vsphere esxi vcenter server 50 command line interface solutions and examples guide

vSphere Command-Line InterfaceConcepts and Examples

ESXi 5.0

vCenter Server 5.0

This document supports the version of each product listed andsupports all subsequent versions until the document is replacedby a new edition. To check for more recent editions of thisdocument, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-000489-00

VMware, Inc.3401 Hillview Ave.Palo Alto, CA 94304www.vmware.com

2 VMware, Inc.

vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

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VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

VMware, Inc. 3

Contents

AboutThisBook 9

1 vSphereCLICommandOverviews 11Introduction 11

Documentation 12CommandLineHelp 12

ListofAvailableCommands 12SupportedPlatformsforCommands 14RunningESXCLICommandsAgainstESXi4.xHosts 16CommandswithanesxcfgPrefix 16UsingESXCLIOutput 17ConnectionOptions 17vCLIandLockdownMode 18

2 ManagingHosts 21Stopping,Rebooting,andExaminingHostswithvicfghostops 21EnteringandExitingMaintenanceModewithvicfghostops 22BackingUpConfigurationInformationwithvicfgcfgbackup 22

BackupTasks 23BackingUpConfigurationData 23RestoringConfigurationData 23

UsingvicfgcfgbackupfromvMA 23ManagingVMkernelModules 24

ManagingModuleswithesxclisystemmodule 24ManagingModuleswithvicfgmodule 24

UsingvicfgauthconfigforActiveDirectoryConfiguration 25UpdatingHosts 26

3 ManagingFiles 27IntroductiontoVirtualMachineFileManagement 27ManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstools 28UpgradingVMFS3VolumestoVMFS5 29ManagingVMFSVolumes 29

ManagingDuplicateVMFSDatastores 29MountingDatastoreswithExistingSignatures 29

MountingandUnmountingwithESXCLI 29MountingandUnmountingwithvicfgvolume 30

ResignaturingVMFSCopies 30ResignaturingaVMFSCopywithESXCLI 31ResignaturingaVMFSCopywithvicfgvolume 31

DetachingDevicesandRemovingaLUN 32WorkingwithPermanentDeviceLoss 32UsingvifstoManipulateFilesonRemoteESXiHosts 33


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4 ManagingStorage 37IntroductiontoStorage 37

HowVirtualMachinesAccessStorage 38Datastores 39StorageDeviceNaming 39

ExaminingLUNs 40TargetandDeviceRepresentation 40ExaminingLUNswithesxclistoragecore 40ExaminingLUNswithvicfgscsidevs 41

ManagingPaths 42MultipathingwithLocalStorageandFCSANs 42ListingPathInformation 43

ListingPathInformationwithESXCLI 43ListingPathInformationwithvicfgmpath 44

ChangingtheStateofaPath 44ChangingPathStatewithESXCLI 45ChangingPathStatewithvicfgmpath 45

ManagingPathPolicies 45ChangingPathPolicies 46

ChangingPathPolicieswithESXCLI 46ChangingPathPolicieswithvicfgmpath 47

SettingPolicyDetailsforDevicesthatUseRoundRobin 47ManagingNFS/NASDatastores 48

CapabilitiesSupportedbyNFS/NAS 48AddingandDeletingNASFileSystems 48

ManagingNASFileSystemswithESXCLI 48ManagingNASFileSystemswithvicfgnas 49

MigratingVirtualMachineswithsvmotion 49StoragevMotionUses 50StoragevMotionRequirementsandLimitations 50RunningsvmotioninInteractiveMode 50RunningsvmotioninNoninteractiveMode 51

ConfiguringFCoEAdapters 51ScanningStorageAdapters 52

5 ManagingiSCSIStorage 53iSCSIStorageOverview 53

DiscoverySessions 54DiscoveryTargetNames 55

ProtectinganiSCSISAN 55ProtectingTransmittedData 55SecuringiSCSIPorts 56SettingiSCSICHAP 56

CommandSyntaxforesxcliiscsiandvicfgiscsi 57esxcliiscsiCommandSyntax 57KeytoesxcliiscsiShortOptions 58vicfgiscsiCommandSyntax 59

iSCSIStorageSetupwithESXCLI 62SettingUpSoftwareiSCSIwithESXCLI 62SettingUpDependentHardwareiSCSIwithESXCLI 64SettingUpIndependentHardwareiSCSIwithESXCLI 66

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Contents

iSCSIStorageSetupwithvicfgiscsi 67SettingUpSoftwareiSCSIwithvicfgiscsi 67SettingUpDependentHardwareiSCSIwithvicfgiscsi 69SettingUpIndependentHardwareiSCSIwithvicfgiscsi 70

ListingandSettingiSCSIOptions 71ListingiSCSIOptionswithESXCLI 71SettingMTUwithESXCLI 71ListingandSettingiSCSIOptionswithvicfgiscsi 72

ListingandSettingiSCSIParameters 72ListingandSettingiSCSIParameterswithESXCLI 72ReturningParameterstoDefaultInheritance 74ListingandSettingiSCSIParameterswithvicfgiscsi 74ReturningParameterstoDefaultInheritance 75

EnablingiSCSIAuthentication 76EnablingiSCSIAuthenticationwithESXCLI 76EnablingiSCSIAuthenticationwithvicfgiscsi 77

SettingUpPortsforiSCSIMultipathing 77ManagingiSCSISessions 78

IntroductiontoiSCSISessionManagement 78ListingiSCSISessions 79LoggingintoiSCSISessions 79RemovingiSCSISessions 79

6 ManagingThirdPartyStorageArrays 81ManagingNMPwithesxclistoragenmp 81

DeviceManagementwithesxclistoragenmpdevice 82esxclistoragenmpdevicelist 82esxclistoragenmpdeviceset 82

ListingPathswithesxclistoragenmppath 82ManagingPathSelectionPolicyPluginswithesxclistoragenmppsp 82

RetrievingPSPInformation 83SettingConfigurationParametersforThirdPartyExtensions 83

FixedPathSelectionPolicyOperations 83RetrievingthePreferredPath 83\SettingthePreferredPath 84

CustomizingRoundRobinSetup 84RetrievingPathSelectionSettings 84SpecifyingConditionsforPathChanges 85

ManagingSATPs 85RetrievingInformationAboutSATPs 85AddingSATPRules 85RemovingSATPRules 86RetrievingandSettingSATPConfigurationParameters 87

PathClaimingwithesxclistoragecoreclaiming 87UsingtheReclaimTroubleshootingCommand 88UnclaimingPathsorSetsofPaths 88

ManagingClaimRules 89AddingClaimRules 89ConvertingESX3.5LUNMaskstoClaimRuleFormat 91RemovingClaimRules 92ListingClaimRules 92LoadingClaimRules 92MovingClaimRules 92RunningPathClaimingRules 93


6 VMware, Inc.

7 ManagingUsers 95UsersandGroupsinthevSphereEnvironment 95vicfguserCommandSyntax 95ManagingUserswithvicfguser 96ManagingGroupswithvicfguser 98

8 ManagingVirtualMachines 101vmwarecmdOverview 101

ConnectionOptionsforvmwarecmd 102GeneralOptionsforvmwarecmd 102FormatforSpecifyingVirtualMachines 102

ListingandRegisteringVirtualMachines 102RetrievingVirtualMachineAttributes 103ManagingVirtualMachineSnapshotswithvmwarecmd 104

TakingVirtualMachineSnapshots 104RevertingandRemovingSnapshots 105

PoweringVirtualMachinesOnandOff 105ConnectingandDisconnectingVirtualDevices 106WorkingwiththeAnswerVMAPI 107ForciblyStoppingVirtualMachineswithEXCLI 107

9 ManagingvSphereNetworking 109IntroductiontovSphereNetworking 109

NetworkingUsingvSphereStandardSwitches 110NetworkingUsingvSphereDistributedSwitches 111

RetrievingBasicNetworkingInformation 111SettingUpvSphereNetworkingwithvSphereStandardSwitches 112

SettingUpVirtualSwitchesandAssociatingaSwitchwithaNetworkInterface 112RetrievingInformationAboutVirtualSwitches 113

RetrievingInformationaboutVirtualSwitcheswithESXCLI 113RetrievingInformationaboutVirtualSwitcheswithvicfgvswitch 113

AddingandDeletingVirtualSwitches 113AddingandDeletingVirtualSwitcheswithESXCLI 113AddingandDeletingVirtualSwitcheswithvicfgvswitch 114SettingSwitchAttributeswithesxclinetworkvswitchstandard 114SettingSwitchAttributeswithvicfgvswitch 114

Checking,Adding,andRemovingPortGroups 115ManagingPortGroupswithESXCLI 115ManagingPortGroupswithvicfgvswitch 115

ManagingUplinksandPortGroups 115ConnectingandDisconnectingUplinkAdaptersandPortGroupswithESXCLI 115ConnectingandDisconnectingUplinksandPortGroupswithvicfgvswitch 116

SettingthePortGroupVLANID 116SettingthePortGroupVLANIDwithESXCLI 116SettingthePortGroupVLANIDwithvicfgvswitch 116

ManagingUplinkAdapters 117ManagingUplinkAdapterswithesxclinetworknic 117SpecifyingMultipleUplinkswithESXCLI 118ManagingUplinkAdapterswithvicfgnics 118LinkingandUnlinkingUplinkAdapterswithESXCLI 119LinkingandUnlinkingUplinkAdapterswithvicfgvswitch 119

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Contents

AddingandModifyingVMkernelNetworkInterfaces 119ManagingVMkernelNetworkInterfaceswithESXCLI 120ManagingVMkernelNetworkInterfaceswithvicfgvmknic 121

SettingUpvSphereNetworkingwithvSphereDistributedSwitch 122ManagingStandardNetworkingServicesinthevSphereEnvironment 123SettingtheDNSConfiguration 123

SettingtheDNSConfigurationwithESXCLI 123SettingtheDNSConfigurationwithvicfgdns 124

AddingandStartinganNTPServer 125ManagingtheIPGateway 126UsingvicfgipsecforSecureNetworking 126

UsingIPsecwithESXi 127ManagingSecurityAssociationswithvicfgipsec 128ManagingSecurityPolicieswithvicfgipsec 129

UsingesxclinetworkfirewallforESXiFirewallManagement 130

10 MonitoringESXiHosts 131UsingresxtopforPerformanceMonitoring 131ManagingDiagnosticPartitions 131

DiagnosticPartitionCreation 132DiagnosticPartitionManagement 132

ManagingCoreDumps 132ManagingLocalCoreDumpswithESXCLI 132ManagingCoreDumpswithESXiDumpCollector 133ManagingCoreDumpswithvicfgdumppart 133

ConfiguringESXiSyslogServices 134ManagingESXiSNMPAgentswithvicfgsnmp 135

ConfiguringSNMPCommunities 136ConfiguringtheSNMPAgenttoSendTraps 136ConfiguringtheSNMPAgentforPolling 137

ESX,ESXi,andVirtualMachineLogs 137

Index 139

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Contents

VMware, Inc. 9

ThevSphereCommandLineInterfaceConceptsandExamplesdocumentationexplainshowtousetheVMwarevSphereCommandLineInterface(vCLI)andincludescommandoverviewsandexamples.

Intended AudienceThisbookisforexperiencedWindowsorLinuxsystemadministratorswhoarefamiliarwithvSphereadministrationtasksanddatacenteroperationsandknowhowtousecommandsinscripts.

VMware Technical Publications GlossaryVMwareTechnicalPublicationsprovidesaglossaryoftermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.FordefinitionsoftermsastheyareusedinVMwaretechnicaldocumentation,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Document FeedbackVMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhavecomments,[email protected].

Related DocumentationThevSphereCommandLineInterfaceReference,availableinthevSphereDocumentationCenter,includesreferenceinformationforvicfg-commandsandESXCLIcommands.GettingStartedwithvSphereCommandLineInterfacesincludesinformationaboutavailableCLIs,enablingtheESXiShell,andinstallingandrunningvCLIcommands.AnappendixsuppliestheESXCLInamespaceandcommandhierarchies.CommandLineManagementofvSphere5.0forServiceConsoleUsersisforcustomerswhocurrentlyusetheESX ServiceConsole.ThevSphereSDKforPerldocumentationexplainshowyoucanusethevSphereSDKforPerlandrelatedutilityapplicationstomanageyourvSphereenvironment.ThedocumentationincludesanInstallationGuide,aProgrammingGuide,andareferencetothevSphereSDKforPerlUtilityApplications.BackgroundinformationforthetasksdiscussedinthismanualisavailableinthevSpheredocumentationset.ThevSpheredocumentationconsistsofthecombinedvCenterServerandESXidocumentationandincludesinformationaboutmanagingstorage,networkingvirtualmachines,andmore.

Technical Support and Education ResourcesThefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.Toaccessthecurrentversionofthisbookandotherbooks,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

About This Book


10 VMware, Inc.

Online and Telephone SupportTouseonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductandcontractinformation,andregisteryourproducts,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support.Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthefastestresponseonpriority1issues.Gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.

Support OfferingsTofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Professional ServicesVMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerialsdesignedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andliveonline.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovidesofferingsto helpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabouteducationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/services.

VMware, Inc. 11

1

Thischapterintroducesthecommandset,presentssupportedcommandsfordifferentversionsofvSphere,listsconnectionoptions,anddiscussesvCLIandlockdownmode.Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics: Introductiononpage 11 ListofAvailableCommandsonpage 12 SupportedPlatformsforCommandsonpage 14 RunningESXCLICommandsAgainstESXi4.xHostsonpage 16 CommandswithanesxcfgPrefixonpage 16 UsingESXCLIOutputonpage 17 ConnectionOptionsonpage 17 vCLIandLockdownModeonpage 18

IntroductionThevSphereCLIcommandset,availablesinceESX/ESXi3.5,allowsyoutoperformvSphereconfigurationtasksusingavCLIpackageinstalledonsupportedplatforms,orusingvMA.Thesetconsistsofseveralcommandsets.

YoucaninstallthevSphereCLIcommandsetonasupportedLinuxorWindowssystem.SeeGettingStartedwithvSphereCommandLineInterfaces.YoucanalsodeploythevSphereManagementAssistant(vMA)toanESXisystemofyourchoice.ManageESXihostsfromtheLinuxorWindowssystemorfromvMAbyrunningvCLIcommandswithconnectionoptionssuchasthetargethost,user,andpasswordoraconfigurationfile.SeeConnectionOptionsonpage 17.

vSphere CLI Command Overviews 1

Table 1-1. Components of the vSphere CLI Command Set

vCLI Commands Description

ESXCLIcommands ComprehensivesetofcommandsformanagingmostaspectsofvSphere.InvSphere5.0,thiscommandsethasbeenunified.Eventually,ESXCLIcommandswillreplaceothercommandsinthevCLIset.CompletelyequivalentESXCLIcommandsareavailableintheESXiShell.UsevCLIESXCLIcommandsforasaferenvironment.

vicfgcommands SetofcommandsformanyaspectsofvSphere.InvSphere5.0,onlyminorchangesweremadetothiscommandset.Eventually,thesecommandswillbereplacedbyESXCLIcommands.Asetofesxcfg-commandsthatpreciselymirrorsthevicfg-commandsisalsoincludedinthevCLIpackage.

Othercommands(vmware-cmd,vifs,vmkfstools)

CommandsimplementedinPerlthatdonothaveavicfg-prefix.AllvCLIcommandsarescheduledtobereplacedbyESXCLIcommands.


12 VMware, Inc.

DocumentationGettingStartedwithvSphereCommandLineInterfacesincludesinformationaboutavailableCLIs,enablingtheESXiShell,andinstallingandrunningvCLIcommands.AnappendixsuppliesthenamespaceandcommandhierarchiesforESXCLI.ReferenceinformationforvCLIcommandsisavailableonthevCLIdocumentationpagehttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/. vSphereCommandLineInterfaceReferenceisareferencetovicfg-andrelatedvCLIcommandsand

includesreferenceinformationforESXCLIcommands.Allreferenceinformationisgeneratedfromthehelp.

AreferencetoesxtopandresxtopisincludedintheResourceManagementdocumentation.

Command-Line HelpAvailablecommandlinehelpdiffersforthedifferentcommands.

List of Available CommandsTable 12listsallESX/ESXi4.1vCLIcommandsinalphabeticalorderandthecorrespondingESXCLIcommandifavailable.NonewcommandswereaddedinvSphere5.0.ManynewnamespaceswereaddedtoESXCLIinvSphere5.0.

Command set Available Command-Line Help

vicfgcommands Run --helpforanoverviewofeachoptions.RunPod2Htmlwithavicfgcommandasinputandpipetheoutputtoafileformoredetailedhelpinformation.pod2html vicfg-authconfig.pl > vicfg-authconfig.html

ThisoutputcorrespondstotheinformationavailableinthevSphereCommandLineInterfaceReference.

ESXCLIcommands Run--helpatanylevelofthehierarchyforinformationaboutbothcommandsandnamespacesavailablefromthatlevel.

Table 1-2. vCLI and ESXCLI Commands

vCLI 4.1 Command vCLI 5.0 Command Comment

esxcli esxcli(newsyntax) AllvCLI4.1commandshavebeenrenamed.SignificantadditionshavebeenmadetoESXCLI.Manytaskspreviouslyperformedwithavicfg-commandisnowperformedwithESXCLI.

resxtop resxtop(NoESXCLIequivalent)SupportedonlyonLinux.

MonitorsinrealtimehowESXihostsuseresources.Runsininteractiveorbatchmode.SeeUsingresxtopforPerformanceMonitoringonpage 131.SeethevSphereResourceManagementdocumentationforadetailedreference.

svmotion svmotion(NoESXCLIequivalent)MustrunagainstavCenterServersystem.

Movesavirtualmachinesconfigurationfile,and,optionally,itsdisks,whilethevirtualmachineisrunning.SeeMigratingVirtualMachineswithsvmotiononpage 49.

vicfg-advcfg esxcli system settings advanced

Performsadvancedconfiguration.TheadvancedsettingsareasetofVMkerneloptions.Theseoptionsaretypicallyinplaceforspecificworkaroundsordebugging.UsethiscommandasinstructedbyVMware.

vicfg-authconfig vicfg-authconfig(NoESXCLIequivalent).

RemotelyconfiguresActiveDirectorysettingsforanESXihost.SeeUsingvicfgauthconfigforActiveDirectoryConfigurationonpage 25.

vicfg-cfgbackup vicfg-cfgbackup(NoESXCLIequivalent),CannotrunagainstavCenterServersystem.

BacksuptheconfigurationdataofanESXisystemandrestorespreviouslysavedconfigurationdata.SeeBackingUpConfigurationInformationwithvicfgcfgbackuponpage 22.

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Chapter 1 vSphere CLI Command Overviews

vicfg-dns esxcli network ip dns

SpecifiesanESXihostsDNS(DomainNameServer)configuration.SeeSettingtheDNSConfigurationonpage 123.

vicfg-dumppart esxcli system coredump

Setsboththepartition(esxcli system coredump partition)andthenetwork(esxcli system coredump network)touseforcoredumps.UsethiscommandtosetupESXiDumpCollector.ManagingDiagnosticPartitionsonpage 131.

vicfg-hostops vicfg-hostops(NoESXCLIequivalent)

Manageshosts.Stopping,Rebooting,andExaminingHostswithvicfghostopsonpage 21.EnteringandExitingMaintenanceModewithvicfghostopsonpage 22.

vicfg-ipsec vicfg-ipsec(NoESXCLIequivalent)

SetsupIPsec(InternetProtocolSecurity),whichsecuresIPcommunicationscomingfromandarrivingatESXihosts.ESXihostssupportIPsecusingIPv6.SeeUsingvicfgipsecforSecureNetworkingonpage 126.

vicfg-iscsi esxcli iscsi ManageshardwareandsoftwareiSCSIstorage.SeeManagingiSCSIStorageonpage 53.

vicfg-module esxcli system module

EnablesVMkerneloptions.Usethiscommandwiththeoptionslistedinthisdocument,orasinstructedbyVMware.SeeManagingVMkernelModulesonpage 24.

vicfg-mpath

vicfg-mpath35

esxcli storage core path

Configuresstoragearrays.ManagingPathsonpage 42.

vicfg-nas esxcli storage nfs ManagesNAS/NFSfilesystems.SeeManagingNFS/NASDatastoresonpage 48.

vicfg-nics esxcli network nic ManagestheESXihostsuplinkadapters.SeeManagingUplinkAdaptersonpage 117.

vicfg-ntp vicfg-ntp(NoESXCLIequivalent)

DefinestheNTP(NetworkTimeProtocol)server.SeeAddingandStartinganNTPServeronpage 125.

vicfg-rescan esxcli storage adapter rescan

Rescansthestorageconfiguration.SeeScanningStorageAdaptersonpage 52.

vicfg-route vicfg-route (NoESXCLIequivalent)

ManagestheESXihostsrouteentry.SeeManagingtheIPGatewayonpage 126.

vicfg-scsidevs esxcli storage core adapter

FindsandexaminesavailableLUNs.SeeExaminingLUNsonpage 40.

vicfg-snmp vicfg-snmp(NoESXCLIequivalent)

ManagestheSNMPagent.ManagingESXiSNMPAgentswithvicfgsnmponpage 135.UsingSNMPinavSphereenvironmentisdiscussedindetailinthevSphereMonitoringandPerformancedocumentation.NewoptionsaddedinvCLI5.0.

vicfg-syslog esxcli system syslog

SpecifieslogsettingsforESXihostsincludinglocalstoragepoliciesandserverandportinformationfornetworklogging.SeeConfiguringESXiSyslogServicesonpage 134.ThevCenterServerandHostManagementdocumentationexplainshowtosetupsystemlogsusingthevSphereClient.

vicfg-user vicfg-user(NoESXCLIequivalent)

Creates,modifies,deletes,andlistslocaldirectaccessusersandgroupsofusers.SeeManagingUsersonpage 95.ThevSphereSecuritydocumentationdiscussessecurityimplicationsofusermanagementandcustomroles.

vicfg-vmknic esxcli network interface.

Adds,deletes,andmodifiesVMkernelnetworkinterfaces.SeeAddingandModifyingVMkernelNetworkInterfacesonpage 119.

vicfg-volume esxcli storage filesystem volume

SupportsresignaturingthecopyofaVMFSvolume,andmountingandunmountingthecopy.SeeManagingDuplicateVMFSDatastoresonpage 29.

vicfg-vswitch esxcli network vswitch

Addsorremovesvirtualswitchesormodifiesvirtualswitchsettings.SeeSettingUpVirtualSwitchesandAssociatingaSwitchwithaNetworkInterfaceonpage 112.

Table 1-2. vCLI and ESXCLI Commands (Continued)



14 VMware, Inc.

Supported Platforms for CommandsMostvCLIcommandscanrunagainstanESXisystemoragainstvCenterServer.vCenterServersupportmeansthatyoucanconnecttoavCenterServersystemanduse--vihosttospecifytheESXihosttorunthecommandagainst.Theonlyexceptionissvmotion,whichyoucanrunagainstvCenterServersystems,butnotagainstESXisystems.ThefollowingcommandsmusthaveanESXisystem,notavCenterServersystemtarget. vicfg-snmp vifs vicfg-user vicfg-cfgbackup vihostupdate vmkfstools vicfg-ipsec resxtop

YoucannotrunthevihostupdatecommandagainstanESXi5.0system.Youcannotrunthevihostupdateandvicfg-mpathcommandsthatareinavCLI4.0orlaterinstallationagainstESX/ESXi3.5orvCenter2.5systems.Instead,runvihostupdate35andvicfg-mpath35,includedinthevCLI4.xinstallation,againstthosesystems.vihostupdate35issupportedforESXi,butnotforESX.Youcannotrunvicfg-syslog --setserverorvicfg-syslog --setportwithanESXi5.0target.

vifs vifs(NoESXCLIequivalent)

PerformsfilesystemoperationssuchasretrievinganduploadingfilesontheESXisystem.SeeManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstoolsonpage 28.

vihostupdate

vihostupdate35

Runesxcli software vibagainstESXi5.0.RunvihostupdateagainstESX/ESXi4.x.Runvihostupdate35againstESX/ESXi3.5.

UpdatesESXihoststoadifferentversionofthesamemajorrelease.YoucannotrunvihostupdateagainstESXi5.0hosts.SeeManagingVMkernelModulesonpage 24.

vmkfstools vmkfstools(NoESXCLIequivalent)

Createsandmanipulatesvirtualdisks,filesystems,logicalvolumes,andphysicalstoragedevicesonanESXihost.SeeManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstoolsonpage 28.

vmware-cmd vmware-cmd(NoESXCLIequivalent)

Performsvirtualmachineoperationsremotely.Thisincludes,forexample,creatingasnapshot,poweringthevirtualmachineonoroff,andgettinginformationaboutthevirtualmachine.SeeManagingVirtualMachinesonpage 101.

Table 1-2. vCLI and ESXCLI Commands (Continued)


IMPORTANTIfyourunvCLI4.xcommandsagainstESX/ESXi3.5systems,youcanuseonlytheoptionssupportedbythosesystems.SeetheVMwareInfrastructureRemoteCommandLineInterfaceInstallationandReferenceGuideforESX/ESXi3.5Update2foralistofsupportedoptions.Toaccessthatdocument,selectResources>DocumentationfromtheVMwarewebsite.FindthevSpheredocumentationsetandopenthearchive.AfewvCLI4.xoptionsaresupportedagainsthostsrunningESX/ESXi3.5Update2orlatereventhoughtheywerenotsupportedinRCLIversion3.5.RunavCLI4.xcommandwith--helpforinformationaboutoptionsupportwithESX/ESXi3.5Update 2,orseetheVMwareknowledgebasearticleathttp://kb.vmware.com/kb/1008940formoredetail.

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Table 13listsplatformsupportforthedifferentvCLI5.xcommands.ThesecommandshavenotbeentestedagainstVirtualCenter2.5Update2systems.Youcan,however,connecttoavCenterServer4.xsystemandtargetESX/ESXi3.5Update2hosts.

Table 1-3. Platform Support for vCLI 5.x Commands

Command ESXi 5.0 VC 5.0 ESXi 4.x ESX 4.x VC 4.x ESXi 3.5 U2+ ESX 3.5 U2+

esxcli Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No

resxtop Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

Yes(fromLinux)

svmotion No Yes No No Yes No No

vicfg-advcfg Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-authconfig Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

vicfg-cfgbackup Yes No Yes No No Yes No

vicfg-dns Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-dumppart Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-hostops Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

vicfg-ipsec Yes No Yes Yes No No No

vicfg-iscsi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

vicfg-module Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-mpath Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Usevicfg-mpath35instead.vicfg-nas Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-nics Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-ntp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-rescan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-route Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-scsidevs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

vicfg-snmp Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

vicfg-syslog No Nofor5.0target

Yes No Yes Yes No

vicfg-user Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

vicfg-vmhbadevs NotincludedinvCLI4.xandvCLI5.0.Usevicfg-scsidevsinstead. Yes Yesvicfg-vmknic Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-volume Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

vicfg-vswitch Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vifs Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

vihostupdate Useesxcli software vibinstead.

Yes Yes No Usevihostupdate35instead

No

vmkfstools Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

vmware-cmd Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

vicfg-mpath35 No No No No No Yes Yes

vihostupdate35 No No No No No Yes No


16 VMware, Inc.

Running ESXCLI Commands Against ESXi 4.x HostsWhenyourunanESXCLIvCLIcommand,youmustknowthecommandssupportedonthetargethostspecifiedwith--serverorasavMAtarget. IfyouruncommandsagainstESXi4.xhosts,ESXCLI4.xcommandsaresupported. IfyouruncommandsagainstESXi5.0hosts,ESXCLI5.0commandsaresupported.VMwarepartnersmightdevelopcustomESXCLIcommandsthatyoucanrunonhostswherethepartnerVIBhasbeeninstalled.Runesxcli --server --helpforalistofnamespacessupportedonthetarget.Youcandrilldownintothenamespacesforadditionalhelp.

Commands with an esxcfg PrefixFormanyofthevCLIcommands,youmighthaveusedscriptswithcorrespondingserviceconsolecommandsstartingwithanesxcfgprefixtomanageESX3.xhosts.TofacilitateeasymigrationfromESX/ESXi3.xtolaterversionsofESXi,acopyofeachvicfg-commandthatusesanesxcfg-prefixisincludedinthevCLIpackage.

Table 14listsallvCLIcommandsforwhichavCLIcommandwithanesxcfgprefixisavailable.

IMPORTANTESXCLIonESX4.xhostsdoesnotsupporttargetingavCenterServersystem.Youcanthereforenotruncommandswith--serverpointingtoavCenterServersystemevenifyouinstallvCLI5.0.

IMPORTANTVMwarerecommendsthatyouusethevCLIcommandswiththevicfgprefix.Commandswiththeesxcfgprefixareavailablemainlyforcompatibilityreasonsandmightbecomeobsolete.vCLIesxcfg-commandsareequivalenttovicfg-commands,butnotcompletelyequivalenttothedeprecatedesxcfg- serviceconsolecommands.

Table 1-4. Commands with an esxcfg Prefix

Command with vicfg prefix Command with esxcfg prefix

vicfg-advcfg esxcfg-advcfg

vicfg-cfgbackup esxcfg-cfgbackup

vicfg-dns esxcfg-dns

vicfg-dumppart esxcfg-dumppart

vicfg-module esxcfg-module

vicfg-mpath esxcfg-mpath

vicfg-nas esxcfg-nas

vicfg-nics esxcfg-nics

vicfg-ntp esxcfg-ntp

vicfg-rescan esxcfg-rescan

vicfg-route esxcfg-route

vicfg-scsidevs esxcfg-scsidevs

vicfg-snmp esxcfg-snmp

vicfg-syslog esxcfg-syslog

vicfg-vmknic esxcfg-vmknic

vicfg-volume esxcfg-volume

vicfg-vswitch esxcfg-vswitch

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Using ESXCLI OutputManyESXCLIcommandsgenerateoutputyoumightwanttouseinyourapplication.Youcanrunesxcliwiththe--formatterdispatcheroptionandsendtheresultingoutputasinputtoaparser.The--formatteroptionssupportsthreevalues,csv,xml,andkeyvalueandisusedbeforeanynamespace.esxcli --formatter=csv storage filesystem list

ListsallfilesysteminformationinCSVformat.Youcanpipetheoutputtoafile.esxcli --formatter=keyvalue storage filesystem list > myfilesystemlist.txt

Connection OptionsTable 15listsoptionsthatareavailableforallvCLIcommandsinalphabeticalorder.Examplesinthisbookusetoindicatethepositionofconnectionoptions.Forexample,esxcli filesystem nfs listmeansthatyoucoulduseaconfigurationfile,asessionfile,orjustspecifyatargetserverandrespondwithausernameandpasswordwhenprompted.Thetableincludesoptionsforuseonthecommandlineandvariablesforuseinconfigurationfiles.

SeetheGettingStartedwithvSphereCommandLineInterfacesdocumentationforadditionalinformationandexamples.

IMPORTANTAlwaysuseaformatterforconsistentoutput.

IMPORTANTForconnections,vCLIsupportsonlytheIPv4protocol,nottheIPv6protocol.Youcan,however,configureIPv6onthetargethostwithseveralofthenetworkingcommands.

Table 1-5. vCLI Connection Options

Option and Environment Variable Description

--cacertsfile

-t

VI_CACERTFILE=

ESXCLIcommandsonly.UsedtospecifytheCA(CertificateAuthority)certificatefile,inPEMformat,toverifytheidentityofthevCenterServersystemorESXisystemtorunthecommandon.Canbeused,forexample,topreventmaninthemiddleattack.

--config

VI_CONFIG=

Usestheconfigurationfileatthespecifiedlocation.Specifyapaththatisreadablefromthecurrentdirectory.

--credstore Nameofacredentialstorefile.Defaultsto/.vmware/credstore/vicredentials.xmlonLinuxand/VMware/credstore/vicredentials.xmlonWindows.CommandsforsettingupthecredentialstoreareincludedinthevSphereSDKforPerl,whichisinstalledwithvCLI.ThevSphereSDKforPerlProgrammingGuideexplainshowtomanagethecredentialstore.

--encoding

VI_ENCODING=

Specifiestheencodingtobeused.Thefollowingencodingsaresupported. cp936(SimplifiedChinese) shftjis(Japanese) cp850(GermanandFrench).Youcanuse--encodingtospecifytheencodingvCLIshouldmaptowhenitisrunonaforeignlanguagesystem.

--passthroughauth

VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTH

Ifyouspecifythisoption,thesystemusestheMicrosoftWindowsSecuritySupportProviderInterface(SSPI)forauthentication.Trustedusersarenotpromptedforausernameandpassword.SeetheMicrosoftWebsiteforadetaileddiscussionofSSPI.ThisoptionissupportedonlyifyouarerunningvCLIonaWindowssystemandareconnectingtoavCenterServersystem.


18 VMware, Inc.

--passthroughauthpackage

VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTHPACKAGE=

Usethisoptionwith--passthroughauthtospecifyadomainlevelauthenticationprotocoltobeusedbyWindows.Bydefault,SSPIusestheNegotiateprotocol,whichmeansthatclientandservertrytonegotiateaprotocolthatbothsupport.IfthevCenterServersystemtowhichyouareconnectingisconfiguredtouseaspecificprotocol,youcanspecifythatprotocolusingthisoption.ThisoptionissupportedonlyifyouarerunningvCLIonaWindowssystemandconnectingtoavCenterServersystem.

--password

VI_PASSWORD=

Usesthespecifiedpassword(usedwith--username)tologintotheserver. If--serverspecifiesavCenterServersystem,theusernameand

passwordapplytothatserver.IfyoucanlogintothevCenterServersystem,youneednoadditionalauthenticationtoruncommandsontheESXihoststhatservermanages.

If--serverspecifiesanESXihost,theusernameandpasswordapplytothatserver.

Usetheemptystring(' 'onLinuxand onWindows)toindicatenopassword.Ifyoudonotspecifyausernameandpasswordonthecommandline,thesystempromptsyouanddoesnotechoyourinputtothescreen.

--portnumber

VI_PORTNUMBER=

Usesthespecifiedporttoconnecttothesystemspecifiedby--server.Defaultis443.

--protocol

VI_PROTOCOL=

Usesthespecifiedprotocoltoconnecttothesystemspecifiedby--server.DefaultisHTTPS.

--savesessionfile

VI_SAVESESSIONFILE=

Savesasessiontothespecifiedfile.Thesessionexpiresifitisnotusedfor30minutes.

--server

VI_SERVER=

UsesthespecifiedESXiorvCenterServersystem.Defaultislocalhost.If--serverpointstoavCenterServersystem,youusethe--vihostoptiontospecifytheESXihostonwhichyouwanttorunthecommand.AcommandissupportedforvCenterServerifthe--vihostoptionisdefined.

--servicepath

VI_SERVICEPATH=

UsesthespecifiedservicepathtoconnecttotheESXihost.Defaultis/sdk/webService.

--sessionfile

VI_SESSIONFILE=

Usesthespecifiedsessionfiletoloadapreviouslysavedsession.Thesessionmustbeunexpired.

--url

VI_URL=

ConnectstothespecifiedvSphereWebServicesSDKURL.

--username

VI_USERNAME=

Usesthespecifiedusername. If--serverspecifiesavCenterServersystem,theusernameand

passwordapplytothatserver.IfyoucanlogintothevCenterServersystem,youneednoadditionalauthenticationtoruncommandsontheESXihoststhatservermanages.

If--serverspecifiesanESXisystem,theusernameandpasswordapplytothatsystem.

Ifyoudonotspecifyausernameandpasswordonthecommandline,thesystempromptsyouanddoesnotechoyourinputtothescreen.

--vihost -h

VMware, Inc. 19


vCLI and Lockdown ModeForadditionalsecurity,anadministratorcanplaceoneormorehostsmanagedbyavCenterServersysteminlockdownmode.LockdownmodeaffectsloginprivilegesfortheESXihost. UsersthatwereloggedintotheESXiShellbeforelockdownmodewasenabledremainloggedinandcan

runcommands,however,thoseuserscannotdisablelockdownmode. Nootherusers,includingtherootusers,canlogintoanESXiShellinlockdownmode.Youcannolonger

accesstheshellfromthedirectconsoleorbyusingaremoteshell.Youcandisablelockdownmodeasfollows. TheadministratoruseronthevCenterServersystemcandisablelockdownmodeforhostsitmanages

fromthevCenterServersystem. TherootusercanalwayslogindirectlytotheESXihostsdirectconsoletodisablelockdownmode.Ifthe

directconsoleisdisabled,theadministratoronthevCenterServersystemcandisablelockdownmode.IfthehostisnotmanagedbyavCenterServersystemorifthehostisunreachable,youmustreinstallESXi.

TomakechangestoESXisystemsinlockdownmode,youmustgothroughavCenterServersystemthatmanagestheESXisystemastheuservpxuser.esxcli --server MyVC --vihost MyESXi storage filesystem list

ThecommandpromptsforthevCenterServersystemusernameandpassword.YoucanusethevSphereClientorvCLIcommandsthatsupportthe--vihostoption.ThefollowingcommandscannotrunagainstvCenterServersystemsandarethereforenotavailableinlockdownmode: vicfg-snmp vifs vicfg-user vicfg-cfgbackup vihostupdate vmkfstools vicfg-ipsecIfyouhaveproblemsrunningacommandonanESXihostdirectly(withoutspecifyingavCenterServertarget),checkwhetherlockdownmodeisenabledonthathost.ThevSphereSecuritydocumentationdiscusseslockdownmodeindetail.


20 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 21

2

HostmanagementcommandscanstopandrebootESXihosts,backupconfigurationinformation,andmanagehostupdates.YoucanalsouseahostmanagementcommandtomakeyourhostjoinanActiveDirectorydomainorexitfromadomain.Thechapterincludesthefollowingtopics: Stopping,Rebooting,andExaminingHostswithvicfghostopsonpage 21 EnteringandExitingMaintenanceModewithvicfghostopsonpage 22 BackingUpConfigurationInformationwithvicfgcfgbackuponpage 22 ManagingVMkernelModulesonpage 24 UsingvicfgauthconfigforActiveDirectoryConfigurationonpage 25 UpdatingHostsonpage 26ForinformationonupdatingESXi5.0hostswiththeesxcli softwarecommandandonchangingthehostacceptanceleveltomatchthelevelofaVIBthatyoumightwanttouseforanupdate,seethevSphereUpgradedocumentation.

Stopping, Rebooting, and Examining Hosts with vicfg-hostopsYoucanshutdownorrebootanESXihostusingthevSphereClientorthevicfg-hostopsvCLIcommand.NoequivalentESXCLIcommandiscurrentlyavailable.ShuttingdownamanagedhostdisconnectsitfromthevCenterServersystem,butdoesnotremovethehostfromtheinventory.Youcanshutdownasinglehostorallhostsinadatacenterorcluster.SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Singlehost.Runvicfg-hostopswith--operationshutdown.

Ifthehostisinmaintenancemode,runthecommandwithoutthe--forceoption.vicfg-hostops --operation shutdown

Ifthehostisnotinmaintenancemode,use--forcetoshutdownthehostandallrunningvirtualmachines.

vicfg-hostops --operation shutdown --force

Allhostsindatacenterorcluster.Toshutdownallhostsinaclusterordatacenter,specify--clusteror--datacenter.vicfg-hostops --operation shutdown --cluster vicfg-hostops --operation shutdown --datacenter

Youcanrebootasinglehostorallhostsinadatacenterorcluster. Singlehost.Runvicfg-hostopswith--operationreboot.

Managing Hosts 2


22 VMware, Inc.

Ifthehostisinmaintenancemode,runthecommandwithoutthe--forceoption.vicfg-hostops --operation reboot

Ifthehostisnotinmaintenancemode,use--forcetoshutdownthehostandallrunningvirtualmachines.vicfg-hostops --operation reboot --force

Allhostsindatacenterorcluster.Youcanspecify--clusteror--datacentertorebootallhostsinaclusterordatacenter.vicfg-hostops --operation reboot --cluster vicfg-hostops --operation reboot --datacenter

Youcandisplayinformationaboutahostbyrunningvicfg-hostopswith--operationinfo.vicfg-hostops --operation info

Thecommandreturnsthehostname,manufacturer,model,processortype,CPUcores,memorycapacity,andboottime.ThecommandalsoreturnswhethervMotionisenabledandwhetherthehostisinmaintenancemode.

Entering and Exiting Maintenance Mode with vicfg-hostopsYouplaceahostinmaintenancemodetoserviceit,forexample,toinstallmorememory.Ahostentersorleavesmaintenancemodeonlyastheresultofauserrequest.vicfg-hostopssuspendsvirtualmachinesbydefault,orpowersoffthevirtualmachineifyourunvicfg-hostops --action poweroff.

ThehostisinastateofEnteringMaintenanceModeuntilallrunningvirtualmachinesaresuspendedormigrated.Whenahostisenteringmaintenancemode,youcannotpoweronvirtualmachinesonitormigratevirtualmachinestoit.Whenyourunthevicfg-hostopsvCLIcommand,youcanspecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To enter maintenance mode

1 Runvicfg-hostops --operation entertoentermaintenancemode.2 Runvicfg-hostops --operation infotocheckwhetherthehostisinmaintenance

modeorintheEnteringMaintenanceModestate.Afterallvirtualmachinesonthehosthavebeensuspendedormigrated,thehostentersmaintenancemode.Youcannotdeployorpoweronavirtualmachineonhostsinmaintenancemode.Youcanputallhostsinaclusterordatacenterinmaintenancemodebyusingthe--clusteror--datacenteroption.Donotusethoseoptionsunlesssuspendingallvirtualmachinesinthatclusterordatacenterisnoproblem.Youcanlaterrunvicfg-hostops --operation exittoexitmaintenancemode.

Backing Up Configuration Information with vicfg-cfgbackupAfteryouconfigureanESXihost,youcanbackupthehostconfigurationdata.AlwaysbackupyourhostconfigurationafteryouchangetheconfigurationorupgradetheESXiimage.

NOTEvicfg-hostopsdoesnotworkwithVMwareDRS.Virtualmachinesarealwayssuspended.

IMPORTANTThevicfg-cfgbackupcommandisavailableonlyforESXihosts.ThecommandisnotavailablethroughavCenterServersystemconnection.NoequivalentESXCLIcommandissupported.

VMware, Inc. 23

Chapter 2 Managing Hosts

Backup TasksDuringaconfigurationbackup,theserialnumberisbackedupwiththeconfiguration.Thenumberisrestoredwhenyourestoretheconfiguration.ThenumberisnotpreservedwhenyouruntheRecoveryCD(ESXiEmbedded)orperformarepairoperation(ESXiInstallable).Youcanbackupandrestoreconfigurationinformationasfollows.1 Backuptheconfigurationbyusingthevicfg-cfgbackupcommand.2 RuntheRecoveryCDorrepairoperation3 Restoretheconfigurationbyusingthevicfg-cfgbackupcommand.Whenyourestoreaconfiguration,youmustmakesurethatallvirtualmachinesonthehostarestopped.

Backing Up Configuration Data

Youcanbackupconfigurationdatabyrunningvicfg-cfgbackupwiththe-soption.vicfg-cfgbackup -s /tmp/ESXi_181842_backup.txt

Forthebackupfilename,includethenumberofthebuildthatisrunningonthehostthatyouarebackingup.IfyouarerunningvCLIonvMA,thebackupfileissavedlocallyonvMA.Backupfilescansafelybestoredlocallybecausevirtualappliancesarestoredinthe/vmfs/volumes/directoryonthehost,whichisseparatefromtheESXiimageandconfigurationfiles.

Restoring Configuration Data

Ifyouhavecreatedabackup,youcanlaterrestoreESXiconfigurationdata.Whenyourestoreconfigurationdata,thenumberofthebuildrunningonthehostmustbethesameasthenumberofthebuildthatwasrunningwhenyoucreatedthebackupfile.Tooverridethisrequirement,includethe-f (force)option.To restore ESXi configuration data

1 Poweroffallvirtualmachinesthatarerunningonthehostthatyouwanttorestore.2 LogintoahostonwhichvCLIisinstalled,orlogintovMA.3 Runvicfg-cfgbackupwiththe-lflagtoloadthehostconfigurationfromthespecifiedbackupfile.

SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Ifyourunthefollowingcommand,youarepromptedforconfirmation.

vicfg-cfgbackup -l /tmp/ESXi_181842_backup.tgz

Ifyourunthefollowingcommand,youarenotpromptedforconfirmation.vicfg-cfgbackup -l /tmp/ESXi_181842_backup.tgz -q

Torestorethehosttofactorysettings,runvicfg-cfgbackupwiththe-roption:vicfg-cfgbackup -r

Using vicfg-cfgbackup from vMATobackupahostconfiguration,youcanrunvicfg-cfgbackupfromavMAinstance.ThevMAinstancecanrunonthetargethost(thehostthatyouarebackinguporrestoring),oronaremotehost.Torestoreahostconfiguration,youmustrunvicfg-cfgbackup fromavMAinstancerunningonaremotehost.Thehostmustbeinmaintenancemode,whichmeansallvirtualmachines(includingvMA)mustbesuspendedonthetargethost.Forexample,abackupoperationfortwoESXihosts(host1andhost2)withvMAdeployedonbothhostsworksasfollows: Tobackuponeofthehostsconfiguration(host1orhost2),runvicfg-cfgbackupfromthevMA

appliancerunningoneitherhost1orhost2.Usethe--serveroptiontospecifythehostforwhichyouwantbackupinformation.TheinformationisstoredonvMA.


24 VMware, Inc.

Torestorethehost1configuration,runvicfg-cfgbackupfromthevMAappliancerunningonhost2.Usethe--serveroptiontopointtohost1torestoretheconfigurationtothathost.

Torestorethehost2configuration,runvicfg-cfgbackupfromthevMAappliancerunningonhost1.Usethe--serveroptiontopointtohost2torestoretheconfigurationtothathost.

Managing VMkernel Modules Theesxcli system moduleandvicfg-modulecommandssupportsettingandretrievingVMkernelmoduleoptions.vicfg-moduleandesxcli system modulecommandsareimplementationsofthedeprecatedesxcfg-moduleserviceconsolecommand.Thetwocommandssupportmostoftheoptionsesxcfg-modulesupports.vicfg-moduleandesxcli system modulearecommonlyusedwhenVMwareTechnicalSupport,aKnowledgeBasearticle,orVMwaredocumentationinstructyoutodoso.

Managing Modules with esxcli system moduleNotallVMkernelmoduleshavesettablemoduleoptions.ThefollowingexampleillustrateshowtoexamineandenableNetQueueVMkernelmodules.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To examine, enable, and set NetQueue VMkernel modules

1 ListinformationabouttheNetQueuemodule.esxcli system module list -module=s2io

Thesystemreturnsthename,type,value,anddescriptionofthemodule.2 (Optional)Listallenabledorloadedmodules.

esxcli system module list --enabled=trueesxcli system module list --loaded=true

3 EnabletheNetQueuemodel.esxcli system module set --module=s2io --enabled=true

4 Settheparameter.esxcli system module parameters set --module s2io --parameter-string="rx_ring_num=8"

5 VerifythattheNetQueuemoduleisconfigured.esxcli system module parameters list --module=s2io

Managing Modules with vicfg-moduleNotallVMkernelmoduleshavesettablemoduleoptions.ThefollowingexampleillustrateshowtheexamineandenableNetQueueVMkernelmodules.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To examine and set NetQueue VMkernel modules

1 Runvicfg-module --listtolistthemodulesonthehost.vicfg-module --list

2 Runvicfg-module --set-optionswithconnectionoptions,theoptionstringtobepassedtoamodule,andthemodulename.Forexample:vicfg-module --set-options 'rx_ring_num=8' s2io

ConfiguresasupportednetworkinterfacetouseNetQueue.

VMware, Inc. 25

Chapter 2 Managing Hosts

Toretrievetheoptionstringthatisconfiguredtobepassedtoamodulewhenthemoduleisloaded,runvicfg-module --get-options.Thisstringisnotnecessarilytheoptionstringcurrentlyinusebythemodule.

vicfg-module --get-options s2io

VerifiesthattheNetQueuemoduleisconfigured.

Using vicfg-authconfig for Active Directory ConfigurationvSphere5.0istightlyintegratedwithActiveDirectory.ActiveDirectoryprovidesauthenticationforalllocalservicesandforremoteaccessthroughthevSphereWebServicesSDK,vSphereClient,PowerCLI,andvSphereCLI.YoucanconfigureActiveDirectorysettingswiththevSphereClient,asdiscussedinthevCenterServerandHostManagementdocumentation,orusevicfg-autconfig.vicfg-authconfigallowsyoutoremotelyconfigureActiveDirectorysettingsonESXihosts.Youcanlistsupportedandactiveauthenticationmechanisms,listthecurrentdomain,andjoinorpartfromanActiveDirectorydomain.BeforeyourunthecommandonanESXihost,youmustpreparethehost.

To prepare ESXi hosts for Active Directory Integration

1 MakesuretheESXisystemandtheActiveDirectoryserverareusingthesametimezonebyconfiguringESXiandADtousesameNTPserver.TheESXisystemstimezoneisalwayssettoUTC.

2 ConfiguretheESXisystemsDNStobeintheActiveDirectorydomain.Youcanrunvicfg-authconfigtoaddthehosttothedomain.Auserwhorunsvicfg-authconfigtoconfigureActiveDirectorysettingsmusthavetheappropriateActiveDirectorypermissions,andmusthaveadministrativeprivilegesontheESXihost.YoucanrunthecommanddirectlyagainstthehostoragainstavCenterServersystem,specifyingthehostwith--vihost.To set up Active Directory

1 InstalltheESXihost,asexplainedinthevSphereInstallationandSetupdocumentation.2 InstallWindowsActiveDirectoryonaWindowsServerthatrunsWindows2000,Windows2003,or

Windows2008.SeetheMicrosoftWebsiteforinstructionsandbestpractices.3 SynchronizetimebetweentheESXisystemandWindowsActiveDirectory(AD).4 TestthattheWindowsADServercanpingtheESXihostbyusingthehostname.

ping

5 Runvicfg-authcofigtoaddthehosttotheActiveDirectorydomain.vicfg-authconfig --server=

--username= --password=

Thesystempromptsforusernamesandpasswordsifyoudonotspecifythemonthecommandline.Passwordsarenotechoedtothescreen.

6 CheckthataSuccessfully Joined messageappears.7 VerifytheESXihostisintheintendedWindowsADdomain.

vicfg-authconfig --server XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX --authscheme AD -c

YouarepromptedforausernameandpasswordfortheESXisystem.

IMPORTANTAllhoststhatjoinActiveDirectorymustalsobemanagedbyanNTPServertoavoidissueswithclockskewsandKerberostickets.


26 VMware, Inc.

Updating HostsWhenyouaddcustomdriversorpatchestoahost,theprocessiscalledanupdate. UpdateESXi4.0andESXi4.1hostswiththevihostupdatecommand,asdiscussedinthevSphere

CommandLineInterfaceInstallationandReferenceGuideincludedinthevSphere4.1documentationset. UpdateESXi5.0hostswithesxcli software vibcommandsdiscussedinthevSphereUpgrade

documentationincludedinthevSphere5.0documentationset.YoucannotrunthevihostupdatecommandagainstanESXi5.0host.

VMware, Inc. 27

3

ThevSphereCLIincludestwocommandsforfilemanipulation.vmkfstoolsallowsyoutomanipulateVMFS(VirtualMachineFileSystem)andvirtualdisks.vifssupportsremoteinteractionwithfilesonyourESXihost.

Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics: IntroductiontoVirtualMachineFileManagementonpage 27 ManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstoolsonpage 28 UpgradingVMFS3VolumestoVMFS5onpage 29 ManagingVMFSVolumesonpage 29 DetachingDevicesandRemovingaLUNonpage 32 WorkingwithPermanentDeviceLossonpage 33 UsingvifstoManipulateFilesonRemoteESXiHostsonpage 33

Introduction to Virtual Machine File ManagementYoucanusethevSphereClientorvCLItoaccessdifferenttypesofstoragedevicesthatyourESXihostdiscoversandtodeploydatastoresonthosedevices.

Dependingonthetypeofstorageyouuse,datastorescanbebackedbythefollowingfilesystemformats: VirtualMachineFileSystem(VMFS).Highperformancefilesystemthatisoptimizedforstoringvirtual

machines.YourhostcandeployaVMFSdatastoreonanySCSIbasedlocalornetworkedstoragedevice,includingFibreChannelandiSCSISANequipment.AsanalternativetousingtheVMFSdatastore,yourvirtualmachinecanhavedirectaccesstorawdevicesanduseamappingfile(RDM)asaproxy.YoumanageVMFSandRDMswiththevSphereClientorthevmkfstoolsutility.

NetworkFileSystem(NFS).FilesystemonaNASstoragedevice.ESXisupportsNFSversion3overTCP/IP.ThehostcanaccessadesignatedNFSvolumelocatedonanNFSserver,mountthevolume,anduseitforanystorageneeds.YoumanageNASstoragedeviceswiththeesxcli storage nfscommand.

Managing Files 3NOTESeeManagingStorageonpage 37forinformationaboutstoragemanipulationcommands.

NOTEDatastoresarelogicalcontainers,analogoustofilesystems,thathidespecificsofeachstoragedeviceandprovideauniformmodelforstoringvirtualmachinefiles.DatastorescanbeusedforstoringISOimages,virtualmachinetemplates,andfloppyimages.ThevSphereClientusesthetermdatastoreexclusively.ThismanualusesthetermdatastoreandVMFS(orNFS)volumetorefertothesamelogicalcontaineronthephysicaldevice.


28 VMware, Inc.

Figure 3-1. Virtual Machines Accessing Different Types of Storage

Managing the Virtual Machine File System with vmkfstoolsVMFSdatastoresprimarilyserveasrepositoriesforvirtualmachines.YoucanstoremultiplevirtualmachinesonthesameVMFSvolume.Eachvirtualmachine,encapsulatedinasetoffiles,occupiesaseparatesingledirectory.Fortheoperatingsysteminsidethevirtualmachine,VMFSpreservestheinternalfilesystemsemantics.Inaddition,youcanusetheVMFSdatastorestostoreotherfiles,suchasvirtualmachinetemplatesandISOimages.VMFSsupportsfileandblocksizesthatenablevirtualmachinestorundataintensiveapplications,includingdatabases,ERP,andCRM,invirtualmachines.SeethevSphereStoragedocumentation.YouusethevmkfstoolsvCLItocreateandmanipulatevirtualdisks,filesystems,logicalvolumes,andphysicalstoragedevicesonanESXihost.Youcanusevmkfstoolstocreateandmanageavirtualmachinefilesystem(VMFS)onaphysicalpartitionofadiskandtomanipulatefiles,suchasvirtualdisks,storedonVMFS3andNFS.Youcanalsousevmkfstoolstosetupandmanagerawdevicemappings(RDMs).

ThevSphereStoragedocumentationincludesacompletereferencetothevmkfstoolscommandthatyoucanuseintheESXiShell.YoucanusemostofthesameoptionswiththevmkfstoolsvCLIcommand.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.ThefollowingoptionssupportedbythevmkfstoolsESXiShellcommandarenotsupportedbythevmkfstoolsvCLIcommand. --breaklock -B --chainConsistent -e --eagerzero -k --fix -x --lock -L --migratevirtualdisk -M --parseimage -Y --punchzero -K --snapshotdisk -I --verbose -v

iSCSI array NAS appliancefibre array

Host

VMFS

localethernet

SCSI

VMFS VMFS NFS

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

SAN LAN LAN LAN

iSCSI hardwareinitiator

fibrechannelHBA

ethernetNIC

ethernetNIC

softwareinitiator

requires TCP/IP connectivity

Key

physicaldisk

datastore

virtualdisk

IMPORTANTThevmkfstoolsvCLIsupportsmostbutnotalloftheoptionsthatthevmkfstoolsESXiShellcommandsupports.SeeVMwareKnowledgeBasearticle1008194.Youcannotrunvmkfstoolswith--serverpointingtoavCenterServersystem.

VMware, Inc. 29

Chapter 3 Managing Files

Upgrading VMFS3 Volumes to VMFS5vSphere5.0supportsVMFS5volumes,whichhaveimprovedscalabilityandperformance.YoucanupgradefromVMFS3toVMFS5byusingthevSphereClient,thevmkfstoolsESXiShellcommand,ortheesxcli storage vmfs upgradecommand.PassthevolumelabelorthevolumeUUIDtotheESXCLIcommand.

Managing VMFS VolumesDifferentcommandsareavailableforlisting,mounting,andunmountingVMFSvolumesandforlisting,mounting,andunmountingVMFSsnapshotvolumes. ManagingVMFSvolumes

esxcli storage filesystem listshowsallvolumes,mountedandunmounted,thatareresolved,thatis,thatarenotsnapshotvolumes.esxcli storage filesystem unmountunmountsacurrentlymountedfilesystem.Usethiscommandforsnapshotvolumesorresolvedvolumes.

Managingsnapshotvolumesesxcli storage vmfs snapshotcommandscanbeusedforlisting,mounting,andresignaturingsnapshotvolumes.SeeMountingDatastoreswithExistingSignaturesonpage 29andResignaturingVMFSCopiesonpage 30.

Managing Duplicate VMFS DatastoresEachVMFSdatastorecreatedinaLUNhasauniqueUUIDthatisstoredinthefilesystemsuperblock.WhentheLUNisreplicatedorwhenasnapshotismade,theresultingLUNcopyisidentical,byteforbyte,totheoriginalLUN.Asaresult,iftheoriginalLUNcontainsaVMFSdatastorewithUUIDX,theLUNcopyappearstocontainanidenticalVMFSdatastore,oraVMFSdatastorecopy,withthesameUUIDX.ESXihostscandeterminewhetheraLUNcontainstheVMFSdatastorecopy,andeithermountthedatastorecopywithitsoriginalUUIDorchangetheUUIDtoresignaturethedatastore.WhenaLUNcontainsaVMFSdatastorecopy,youcanmountthedatastorewiththeexistingsignatureorassignanewsignature.ThevSphereStoragedocumentationdiscussesvolumeresignaturingindetail.

Mounting Datastores with Existing SignaturesYoucanmountaVMFSdatastorecopywithoutchangingitssignatureiftheoriginalisnotmounted.Forexample,youcanmaintainsynchronizedcopiesofvirtualmachinesatasecondarysiteaspartofadisasterrecoveryplan.Intheeventofadisasterattheprimarysite,youcanmountthedatastorecopyandpoweronthevirtualmachinesatthesecondarysite.

WhenyoumounttheVMFSdatastore,ESXiallowsbothreadandwriteoperationstothedatastorethatresidesontheLUNcopy.TheLUNcopymustbewritable.Thedatastoremountsarepersistentandvalidacrosssystemreboots.Youcanmountadatastorewithvicfg-volume(seeTomountadatastorewithvicfgvolumeonpage 30)orwithESXCLI(seeTomountadatastorewithESXCLIonpage 30).

IMPORTANTYoucannotupgradeVMFS3volumestoVMFS5withthevmkfstoolscommandincludedinvSphereCLI.

IMPORTANTYoucanmountaVMFSdatastoreonlyifitdoesnotconflictwithanalreadymountedVMFSdatastorethathasthesameUUID.


30 VMware, Inc.

Mounting and Unmounting with ESXCLI

Theesxcli storage filesystemcommandssupportmountingandunmountingvolumes.Youcanalsospecifywhethertopersistthemountedvolumesacrossrebootsbyusingthe--no-persistoption.Usetheesxcli storage filesystemcommandtolistmountedvolumes,mountnewvolumes,andunmountavolume.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To mount a datastore with ESXCLI1 Listallvolumesthathavebeendetectedassnapshots.

esxcli storage filesystem list

2 Runesxcli storage filesystem mountwiththevolumelabelorvolumeUUID.Bydefault,thevolumeismountedpersistently,use--no-persisttomountpersistently.esxcli storage filesystem volume mount

--volume-label=|--volume-uuid=

Thiscommandfailsiftheoriginalcopyisonline.Youcanlaterrunesxcli storage filesystem volume unmounttounmountthesnapshotvolume.esxcli storage filesystem volume unmount


Mounting and Unmounting with vicfg-volume

Usethevicfg-volumecommandtolistmountedvolumes,mountnewvolumes,andunmountavolume.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To mount a datastore with vicfg-volume

1 Listallvolumesthathavebeendetectedassnapshotsorreplicas.vicfg-volume --list

2 Runvicfg-volume --persistent-mount withtheVMFSUUIDorlabelasanargumenttomountavolume.vicfg-volume --persistent-mount

Thiscommandfailsiftheoriginalcopyisonline.Youcanlaterrunvicfg-volume --unmounttounmountthesnapshotorreplicavolume.vicfg-volume --unmount

Thevicfg-volumecommandsupportsresignaturingasnapshotvolumeandmountingandunmountingthevolume.Youcanalsomakethemountedvolumepersistentacrossrebootsandqueryalistofsnapshotvolumesandoriginalvolumes.

Resignaturing VMFS CopiesUsedatastoreresignaturingtoretainthedatastoredontheVMFSdatastorecopy.WhenresignaturingaVMFScopy,theESXihostassignsanewUUIDandanewlabeltothecopy,andmountsthecopyasadatastoredistinctfromtheoriginal.BecauseESXipreventsyoufromresignaturingthemounteddatastore,unmountthedatastorebeforeresignaturing.Thedefaultformatofthenewlabelassignedtothedatastoreissnap--,whereisanintegerandisthelabeloftheoriginaldatastore.Whenyouperformdatastoreresignaturing,considerthefollowingpoints: Datastoreresignaturingisirreversible. TheLUNcopythatcontainstheVMFSdatastorethatyouresignatureisnolongertreatedasaLUNcopy.

VMware, Inc. 31


Aspanneddatastorecanberesignaturedonlyifallitsextentsareonline. Theresignaturingprocessiscrashandfaulttolerant.Iftheprocessisinterrupted,youcanresumeitlater. YoucanmountthenewVMFSdatastorewithoutariskofitsUUIDconflictingwithUUIDsofanyother

datastore,suchasanancestororchildinahierarchyofLUNsnapshots.YoucanresignatureaVMFScopywithESXCLI(seeResignaturingaVMFSCopywithESXCLIonpage 31)orwithvicfg-volumeseeResignaturingaVMFSCopywithvicfgvolumeonpage 31.

Resignaturing a VMFS Copy with ESXCLI

Theesxcli storage vmfs snapshotcommandssupportresignaturingasnapshotvolume.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To resignature a VMFS copy with ESXCLI

1 Listunresolvedsnapshotsorreplicavolumes.esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list

2 (Optional)Unmountthecopy.esxcli storage filesystem unmount

3 Runtheresignaturecommand.esxcli storage vmfs snapshot resignature


Thecommandreturnstothepromptorsignalsanerror.Afterresignaturing,youmighthavetodothefollowing: Iftheresignatureddatastorecontainsvirtualmachines,updatereferencestotheoriginalVMFSdatastore

inthevirtualmachinefiles,including.vmx,.vmdk,.vmsd,and.vmsn. Topoweronvirtualmachines,registerthemwiththevCenterServersystem.

Resignaturing a VMFS Copy with vicfg-volume

Youcanusevicfg-volumetomount,unmount,andresignatureVMFSvolumes.To resignature a VMFS copy with vicfg-volume

1 Makesurethecopyisnotmounted.2 Runvicfg-volumewiththeresignatureoption.

vicfg-volume --resignature

Thecommandreturnstothepromptorsignalsanerror.


32 VMware, Inc.

Detaching Devices and Removing a LUNBeforeyoucanremoveaLUN,youmustdetachthecorrespondingdevicebyusingthevSphereClientortheesxcli storage core device setcommand.Detachingadevicebringsadeviceoffline.Detachingadevicedoesnotimpactpathstates.IftheLUNisstillvisible,thepathstateisnotsettodead.To detach a device and remove a LUN

1 Migratevirtualmachinesfromthedeviceyouplantodetach.Forinformationonmigratingvirtualmachines,seethevCenterServerandHostManagementdocumentation.

2 Unmountthedatastoredeployedonthedevice.SeeMountingDatastoreswithExistingSignaturesonpage 29.Iftheunmountfails,ESXCLIreturnsanerror.Ifyouignorethaterror,youwillgetanerrorinstep4whenyouattempttodetachadevicewithaVMFSpartitionstillinuse.

3 Iftheunmountfailed,checkwhetherthedeviceisinuse.esxcli storage core device world list -d

IfaVMFSvolumeisusingthedeviceindirectly,theworldnameincludesthestringidle0.IfavirtualmachineusesthedeviceasanRDM,thevirtualmachineprocessnameisdisplayed.Ifanyotherprocessisusingtherawdevice,theinformationisdisplayed.

4 Detachthestoragedevice.esxcli storage core device set -d naa.xxx... --state=off

Detachispersistentacrossrebootsanddeviceunregistration.Anydevicethatisdetachedremainsdetacheduntilamanualattachoperation.Rescandoesnotbringpersistentlydetacheddevicesbackonline.Apersistentlydetacheddevicecomesbackintheoffstate.ESXimaintainsthepersistentinformationaboutthedevicesofflinestateevenifthedeviceisunregistered.Youcanremovethedeviceinformationbyrunningesxcli storage core device detached remove -d naa.12.

5 (Optional)Totroubleshootthedetachoperation,listalldevicesthatweredetachedmanually.esxcli storage core device detached list

6 Performarescan.esxcli storage core adapter rescan

Whenyouhavecompletedstoragereconfiguration,youcanreattachthestoragedevice,mountthedatastore,andrestartthevirtualmachines.To reattach the device

1 (Optional)Checkthatthedeviceisdetached.esxcli storage core device detached list

2 Attachthedevice.esxcli storage core device set -d naa.XXX --state=on

3 Mountthedatastoreandrestartvirtualmachines.SeeMountingDatastoreswithExistingSignaturesonpage 29.

VMware, Inc. 33


Working with Permanent Device LossWithearlierESX/ESXireleases,anAPD(AllPathsDown)eventresultswhentheLUNbecomesunavailable.TheeventisdifficultforadministratorsbecausetheydonothaveenoughinformationaboutthestateoftheLUNtoknowwhichcorrectiveactionisappropriate.InESXi5.0,theESXihostcandeterminewhetherthecauseofanAllPathsDown(APD)eventistemporary,orwhetherthecauseispermanentdeviceloss.APLDstatusoccurswhenthestoragearrayreturnsSCSIsensecodesindicatingthattheLUNisnolongeravailableorthatasevere,unrecoverablehardwareproblemexistwithit.ESXihasanimprovedinfrastructurethatcanspeedupoperationsofupperlayerapplicationsinadevicelossscenario.

To Remove a PDL LUN

HowyouremoveaPDLLUNdependsonwhetheritwasinuse. IftheLUNthatgoesintoPDLisnotinusebyanyuserprocessorbytheVMkernel,theLUNdisappears

byitselfafteraPDL. IftheLUNwasinusewhenitenteredPLD,deletetheLUNmanuallybyfollowingtheprocessdescribed

inDetachingDevicesandRemovingaLUNonpage 32.To Reattach a PDL LUN

1 ReturntheLUNtoworkingorder.2 Removeanyusersofthedevice.

Youcannotbringadevicebackwithoutremovingactiveusers.TheESXihostcannotknowwhetherthedevicethatwasaddedbackhaschanged.ESXimustbeabletotreatthedevicesimilarlytoanewdevicebeingdiscovered.

3 Performarescantogetthedevicebackinworkingorder.

Using vifs to Manipulate Files on Remote ESXi Hosts Inmostcases,vmkfstoolsandothercommandsareusedtomanipulatevirtualmachinefiles.Insomecases,youmighthavetoviewandmanipulatefilesonremoteESXihostsdirectly.

Thevifscommandperformscommonoperationssuchascopy,remove,get,andputonESXifilesanddirectories.ThecommandissupportedagainstESXihostsbutnotagainstvCenterServersystems.SomesimilaritiesbetweenvifsandDOSorUNIX/Linuxfilesystemmanagementutilitiesexist,buttherearemanydifferences.Forexample,vifsdoesnotsupportwildcardcharactersorcurrentdirectoriesand,asaresult,relativepathnames.Usevifsonlyasdocumented.Insteadofusingthevifscommand,youcanbrowsedatastorecontentsandhostfilesbyusingaWebbrowser.Connecttothefollowinglocation:http://ESX_host_IP_Address/hosthttp://ESX_host_IP_Address/folder

YoucanviewdatacenteranddatastoredirectoriesfromthisrootURL.Forexample:http:///folder?dcPath=ha-datacenterhttp:///folder?dcPath=ha-datacente

IMPORTANTDonotplanforAPD/PDLevents,forexample,whenyouwanttoupgradeyourhardware.Instead,performanorderlyremovalofLUNsfromyourESXiserver,whichisdescribedinDetachingDevicesandRemovingaLUNonpage 32,performtheoperation,andaddtheLUNback.

CAUTIONIfyoumanipulatefilesdirectly,yourvSpheresetupmightendupinaninconsistentstate.UsethevSphereClientoroneoftheothervCLIcommandstomanipulatevirtualmachineconfigurationfilesandvirtualdisks.


34 VMware, Inc.

TheESXihostpromptsforausernameandpassword.Thevifscommandsupportsdifferentoperationsforthefollowinggroupsoffilesanddirectories.Differentoperationsareavailableforeachgroup,andyouspecifylocationswithadifferentsyntax.ThebehaviordiffersforvSphere4.xandvSphere5.0.

Toavoidproblemswithdirectorynamesthatusespecialcharactersorspaces,enclosethepathinquotesforbothoperatingsystems.Whenyourunvifs,youcanspecifytheoperationnameandargumentandoneofthestandardconnectionoptions.Usealiases,symboliclinks,orwrapperscriptstosimplifytheinvocationsyntax.

Options

vifscommandspecificoptionsallowyoutoretrieveanduploadfilesfromtheremotehostandperformanumberofotheroperations.Allvifsoptionsworkondatastorefilesordirectories.Someoptionsalsoworkonhostfilesandfilesinthetempdirectory.Youmustalsospecifyconnectionoptions.

vSphere 4.x vSphere 5.0

Host Hostconfigurationfiles.Youmustspecifythefilesuniquenameidentifier.Specifyhostlocationsbyusingthe/host/syntax.

Hostconfigurationfiles.Youmustspecifythefilesuniquenameidentifier.Specifyhostlocationsbyusingthe/host/syntax.Youcannotlistsubdirectoriesof/host.

Temp The/tmpdirectoryandfilesinthatdirectory.Specifytemplocationsbyusingthe/tmp/dir/subdirsyntax.

Notsupported.

Datastores Datastorefilesanddirectories.Youhavetwochoicesforspecifyingadatastore: Datastoreprefixstyle:'[ds_name] relative_path'.Forexample:

'[myStorage1] testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx'(Linux) or "[myStorage1] testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx" (Windows)

URLstyle:/folder/dir/subdir/file?dsName=.Forexample:'/folder/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx?dsName=myStorage1' (Linux)"/folder/testvms/VM1/VM1.vmx?dsName=myStorage1" (Windows)

ThetwoexamplepathsrefertoavirtualmachineconfigurationfileforthevirtualmachineVM1inthetestvms/VM1directoryofthemyStorage1datastore.

IMPORTANTTheconceptsofworkingdirectoryandlastdirectoryorfileoperatedonarenotsupportedwithvifs.

Command Description Target Syntax

--copy -c

Copiesafileinadatastoretoanotherlocationinadatastore.Themustbearemotesourcepath,thearemotetargetpathordirectory.The--forceoptionreplacesexistingdestinationfiles.

DatastoreTemp

copy src_file_path dst_directory_path [force]copy src_file_path dst_file_path [force]

--dir -D

Liststhecontentsofadatastoredirectory. DatastoreTemp

dir datastore_directory_path

--force-F

Overwritesthedestinationfile.Usedwith--moveand--copy.

DatastoreTemp

copy src_file_path dst_file_path [force]

--get-g

DownloadsafilefromtheESXihosttothemachineonwhichyourunvCLI.ThisoperationusesHTTP GET.

DatastoreHost

get src_dstore_file_path dst_local_file_path

get src_d store_dir_path dst_local_file_path

--listdc-C

ListsthedatacenterpathsavailableonanESXisystem.

DatastoreHost

VMware, Inc. 35


Youcanlistinformationabouttheremotedirectoriesinseveralways.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Listthecurrentdatastores.

vifs --listds.

Thecommandliststhenamesofalldatastoresonthespecifiedserver.Forexample:osdc-cx700-02osdc-cx700-03osdc-cx700-02osdc-cx700-03osdc-cx700-04osdc-cx700-05

Youcanuseeachnamethathasbeenreturnedtorefertodatastorepathsbyusingsquarebracketnotation,asfollows:'[my_datastore] dir/subdir/file'

Listthecontentsofonedirectoryinthedatastore.vifs --dir '[osdc-cx700-02] winxpPro-sp2'

Thecommandliststhedirectorycontent.Inthisexample,thecommandliststhecontentsofavirtualmachinedirectory.Content Listing_________________vmware-37.logvmware-38.log... vmware.log...winxpPro-sp2.vmdkwinxpPro-sp2.vmxwinxpPro-sp2.vmxf...

--listds-S

ListsthedatastorenamesontheESXisystem.Whenmultipledatacentersareavailable,usethe--dc (-Z)argumenttospecifythenameofthedatacenterfromwhichyouwanttolistthedatastore.

DatastoreHost

vifs --listds

--mkdir -M

Createsadirectoryinadatastore.Thisoperationfailsiftheparentdirectoryofdst_datastore_file_pathdoesnotexist.

DatastoreTemp

mkdir dst_directory_path

--move-m

Movesafileinadatastoretoanotherlocationinadatastore.Themustbearemotesourcepath,thearemotetargetpathordirectory.The--forceoptionreplacesexistingdestinationfiles.

DatastoreTemp

move src_file_path dst_directory_path [force]move src_file_path dst_file_path [force]

--put-p

UploadsafilefromthemachineonwhichyourunvCLItotheESXihost.ThisoperationusesHTTP PUT.Thiscommandcanreplaceexistinghostfilesbutcannotcreatenewfiles.

DatastoreHostTemp

put src_local_file_path dst_file_path

put src_local_file_path dst_directory_path

--rm-r

Deletesadatastorefile. DatastoreTemp

rm dst_file_path

--rmdir-R

Deletesadatastoredirectory.Thisoperationfailsifthedirectoryisnotempty.

DatastoreTemp

rmdir dst_directory_path

Command Description Target Syntax


36 VMware, Inc.

Listthecontentsofoneofthedatastores.vifs --dir '[osdc-cx700-02]'

Thecommandliststhecompletecontentsofthedatastore.Thefollowingexamplescenarioillustratesotherusesofvifs.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To manage files and directories on the remote ESXi system

1 Createadirectoryinthedatastore.vifs --mkdir '[osdc-cx700-03] vcli_test'

Youmustspecifytheprecisepath;thereisnoconceptofarelativepath.2 Placeafilethatisonthesystemfromwhichyouarerunningthecommandsintothenewlycreated

directory.vifs --put /tmp/test_doc '[osdc-cx700-03] vcli_test/test_doc'

3 Moveafileintoavirtualmachinedirectory.vifs --move '[osdc-cx700-03] vcli_test/test_doc'

'[osdc-cx700-03] winxpPro-sp2/test_doc

Amessageindicatessuccessorfailure.4 RetrieveoneofthefilesfromtheremoteESXisystem.

Thefollowingexampleretrievesalogfileforanalysis.vifs --get '[osdc-cx700-03] winxpPro-sp2/vmware.log' ~user1/vmware.log

5 Cleanupbyremovingthefileanddirectoryyoucreatedearlier.vifs --rm '[osdc-cx700-03] vcli_test/test_doc'vifs --rmdir '[osdc-cx700-03] vcli_test'

VMware, Inc. 37

4

Avirtualmachineusesavirtualdisktostoreitsoperatingsystem,programfiles,andotherdataassociatedwithitsactivities.Avirtualdiskisalargephysicalfile,orasetoffiles,thatcanbecopied,moved,archived,andbackedup.Tostorevirtualdiskfilesandmanipulatethefiles,ahostrequiresdedicatedstoragespace.ESXistorageisstoragespaceonavarietyofphysicalstoragesystems,localornetworked,thatahostusestostorevirtualmachinedisks.Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics: IntroductiontoStorageonpage 37 ExaminingLUNsonpage 40 ManagingPathsonpage 42 ManagingPathPoliciesonpage 45 ManagingNFS/NASDatastoresonpage 48 MigratingVirtualMachineswithsvmotiononpage 50 ConfiguringFCoEAdaptersonpage 51 ScanningStorageAdaptersonpage 52Chapter 5,ManagingiSCSIStorage,onpage 53discussesiSCSIstoragemanagement.Chapter 6,ManagingThirdPartyStorageArrays,onpage 81explainshowtomanagethePluggableStorageArchitecture,includingPathSelectionPlugin(PSP)andStorageArrayTypePlugin(SATP)configuration.ForinformationonmaskingandunmaskingpathswithESXCLI,seethevSphereStoragedocumentation.

Introduction to StorageFibreChannelSANarrays,iSCSISANarrays,andNASarraysarewidelyusedstoragetechnologiessupportedbyVMwarevSpheretomeetdifferentdatacenterstorageneeds.Thestoragearraysareconnectedtoandsharedbetweengroupsofserversthroughstorageareanetworks.Thisarrangementallowsaggregationofthestorageresourcesandprovidesmoreflexibilityinprovisioningthemtovirtualmachines.

Managing Storage 4


38 VMware, Inc.

Figure 4-1. vSphere Datacenter Physical Topology

How Virtual Machines Access StorageAvirtualdiskhidesthephysicalstoragelayerfromthevirtualmachinesoperatingsystem.Regardlessofthetypeofstoragedevicethatyourhostuses,thevirtualdiskalwaysappearstothevirtualmachineasamountedSCSIdevice.Asaresult,youcanrunoperatingsystemsthatarenotcertifiedforspecificstorageequipment,suchasSAN,inthevirtualmachine.Whenavirtualmachinecommunicateswithitsvirtualdiskstoredonadatastore,itissuesSCSIcommands.Becausedatastorescanexistonvarioustypesofphysicalstorage,thesecommandsareencapsulatedintootherforms,dependingontheprotocolthattheESXihostusestoconnecttoastoragedevice.Figure 42depictsfivevirtualmachinesthatusedifferenttypesofstoragetoillustratethedifferencesbetweeneachtype.Figure 4-2. Virtual Machines Accessing Different Types of Storage

servergroup 1

virtual machines

servergroup 2

servergroup 3

fibre channelstorage array

iSCSIstorage array

NASstorage array

vCenter Server terminalWeb accessvSphere Client

fibre channel switch fabric / IP network

ESX/ESXi

VM VM VM

VM VM VM

iSCSI array NAS appliancefibre array

Host

VMFS

localethernet

SCSI

VMFS VMFS NFS

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

virtualmachine

SAN LAN LAN LAN

iSCSI hardwareinitiator

fibrechannelHBA

ethernetNIC

ethernetNIC

softwareinitiator

requires TCP/IP connectivity

Key

physicaldisk

datastore

virtualdisk

VMware, Inc. 39

Chapter 4 Managing Storage

YoucanusevCLIcommandstomanagethevirtualmachinefilesystemandstoragedevices. VMFS.Usevmkfstoolstocreate,modify,andmanageVMFSvirtualdisksandrawdevicemappings.

SeeManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstoolsonpage 28foranintroductionandthevSphereStoragedocumentationforadetailedreference.

Datastores.Severalcommandsallowyoutomanagedatastoresandareusefulformultipleprotocols. LUNs.Useesxcli storage coreorvicfg-scsidevscommandstodisplayavailableLUNsand

mappingsforeachVMFSvolumetoitscorrespondingpartition.SeeExaminingLUNsonpage 40. Pathmanagement.Useesxcli storage coreorvicfg-mpathcommandstolistinformationabout

FibreChanneloriSCSILUNsandtochangeapathsstate.SeeManagingPathsonpage 42.UsetheESXCLIcommandtoviewandmodifypathpolicies.SeeManagingPathPoliciesonpage 45.

Rescan.Useesxcli storage coreorvicfg-rescanadapter rescantoperformarescanoperationeachtimeyoureconfigureyourstoragesetup.SeeScanningStorageAdaptersonpage 52.

Storagedevices.Severalcommandsmanageonlyspecificstoragedevices. NFSstorage.Useesxcli storage nfsorvicfg-nastomanageNASstoragedevices.See

ManagingNFS/NASDatastoresonpage 48. iSCSIstorage.Useesxcli iscsiorvicfg-iscsitomanagebothhardwareandsoftwareiSCSI.

SeeManagingiSCSIStorageonpage 53.

DatastoresESXihostsusestoragespaceonavarietyofphysicalstoragesystems,includinginternalandexternaldevicesandnetworkedstorage.Ahostcandiscoverstoragedevicestowhichithasaccessandformatthemasdatastores.Eachdatastoreisaspeciallogicalcontainer,analogoustoafilesystemonalogicalvolume,wherethehostplacesvirtualdiskfilesandothervirtualmachinefiles.Datastoreshidespecificsofeachstorageproductandprovideauniformmodelforstoringvirtualmachinefiles.Dependingonthetypeofstorageyouuse,datastorescanbebackedbythefollowingfilesystemformats: VirtualMachineFileSystem(VMFS).Highperformancefilesystemoptimizedforstoringvirtual

machines.YourhostcandeployaVMFSdatastoreonanySCSIbasedlocalornetworkedstoragedevice,includingFibreChannelandiSCSISANequipment.AsanalternativetousingtheVMFSdatastore,yourvirtualmachinecanhavedirectaccesstorawdevicesanduseamappingfile(RDM)asaproxy.SeeManagingtheVirtualMachineFileSystemwithvmkfstoolsonpage 28.

NetworkFileSystem(NFS).FilesystemonaNASstoragedevice.ESXisupportsNFSversion3overTCP/IP.ThehostcanaccessadesignatedNFSvolumelocatedonanNFSserver,mountthevolume,anduseitforanystorageneeds.

Storage Device NamingEachstoragedevice,orLUN,isidentifiedbyseveralnames. Name.AfriendlynamethattheESXihostassignstoadevicebasedonthestoragetypeandmanufacturer,

forexample,DGCFibreChannelDisk.ThisnameisvisibleinthevSphereClient. DeviceUID.Auniversallyuniqueidentifierassignedtoadevice.Thetypeofstoragedeterminesthe

algorithmusedtocreatetheidentifier.Theidentifierispersistentacrossrebootsandisthesameforallhostssharingthedevice.Theformatisoftennaa.xxxxxxxoreui.xxxxxxxx.

VMLName.AlegacySCSIdevicenamespecifictoVMware.UsethedeviceUIDinstead.Theruntimenameofthefirstpathtothedeviceisapathidentifierandnotareliableidentifierforthedevice.Runtimenamesarecreatedbythehost,andarenotpersistent.Theruntimenamehastheformatvmhba#:C#:T#:L#.YoucanviewtheruntimenameusingthevSphereClient.


40 VMware, Inc.

Examining LUNs ALUN(LogicalUnitNumber)isanidentifierforadiskvolumeinastoragearraytarget.

Target and Device RepresentationIntheESXicontext,thetermtargetidentifiesasinglestorageunitthatahostcanaccess.ThetermsdeviceandLUNdescribealogicalvolumethatrepresentsstoragespaceonatarget.ThetermsdeviceandLUNmeanaSCSIvolumepresentedtothehostfromastoragetarget.DifferentstoragevendorspresenttheirstoragesystemstoESXihostsindifferentways.SomevendorspresentasingletargetwithmultipleLUNsonit.Othervendors,especiallyiSCSIvendors,presentmultipletargetswithoneLUNeach.Figure 4-3. Target and LUN Representations

InFigure 43,threeLUNsareavailableineachconfiguration.Ontheleft,thehostseesonetarget,butthattargethasthreeLUNsthatcanbeused.EachLUNrepresentsanindividualstoragevolume.Ontheright,thehostseesthreedifferenttargets,eachhavingoneLUN.

Examining LUNs with esxcli storage coreUseesxcli storage coretodisplayinformationaboutavailableLUNsonESXi5.0.ForESX/ESXi4.xhosts,usevicfg-scsidevs.ForESX/ESXi3.5systems,thecorrespondingcommandisvicfg-vmhbadevs.YoucanrunoneofthefollowingcommandstoexamineLUNs.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Listalllogicaldevicesknownonthissystemwithdetailedinformation.

esxcli storage core device list

Thecommandlistsdeviceinformationforalllogicaldevicesonthissystem.Theinformationincludesthename(UUID),devicetype,displayname,andmultipathingplugin.Specifythe--deviceoptiontoonlylistinformationaboutaspecificdevice.naa.5000c50006ee9cc7 Display Name: Local SEAGATE Disk (naa.5000c50006ee9cc7) Has Settable Display Name: true Size: 286102 Device Type: Direct-Access Multipath Plugin: NMP Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c50006ee9cc7 Vendor: SEAGATE Model: ST3300555SS Revision: T211 SCSI Level: 5 Is Pseudo: false Status: on Is RDM Capable: true Is Local: true Is Removable: false Is SSD: false Thin Provisioning Status: unknown Attached Filters: VAAI Status: unknown VAAI Plugin Name: Other UIDs: vml.02000000005000c50006ee9cc7535433333030mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0

storage array

target

LUN LUN LUN

storage array

target target target

LUN LUN LUN

VMware, Inc. 41


...Attached Filters:

VAAI Status: unsupported VAAI Plugin Name: Other UIDs: vml.0005000000766d686261303a303a30

Listaspecificlogicaldevicewithitsdetailedinformation.esxcli storage core device list -d mpx.vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

Listalldeviceuniqueidentifiers.esxcli storage core device list

ThecommandliststheprimaryUIDforeachdevice(naa.xxxorotherprimaryname)andanyotherUIDsforeachUID(VMLname).Youcanspecify--devicetoonlylistinformationforaspecificdevice.

PrintmappingsforVMFSvolumestothecorrespondingpartition,pathtothatpartition,VMFSUUID,extentnumber,andvolumenames.esxcli storage filesystem list

PrintHBAdeviceswithidentifyinginformation.esxcli storage core adapter list

ThereturnvalueincludesadapterandUIDinformation. PrintamappingbetweenHBAsandthedevicesitprovidespathsto.

esxcli storage core path list

Examining LUNs with vicfg-scsidevsUsevicfg-scsidevstodisplayinformationaboutavailableLUNsonESX/ESXi 4.xhosts.ForESX/ESXi3.5systems,thecorrespondingcommandisvicfg-vmhbadevs.

YoucanrunoneofthefollowingcommandstoexamineLUNs.SpecifyoneoftheconnectionoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Listalllogicaldevicesknownonthissystemwithdetailedinformation.

vicfg-scsidevs --list

Thecommandlistsdeviceinformationforalllogicaldevicesonthissystem.Theinformationincludesthename(UUID),devicetype,displayname,andmultipathingplugin.Specifythe--deviceoptiontoonlylistinformationaboutaspecificdevice.Thefollowingexampleshowsoutputfortwodevices;theactuallistingmightincludemultipledevicesandthepreciseformatdiffersbetweenreleases.mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0

Device Type: cdromSize: 0 MBDisplay Name: Local HL-DT-ST (mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0)Plugin: NMPConsole Device: /vmfs/devices/cdrom/mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/cdrom/mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0Vendor: SONY Model: DVD-ROM GDRXX8XX Revis: 3.00SCSI Level: 5 Is Pseudo: Status:Is RDM Capable: Is Removable:Other Names:

vml.000N000000XXXdXXXXXXXXaXXXaXXVAAI Status: nnnn

naa.60060...Device Type: diskSize: 614400 MBDisplay Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.60060...)...

IMPORTANTYoucanrunvicfg-scsidevs--queryandvicfg-scsidevs --vmfsagainstESX/ESXiversion3.5.TheotheroptionsaresupportedonlyagainstESX/ESXiversion4.0andlater.


42 VMware, Inc.

Listalllogicaldeviceswithabbreviatedinformation.vicfg-scsidevs --compact-list

TheinformationincludesthedeviceID,devicetype,size,plugin,anddevicedisplayname. Listalldeviceuniqueidentifiers.

vicfg-scsidevs --uids

ThecommandliststheprimaryUIDforeachdevice(naa.xxxorotherprimaryname)andanyotherUIDsforeachUID(VMLname).Youcanspecify--devicetoonlylistinformationforaspecificdevice.

Listaspecificlogicaldevicewithitsdetailedinformation.vicfg-scsidevs -l -d mpx.vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

PrintmappingsforVMFSvolumestothecorrespondingpartition,pathtothatpartition,VMFSuuid,extentnumber,andvolumenames.vicfg-scsidevs --vmfs

PrintHBAdeviceswithidentifyinginformation.vicfg-scsidevs --hbas

ThereturnvalueincludestheadapterID,driverID,adapterUID,PCI,vendor,andmodel. PrintamappingbetweenHBAsandthedevicesitprovidespathsto.

vicfg-scsidevs --hba-device-list

Managing PathsTomaintainaconstantconnectionbetweenanESXihostanditsstorage,ESXisupportsmultipathing.WithmultipathingyoucanusemorethanonephysicalpathfortransferringdatabetweentheESXihostandtheexternalstoragedevice.IncaseoffailureofanelementintheSANnetwork,suchasanHBA,switch,orcable,theESXihostcanfailovertoanotherphysicalpath.Onsomedevices,multipathingalsooffersloadbalancing,whichredistributesI/Oloadsbetweenmultiplepathstoreduceoreliminatepotentialbottlenecks.ThestoragearchitectureinvSphere4.0andlatersupportsaspecialVMkernellayer,PluggableStorageArchitecture(PSA).ThePSAisanopenmodularframeworkthatcoordinatesthesimultaneousoperationofmultiplemultipathingplugins(MPPs).YoucanmanagePSAusingESXCLIcommands.SeeManagingThirdPartyStorageArraysonpage 81.ThissectionassumesyouareusingonlyPSApluginsincludedinvSpherebydefault.

Multipathing with Local Storage and FC SANsInasimplemultipathinglocalstoragetopology,youcanuseoneESXihostwithtwoHBAs.TheESXihostconnectstoadualportlocalstoragesystemthroughtwocables.ThisconfigurationensuresfaulttoleranceifoneoftheconnectionelementsbetweentheESXihostandthelocalstoragesystemfails.TosupportpathswitchingwithFCSAN,theESXihosttypicallyhastwoHBAsavailablefromwhichthestoragearraycanbereachedthroughoneormoreswitches.Alternatively,thesetupcanincludeoneHBAandtwostorageprocessorssothattheHBAcanuseadifferentpathtoreachthediskarray.InFigure 44,multiplepathsconnecteachhostwiththestoragedevice.Forexample,ifHBA1orthelinkbetweenHBA1andtheswitchfails,HBA2takesoverandprovidestheconnectionbetweentheserverandtheswitch.TheprocessofoneHBAtakingoverforanotheriscalledHBAfailover.

VMware, Inc. 43


Figure 4-4. FC Multipathing

IfSP1orthelinkbetweenSP1andtheswitchbreaks,SP2takesoverandprovidestheconnectionbetweentheswitchandthestoragedevice.ThisprocessiscalledSPfailover.ESXimultipathingsupportsHBAandSPfailover.

Afteryouhavesetupyourhardwaretosupportmultipathing,youcanusethevSphereClientorvCLIcommandstolistandmanagepaths.Youcanperformthefollowingtasks. Listpathinformationwithvicfg-mpathoresxcli storage core path.SeeListingPathInformation

onpage 43. Changepathstatewithvicfg-mpathoresxcli storage core path.SeeChangingtheStateofaPath

onpage 45.

ChangepathpolicieswithESXCLI.SeeSettingPolicyDetailsforDevicesthatUseRoundRobinonpage 47.

MaskpathswithESXCLI.SeethevSphereStoragedocumentation. Manipulatetherulesthatmatchpathstomultipathingpluginstonewlydiscovereddeviceswithesxcli

claimrule.SeeManagingClaimRulesonpage 89. Runorrerunclaimrulesorunclaimpaths.SeeManagingClaimRulesonpage 89. Rescanwithvicfg-rescan.SeeScanningStorageAdaptersonpage 52.

Listing Path InformationYoucanlistpathinformationwithESXCLIorwithvicfg-mpath.

Listing Path Information with ESXCLI

Youcanrunesxcli storage core pathtodisplayinformationaboutFibreChanneloriSCSILUNs.

IMPORTANTUseESXCLIforESXi5.0.Usevicfg-mpathforESX/ESXi4.0orlater.Usevicfg-mpath35forESX/ESXi3.5.

SP2

storage array

SP1

switch switch

HBA2 HBA1 HBA3 HBA4

Host 1 Host 2

IMPORTANTUseindustrystandarddevicenames,withformateui.xxxornaa.xxxtoensureconsistency.DonotuseVMLLUNnamesunlessdevicenamesarenotavailable.NamesofvirtualmachineHBAsarenotguaranteedtobevalidacrossreboots.


44 VMware, Inc.

Youcandisplayinformationaboutpathsbyrunningesxcli storage core path.SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof. Listalldeviceswiththeircorrespondingpaths,stateofthepath,adaptertype,andotherinformation.

esxcli storage core path list

Limitthedisplaytoonlyaspecifiedpathordevice.esxcli storage core path list --path esxcli storage core path list --device

ListthestatisticsfortheSCSIpathsinthesystem.Youcanlistallpathsorlimitthedisplaytoaspecificpath.esxcli storage core path stats getesxcli storage core path stats get --path

VMware, Inc. 45


Changing the State of a Path YoucanchangethestateofapathwithESXCLIorwithvicfg-mpath.

Changing Path State with ESXCLI

Youcantemporarilydisablepathsformaintenanceorotherreasons,andenablethepathwhenyouneeditagain.YoucandisablepathswithESXCLI.SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.Ifyouarechangingapathsstate,thechangeoperationfailsifI/Oisactivewhenthepathsettingischanged.Reissuethecommand.YoumustissueatleastoneI/Ooperationbeforethechangetakeseffect.To disable a path with ESXCLI

1 (Optional)Listalldevicesandcorrespondingpaths.esxcli storage core path list

Thedisplayincludesinformationabouteachpathsstate.2 SetthestateofaLUNpathtooff.

esxcli storage core path set --state off --path vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

Whenyouareready,setthepathstatetoactiveagain.esxcli storage core path set --state active --path vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

Changing Path State with vicfg-mpath

Youcandisablepathswithvicfg-mpath.SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.Ifyouarechangingapathsstate,thechangeoperationfailsifI/Oisactivewhenthepathsettingischanged.Reissuethecommand.YoumustissueatleastoneI/Ooperationbeforethechangetakeseffect.To disable a path with vicfg-mpath

1 (Optional)Listalldevicesandcorrespondingpaths.vicfg-mpath --list-paths

Thedisplayincludesinformationabouteachpathsstate.2 SetthestateofaLUNpathtooff.

vicfg-mpath --state off --path vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

Whenyouareready,setthepathstatetoactiveagain.vicfg-mpath --state active --path vmhba32:C0:T1:L0

Managing Path PoliciesForeachstoragedevicemanagedbyNMP(notPowerPath),anESXihostusesapathselectionpolicy.IfyouhaveathirdpartyPSPinstalledonyourhost,itspolicyalsoappearsonthelist.Thefollowingpathpoliciesaresupportedbydefault.


46 VMware, Inc.

Thetypeofarrayandthepathpolicydeterminethebehaviorofthehost.

Changing Path PoliciesYoucanchangepathpolicieswithESXCLIorwithvicfg-mpath.

Changing Path Policies with ESXCLI

YoucanchangethepathpolicywithESXCLI.SpecifyoneoftheoptionslistedinConnectionOptionsonpage 17inplaceof.To change the path policy with ESXCLI

1 EnsureyourdeviceisclaimedbytheNMPplugin.OnlyNMPdevicesallowyoutochangethepathpolicy.esxcli storage nmp device list

2 Retrievethelistofpathselectionpoliciesonthesystemtoseewhichvaluesarevalidforthe--pspoptionwhenyousetthepathpolicy.esxcli storage core plugin registration list --plugin-class="PSP"

3 Setthepathpolicyusingesxcli.esxcli storage nmp device set --device naa.xxx --psp VMW_PSP_RR

SeeTable 41,SupportedPathPolicies,onpage 46.

Table 4-1. Supported Path Policies

Policy Description

VMW_PSP_FIXED Thehostusesthedesignatedpreferredpath,ifithasbeenconfigured.Otherwise,thehostselectsthefirstworkingpathdiscoveredatsystemboottime.Ifyouwantthehosttouseaparticularpreferredpath,specifyitthroughthevSphereClientorbyusingesxcli storage nmp psp fixed deviceconfig set.SeeChangingPathPoliciesonpage 46.ThedefaultpolicyforactiveactivestoragedevicesisVMW_PSP_FIXED.Important:VMwaredoesnotrecommendyouuseVMW_PSP_FIXEDfordevicesthathavetheVMW_SATP_ALUAstoragearraytypepolicyassignedtothem.

VMW_PSP_MRU Thehostselectsthepaththatitusedmostrecently.Whenthepathbecomesunavailable,thehostselectsanalternativepath.Thehostdoesnotrevertbacktotheoriginalpathwhenthatpathbecomesavailableagain.ThereisnopreferredpathsettingwiththeMRUpolicy.MRUisthedefaultpolicyforactivepassivestoragedevices.

VMW_PSP_RR Thehostusesanautomaticpathselectionalgorithmthatrotatesthroughallactivepathswhenconnectingtoactivepassivearrays,orthroughallavailablepathswhenconnectingtoactiveactivearrays.Automaticpathselectionimplementsloadbalancingacrossthephysicalpathsavailabletoyourhost.LoadbalancingistheprocessofspreadingI/Orequestsacrossthepaths.ThegoalistooptimizethroughputperformancesuchasI/Oper

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