List of Available Commands

vCLI and ESXCLI Commands lists all ESX/ESXi 4.1 vCLI commands in alphabetical order and the corresponding ESXCLI command if available. No new vicfg- commands were added in vSphere 5.0. Many new namespaces were added to ESXCLI in vSphere 5.0. An additional set of new commands and namespaces was added in vSphere 5.1.

vCLI and ESXCLI Commands 

vCLI 4.1 Command	vCLI 5.1 Command	Comment
esxcli	esxcli (new syntax)	All vCLI 4.1 commands have been renamed. Significant additions have been made to ESXCLI. Many tasks previously performed with a vicfg- command is now performed with ESXCLI.
resxtop	resxtop (No ESXCLI equivalent) Supported only on Linux.	Monitors in real time how ESXi hosts use resources. Runs in interactive or batch mode. See Using resxtop for Performance Monitoring. See the vSphere Resource Management documentation for a detailed reference.
svmotion	svmotion (No ESXCLI equivalent) Must run against a vCenter Server system.	Moves a virtual machine’s configuration file, and, optionally, its disks, while the virtual machine is running. See Migrating Virtual Machines with svmotion.
vicfg-advcfg	esxcli system settings advanced	Performs advanced configuration. The advanced settings are a set of VMkernel options. These options are typically in place for specific workarounds or debugging. Use this command as instructed by VMware.
vicfg-authconfig	vicfg-authconfig (No ESXCLI equivalent).	Remotely configures Active Directory settings for an ESXi host. See Using vicfg-authconfig for Active Directory Configuration.
vicfg-cfgbackup	vicfg-cfgbackup (No ESXCLI equivalent), Cannot run against a vCenter Server system.	Backs up the configuration data of an ESXi system and restores previously saved configuration data. See Backing Up Configuration Information with vicfg-cfgbackup.
vicfg-dns	esxcli network ip dns	Specifies an ESXi host’s DNS (Domain Name Server) configuration. See Setting the DNS Configuration.
vicfg-dumppart	esxcli system coredump	Sets both the partition (esxcli system coredump partition) and the network (esxcli system coredump network) to use for core dumps. Use this command to set up ESXi Dump Collector. Managing Diagnostic Partitions.
vicfg-hostops	esxcli system maintenancemode esxcli system shutdown	Manages hosts. Stopping, Rebooting, and Examining Hosts. Entering and Exiting Maintenance Mode.
vicfg-ipsec	esxcli network ip ipsec	Sets up IPsec (Internet Protocol Security), which secures IP communications coming from and arriving at ESXi hosts. ESXi hosts support IPsec using IPv6. See Setting Up IPsec.
vicfg-iscsi	esxcli iscsi	Manages hardware and software iSCSI storage. See Managing iSCSI Storage.
vicfg-module	esxcli system module	Enables VMkernel options. Use this command with the options listed in this document, or as instructed by VMware. See Managing VMkernel Modules.
vicfg-mpath vicfg-mpath35	esxcli storage core path	Configures storage arrays. Managing Paths.
vicfg-nas	esxcli storage nfs	Manages NAS/NFS filesystems. See Managing NFS/NAS Datastores.
vicfg-nics	esxcli network nic	Manages the ESXi host’s uplink adapters. See Managing Uplink Adapters.
vicfg-ntp	vicfg-ntp (No ESXCLI equivalent)	Defines the NTP (Network Time Protocol) server. See Adding and Starting an NTP Server.
vicfg-rescan	esxcli storage core adapter rescan	Rescans the storage configuration. See Scanning Storage Adapters.
vicfg-route	esxcli network ip route)	Manages the ESXi host’s route entry. See Managing the IP Gateway.
vicfg-scsidevs	esxcli storage core device	Finds and examines available LUNs. See Examining LUNs.
vicfg-snmp	esxcli system snmp	Manages the SNMP agent. Managing ESXi SNMP Agents. Using SNMP in a vSphere environment is discussed in detail in the vSphere Monitoring and Performance documentation. New options added in vCLI 5.0. Expanded SNMP support added in vCLI 5.1.
vicfg-syslog	esxcli system syslog	Specifies log settings for ESXi hosts including local storage policies and server and port information for network logging. See Configuring ESXi Syslog Services. The vCenter Server and Host Management documentation explains how to set up system logs using the vSphere Web Client.
vicfg-user	vicfg-user (No ESXCLI equivalent)	Creates, modifies, deletes, and lists local direct access users and groups of users. See Managing Users. The vSphere Security documentation discusses security implications of user management and custom roles.
vicfg-vmknic	esxcli network ip interface .	Adds, deletes, and modifies VMkernel network interfaces. See Adding and Modifying VMkernel Network Interfaces.
vicfg-volume	esxcli storage filesystem	Supports resignaturing the copy of a VMFS volume, and mounting and unmounting the copy. See Managing Duplicate VMFS Datastores.
vicfg-vswitch	esxcli network vswitch	Adds or removes virtual switches or modifies virtual switch settings. See Setting Up Virtual Switches and Associating a Switch with a Network Interface.
vifs	vifs (No ESXCLI equivalent)	Performs file system operations such as retrieving and uploading files on the ESXi system. See Managing the Virtual Machine File System with vmkfstools.
vihostupdate vihostupdate35	Run esxcli software vib against ESXi 5.0 and later. Run vihostupdate against ESX/ESXi 4.x. Run vihostupdate35 against ESX/ESXi 3.5.	Updates ESXi hosts to a different version of the same major release. You cannot run vihostupdate against ESXi 5.0 and later hosts. See Managing VMkernel Modules.
vmkfstools	vmkfstools (No ESXCLI equivalent)	Creates and manipulates virtual disks, file systems, logical volumes, and physical storage devices on an ESXi host. See Managing the Virtual Machine File System with vmkfstools.
vmware-cmd	vmware-cmd (No ESXCLI equivalent)	Performs virtual machine operations remotely. This includes, for example, creating a snapshot, powering the virtual machine on or off, and getting information about the virtual machine. See Managing Virtual Machines.