vmware-cmd Overview

vmware-cmd was included in earlier version of the ESX Service Console. A vmware-cmd command has been available in the vCLI package since ESXi version 3.0.

Important vmware-cmd is not available in the ESXi Shell. Run the vmware-cmd vCLI command instead.

Older versions of vmware-cmd support a set of connection options and general options that differ from the options in other vCLI commands. The vmware-cmd vCLI command supports these options. The vCLI command also supports the standard vCLI - -server, - -username, - -password, and --vihost options. vmware-cmd does not support other connection options.

Important vmware-cmd is a legacy tool and supports the usage of VMFS paths for virtual machine configuration files. As a rule, use datastore paths to access virtual machine configuration files.

Connection Options for vmware-cmd

The vmware-cmd vCLI command supports only the following connection options. Other vCLI connection options are not supported, for example, you cannot use variables because the corresponding option is not supported.

Option	Description
- -server <host> -H <host>	Target ESXi or vCenter Server system.
--vihost <target> -h <target>	When you run vmware-cmd with the -H option pointing to a vCenter Server system, use --vihost to specify the ESXi host to run the command against.
-O <port>	Alternative connection port. The default port number is 902.
- -username <username> -U <username>	User who is authorized to log in to the host specified by --server or --vihost.
- -password <password> -P <password>	Password for the user specified by -U.
-Q <protocol>	Protocol to use, either http or https. Default is https.

General Options for vmware-cmd

The vmware-cmd vCLI command supports the following general options.

Option	Description
--help	Prints a help message that lists the options for this command.
-q	Runs in quiet mode with minimal output. The output does not display the specified operation and arguments.
-v	Runs in verbose mode.

Format for Specifying Virtual Machines

When you run vmware-cmd, the virtual machine path is usually required. You can specify the virtual machine using one of the following formats:

■	Datastore prefix style: '[ds_name] relative_path', for example:

■	'[myStorage1] testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx' (Linux)

■	"[myStorage1] testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx" (Windows)

■	UUID-based path: folder/subfolder/file, for example:

■	'/vmfs/volumes/mystorage/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx' (Linux)

■	"/vmfs/volumes/mystorage/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx" (Windows)