VMware

vSphere 5 Command-Line Interfaces

VMware vSphere 5.0 Command-Line Interfaces vCLI ESXi Shell Commands

Enable ESXi Shell under “Troubleshooting Mode Options”
Ctrl-Alt-F1 to go the ESXi Shell
Ctrl-Alt-F2 back to the main screen

List NICs and their settings:
# esxcfg-nics -l

vSwitch Configuration, example vmnic2:
# esxcfg-vswitch –a vswitch102
# esxcfg-vswitch –L vmnic2 vswitch102
Note: vswitch102 can be something besides 102.

FCoE cli commands
Help, shows all options:
# esxcfg-fcoe -h

List FCoE-capable NICs with detail information
# esxcfg-fcoe -N

To Initiate FCoE adapter discovery:
# esxcfg-fcoe -d vmnicX (where X is the vmnic number).

Enable an FCoE-capable NIC if it’s disabled:
# esxcfg-fcoe -e vmnicX

Disbable an FCoE-capable NIC (reboot required):
# esxcfg-fcoe -D vmnicX

iSCIS options
To enable software iSCSI:
# esxcfg-swiscsi -e
other options: -d (Disable), q (Quaery), -s (scan)

To list all storage devices:
# esxcfg-scsidevs -l

esxcli
esxcli (option) (namspace+ cmd) (cmd option)

For example Network list:
esxcli network nic list

Available Namespaces:
fcoe
hardware
iscsi
network
storage
system
vm

Displays the latest versions of installed drivers:
# cat /proc/drivers

Lists loaded module:
# esxcfg-module -l

VMware file Extentions

VMware ESXi 5.0 Virtual Machine file Extentions
These are the five files extentions in a datastore folder of a newly created Virtual Machine: .vmdk, .nvram, .vmx, .vmxf, and .vmsd.

.vmdk
This is a virtual disk file, which stores the contents of the virtual machine’s hard disk drive. A virtual disk is made up of one or more .vmdk files. If you have specified that the virtual disk should be split into 2GB chunks, the number of .vmdk files depends on the size of the virtual disk. As data is added to a virtual disk, the .vmdk files grow in size, to a maximum of 2GB each. (If you specify that all space should be allocated when you create the disk, these files start at the maximum size and do not grow.) Almost all of a .vmdk file’s content is the virtual machine’s data, with a small portion allotted to virtual machine overhead. If the virtual machine is connected directly to a physical disk, rather than to a virtual disk, the .vmdk file stores information about the partitions the virtual machine is allowed to access.
Note: Previous version used the extension .dsk for virtual disk files.

.nvram
File that stores the state of the virtual machine’s BIOS.

.vmx
This is the primary configuration file, which stores settings chosen in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or virtual machine settings editor. If you created the virtual machine under an earlier version of VMware Workstation on a Linux host, this file may have a .cfg extension.

.vmxf
This is a supplemental configuration file for virtual machines that are in a team.

Note that the .vmxf file remains if a virtual machine is removed from the team.

.vmsd
This is a centralized file for storing information and metadata about snapshots.

Other vmware File extensions:

.log
File that keeps a log of key VMware Workstation activity. This file can be useful in troubleshooting if you encounter problems. This file is stored in the directory that holds the configuration (.vmx) file of the virtual machine.

.vmsn
This is the snapshot state file, which stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time you take that snapshot.

.vmss
This is the suspended state file, which stores the state of a suspended virtual machine. Some earlier VMware products used the extension .std for suspended state files.

.vmtm
This is the configuration file containing team data.

Sysprep for Windows Server 2008

Sysprep (System Preparation) for Windows Server 2008 R2

I use sysprep to prepare Windows Server 2008 when creating a master guest image for VMware ESXi. To create a new guest Windows Server 2008, just copy the .vmdk file in the datastore.

Sysprep.exe is included in Windows Server 2008 R2 and it’s located in:
“C:\Windows\System32\sysprep”

After running sysprep.exe in the Command Prompt, the System Preparation Tool Window will pop-up.

Under “System Cleanup Action” drop down menu, select:
“Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE)”

Check “Generalize“: This removes unique information from the Windows installation so the image can be reuse on different computers.

Shutdown Options:
Select “Shutdown” to turn off the system after sysprep, the .vmdk file is ready to be copied to other ESX Guest VM.