Using the vSphere Command-Line Interface

The vCLI command set includes vicfg- commands and ESXCLI commands. The ESXCLI commands included in the vCLI package are equivalent to the ESXCLI commands available on the ESXi Shell. The vicfg- command set is similar to the deprecated esxcfg- command set in the ESXi Shell.

Important ESXi Shell is intended for experienced users only. Minor errors in the shell can result in serious problems. Instead of running commands directly in the ESXi Shell, use vCLI or PowerCLI.

You can run vCLI commands from a Windows or Linux system, or use vMA.

■	Install the vCLI command set on the Windows or Linux system from which you want to administer your ESXi systems and run vCLI commands. See Installing vCLI.

■	Deploy a vMA virtual machine to an ESXi system and run vCLI commands from there.

After you have installed the vCLI package you can run the commands in the set against ESXi hosts. You must specify connection parameters when you run a vCLI command. See Using the vSphere Command-Line Interface.