Overview of vSphere Command-Line Interfaces

vSphere includes commands for managing different aspects of your environment, either locally or remotely.

Command set	Description	See
ESXCLI commands	Manage many aspects of an ESXi host. You can run ESXCLI commands remotely or in the ESXi Shell. ■ vCLI package.Install the vCLI package on the server of your choice, or deploy a vMA virtual machine and target the ESXi system that you want manipulate. You can run ESXCLI commands against a vCenter Server system and target the host indirectly. Running against vCenter Server systems by using the -vihost parameter is required if the host is in lockdown mode. ■ ESXi shell. Run ESXCLI commands in the local ESXi shell to manage that host. You can also run ESXCLI commands from the vSphere PowerCLI prompt by using the Get-EsxCli cmdlet.	Using ESXCLI Installing vCLI vSphere Command-Line Concepts and Examples vSphere Management Assistant Guide vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference
esxcfg- commands	Available in the ESXi Shell. esxcfg- commands are still included in this release but are deprecated. Migrate to ESXCLI where possible. ESXCLI replacements exist for most commands.	Command-Line Management of vSphere 5 for Service Console Users
vicfg- and other vCLI commands	Introduced in vSphere 3 to allow users to manage hosts remotely. Install the vCLI package on the server of your choice, or deploy a vMA virtual machine and target the ESXi system that you want manipulate. You can run the commands against ESXi systems or against a vCenter Server system. If you target a vCenter Server system, use the --vihost option to specify the target ESXi system. Note: If the ESXi system is in lockdown mode, you must run commands against the vCenter Server system that manages your ESXi system.	Installing vCLI vSphere Command-Line Concepts and Examples vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference
VMware PowerCLI cmdlets	VMware vSphere PowerCLI provides a Windows PowerShell interface to the vSphere API. vSphere PowerCLI includes PowerShell cmdlets for administering vSphere components. vSphere PowerCLI includes more than 200 cmdlets, a set of sample scripts, and a function library for management and automation. The vSphere Image Builder PowerCLI and the vSphere Auto Deploy PowerCLI are included when you install the vSphere PowerCLI.	VMware PowerCLI documentation set.
localcli commands	Set of commands for use with VMware Technical Support. localcli commands are equivalent to ESXCLI commands, but bypass hostd. The localcli commands are only for situations when hostd is unavailable and cannot be restarted. After you run a localcli command, you must restart hostd. Run ESXCLI commands after the restart. If you use a localcli command in other situations, an inconsistent system state and potential failure can result.