Transitioning Service Console Commands

If you are currently managing your environment with service console commands, you can perform the same management tasks in vSphere 5.0 and later in one of the following ways.

■	Use one of the vSphere Client interfaces.

■	Install vCLI or PowerCLI on a management server, write scripts with those commands, and run the scripts against target hosts. See Running vCLI or PowerCLI Commands from Remote Hosts.

■	For certain troubleshooting and advanced management commands, use commands from the ESXCLI command set directly the ESXi Shell. See Using the ESXi Shell.

ESX 4.x Service Console	vSphere 5.0 and later	See
Service console commands	Off-host management with vCLI. Install on Windows or Linux or use vMA.	Transitioning Service Console Commands. Reference to Replacements for Service Console Commands lists vCLI or ESXCLI replacements for service console commands and points to migration lists in this technical note.
Service console commands	Off-host management with VMware PowerCLI cmdlets from a Windows system.	Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces vSphere Command-Line Interface Solutions and Examples
Service console commands	On-host management in the ESXi Shell is possible if system failures or other issues prevent you from using off-host management commands. ESXi Shell is disabled by default	See ESXi Shell Local Access and Remote Access to ESXi Shell Using SSH.
Agents	If you run agents in the ESX 4.x service console, you can replace them with infrastructure services in many cases. Running third-party agents in the ESXi Shell is not supported.	Replacing Agents.
Linux networking commands.	Not available in the ESXi Shell. Use ESXCLI commands instead.	See Retrieving Networking Information.
Service console logs	Fine-grained control over system logs is available. You can send logs to the local system or to a remote host.	Logging in vSphere 5.0 and Later

Command-Line Interfaces in ESX 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 and later illustrates the differences between CLIs in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 and later.

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In ESX 4.1, a fairly large set of service console commands is available. A small set of ESXCLI commands is available in both the service console and as part of the vCLI package. The vCLI package includes, in addition to ESXCLI commands, a set of vicfg- commands and other commands for host management.

■	ESXi 5.0 and later does not include a service console. In the ESXi Shell, you can run a much expanded set of ESXCLI commands and a small set of other commands. The same ESXCLI commands, as well as a few other commands, are included in the vCLI package for off-host management.

Command-Line Interfaces in ESX 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 and later

Using vSphere Client Interfaces

Most tasks you perform in the ESX Service Console can be performed by one of the graphical user interfaces to ESXi or vCenter Server systems. The interfaces allow you to manage your infrastructure, and to perform operations on multiple hosts at the same time.

■	Install the vSphere Client on the Windows system of your choice and connect to an ESXi or vCenter Server system. Perform management operations using the client.

■	Use the vSphere Web Client from one of the supported browsers. The vSphere Web Client is a new interface and supports operations on virtual machines, managed hosts, and vCenter Server components.

vSphere 5.0 and later documentation explains how to perform tasks by using one of the client UIs. Online help is available from both client UIs.

Running vCLI or PowerCLI Commands from Remote Hosts

If you have scripts that use ESX 4.x service console commands or run commands in the ESX 4.x service console directly, running vCLI commands or PowerCLI cmdlets from the host on which you installed those packages gives the best results. However, running off-host is highly recommended because it facilitates scripting.

You can use vCLI even if hosts are in lockdown mode by targeting the vCenterServer system and specifying the target ESXi host with the --vihost parameter, for example:

esxcli --server <my_vc> --vihost <my_esxi> [<authentication>] storage nfs list

If you do not specify additional authentication parameters, the vCLI infrastructure prompts for a username and password for the vCenter Server system specified by --server.

vCLI Command Set

The vCLI command set includes common system administration commands which you can run against ESXi systems from any machine with network access to those systems. You can also run most vCLI commands against a vCenter Server system and target any ESXi system that vCenter Server system manages.

Install the vCLI command set on a supported versions of Windows or Linux. The user running a command against a server must be authenticated for that server. The vCLI package includes several command sets.

Command Set	Description
ESXCLI vCLI commands	Extensible command framework for managing many aspects of vSphere. Run esxcli --help to see all top-level namespaces. You can run --help at any level of the hierarchy. The esxcli command set in the ESXi Shell and the esxcli vCLI command set support the same functionality. When running vCLI commands, you must specify the target server and authentication options.
vicfg- (esxcfg-) vCLI commands	Set of commands for managing many aspects of vSphere. For each vicfg- vCLI command, the package includes an esxcfg- vCLI command that is equivalent of the vicfg- vCLI command. Important: esxcfg- vCLI commands are not always equivalent to corresponding esxcfg- service console or ESXi Shell commands. vicfg- commands will be deprecated in future releases. Use esxcli commands instead where possible.
Management commands	A small set of management commands is available. Commands include vifs for file migration, vmware-cmd for managing virtual machines, and vmkfstools for VMFS file management.

The following documentation helps you work with vCLI commands.

■	Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces gives overviews of available commands and includes instructions for installing vCLI on Widows or Linux and detailed information about connection options.

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vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples presents usage examples for many commands, such as setting up software and hardware iSCSI, adding virtual switches, setting up Active Directory authentication, and so on. The document includes the same example with the vicfg- command and the ESXCLI command where supported.

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vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference is a reference to both vicfg- commands and ESXCLI commands. The vicfg- command help is generated from the POD available for each command, run pod2html for any vicfg- command to generate individual HTML files interactively. The ESXCLI reference information is generated from the ESXCLI help.

Running ESXCLI Commands Against ESXi 4.x Hosts

When you run an ESXCLI vCLI command, you must know the commands supported on the target host specified with --server or as a vMA target.

■	If you run commands against ESXi 4.x hosts, ESXCLI 4.x commands are supported.

■	If you run commands against ESXi 5.0 hosts, ESXCLI 5.0 commands and most ESXCLI 5.1 commands are supported. Commands that are new in ESXCLI 5.1 are not supported.

■	If you run commands against ESX 5.1 hosts, ESXCLI 5.0 commands and all ESXCLI 5.1 commands are supported.

VMware partners might develop custom ESXCLI commands that you can run on hosts where the partner VIB has been installed.

Run esxcli --server <target> --help for a list of namespaces supported on the target. You can drill down into the namespaces for additional help.

Important ESXCLI on ESX 4.x hosts does not support targeting a vCenter Server system. You can therefore not run commands with --server pointing to a vCenter Server system even if you install vCLI 5.0 or vCLI 5.1.

PowerCLI Cmdlet Set

VMware offers a comprehensive set of PowerCLI cmdlets. You can install the PowerCLI package on a Windows system on which Microsoft PowerShell is installed and use PowerCLI cmdlets to manage hosts and virtual machines. PowerCLI cmdlets and vCLI commands overlap in functionality. The PowerCLI focus is on virtual machine management. The vCLI focus is on host management.

See the vSphere PowerCLI documentation set, available in the VMware Administration Automation Products section of the vSphere documentation page.

Using the ESXi Shell

Each ESXi host includes an ESXi Shell, which is disabled by default. Administrators can use that shell to perform troubleshooting and advanced tasks such as testing scripts in non production environments.

You can access the shell as follows:

■	Enable local access and use the local shell on the physical console or using a serial port. See ESXi Shell Local Access.

■	Enable SSH access and use the shell over a management network with SSH. See ESXi Shell Access.

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

The ESXi Shell includes the following command sets.

Command Set	Description
ESXCLI commands	Extensible command framework for managing many aspects of vSphere. Run esxcli --help to see all top-level namespaces. You can run --help at any level of the hierarchy. The esxcli command set in the ESXi Shell and the esxcli vCLI command set support the same functionality. When running vCLI commands, you must specify the target server and authentication options.
esxcfg- commands (deprecated)	Set of commands for managing many aspects of vSphere. Most esxcfg- commands available in the ESX 4.x service console are available in the ESXi Shell but are deprecated in ESXi 5.0 and will be removed in a future release. Use ESXCLI commands instead of esxcfg- commands. If no ESXCLI command exists, use the vicfg- commands in the vCLI command set.
Other commands	A small set of POSIX-style commands is included in the shell (see Shell Commands). These commands are not supported by VMware but are included for use in troubleshooting situations. Use the vSphere Client or VMware commands instead where possible.
localcli commands	Set of troubleshooting commands for use with VMware Technical Support. localcli commands equivalent to ESXCLI commands but bypass the host daemon (hostd). Warning: localcli commands are only for situations when hostd is unavailable and cannot be restarted. After you run a localcli command, you must restart hostd. Using localcli commands in other situations is not supported. An inconsistent system state and potential failure can result.