, running the volume resignature command unmounts the volume. The volume appears as a resignatures volume to all hosts in the environment.

    In contrast, if you use vSphere Client to mount an unresolved volume from one host and issue resignature from another host, the vSphere Client generates a warning to let users know that volume has been mounted on another host and resignature does not succeed.

    Workaround: Use esxcli storage filesystem commands or the vSphere Web Client instead of the vicfg-volume command to resignature volumes in a distributed environment.