VMware Communities : Thread List - vSphere Command-Line Interface

Discovery of virtual machines thro esxtop scripts

coolajay22 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:40:51 GMT

Hi buddy,

I like to discover virtual machine inventory of an esx server thro esxtop scripts, Please let me know if there is a possibility to automate this by shell or perl scripting ?

Thanks & regards

Ajay

Browse Snapshots Via CLI

sstremmel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:42:56 GMT

Is it possible to browse snapshots via CLI like you can through the vSphere Snapshot Manager?

I know I can create a new snapshot, and I can revert to the last snapshot easily, but I would like to be able to pick a snapshot from a pool, if needed. This is a VM that the developers use and if they screw something up but don't notice until the last good image was 3 snapshots back, then reverting to the LAST snapshot does no good. And unfortunately my department can't afford any vSphere licenses until next FY.

Thanks in advance.

attaching existing virtual disks ( *.vmdk) to a running vm with CLI

rub1 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:15:15 GMT

Hello

how can I attach with vi-perl existing virtual disk ( *.vmdk) to a running virtual machine ?

with the vSphere GUI it is possible.

I have found only a way to create and attach a NEW virtual disk with the script:

http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/technology/developer/sample-code/exaddvirtualdisk.html

thank you for any hint

S. Rubens

Cloning Guest Hosts via Automation

boblucas — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:40:38 GMT

How is the best way to setup automated weekly clones of a guess host?

execution policy for community extensions

houghtp — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:10:25 GMT

Do we have to set the PShell execution policy to unrestricted to import the toolKitextensions module? I get the following error when i try to import:

File C:\Users\camph009\Downloads\vitoolkitextensions-60625\coreModule\viToolkitExtensions.psm1 cannot be loaded. The file C:\Users\camph009\Downloads\vitoolkitextensions-60625\coreModule\viToolkitExtensions.psm1 is not digitally signed. The script will not execute on the system. Please see "get-help about_signing" for more details..
At :line:1 char:13
+ Import-Module <<<< C:\Users\camph009\Downloads\vitoolkitextensions-60625\coreModule\viToolkitExtensions.psm1#

I'm currently set to remoteSigned

How can i copy vm to local PC with cli?

RalfT74 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:32:23 GMT

Hi all,

i use ESXi 4 and cli (Windows-PC) to stop and start some vm for automation.
Now i need a copy one vm to my local PC.
I try with:
vifs.pl --server myVMServer --username root --password xxxxxxx --get "SQLLog SRV-Reports/SRV-Reports_1.vmdk" .
But in this case i can copy only single Files and the target directory is the "actual" folder.

How can i make a complete copy of my VirtualMachine to my local PC (example: d:\VMBackup\SRV-Reports) ?

Second Question:
Is possible to convert an ESXi 4.0 Image to VMWare Workstation 6.5 with CLI ?

thanx,
Ralf

Require vSphere CLI to start my SNMP

shotit — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:19:03 GMT

I'm trying to download the vSphere CLI client to no avail. Does anyone know where the link is? It seems broken.

Need VSphere CLI installer

JetJaguar — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:55:25 GMT

It appears that the links to the installers on the VMware website are not working. I can't download the Windows installer.

Does anyone have the installer?

Bradford

Download Errors " Invalid Download Group "- vCLI Download Problems

heyitspablo — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:06:03 GMT

Folks,

We are having problems with our download site for vCLI 4.0. I have reported and escalated problems to our IT for resolution. Hoping this is resolved soon.
Thanks for your patience

Pablo

SEC_E_INVALID_HANDLE error in InitializeClient() while trying to do LoginBySSPI()

vinubaby — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:46:34 GMT

I am trying to login to my VMware vSphere 4 server using the PowerCLI api.

The purpose of the project is to automatically take snapshot of the virtual machines. However the purpose is accomplished. But before moving to production, we had to change from Login() to LoginBySSPI() for enabling integrated login.

At this point, the problem arose. Whatever, I do it does not login, fromt he vmware forum i understood that the sspichallenge code should be sent again to be authenticated. When i do that it throws the SEC_E_INVALID_HANDLE error at the initializeClient() function.

code snippet is as follows

I get error in the InitializeClient() function when it is called the second time from the catch section,

in the first call to InitializeClient(), i get the clientToken of byte55
and then when i pass it to loginbysspi i get the sspichallenge exception, from which i get the base64token and again pass to the initializeclient() so that i can get the server token and eventually pass to the LoginbySSPI(), but this time it fails at

if (ss != SEC_E_OK && ss != SEC_I_CONTINUE_NEEDED)
{
throw new Exception("InitializeSecurityContext() failed!!!");
}
with ss = -2146893055

below is the code....
VimClient VMClient;
SessionManager sm;
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
VMClient = new VimClient();
VMClient.Connect("vmware", CommunicationProtocol.Https, 443);

var tokenString = Convert.ToBase64String(net.sf.vitfordotnet.mo.Sessionmanager.getToken());
DoLogin(tokenString);

sm = new SessionManager(VMClient, VMClient.ServiceContent.SessionManager);
sm.LoginBySSPI(tokenString, null);
}
catch (VMware.Vim.VimException ex)
{
var mf = ex.MethodFault;
// There was a challenge (response)!
if (mf is SSPIChallenge)
{
var sc = (SSPIChallenge)mf;
var st_b64 = sc.Base64Token;
byte] st = null;
byte[ ct;
bool cc;
st = Convert.FromBase64String(st_b64);
// Complete the credentials acquisition, this time with
// the second part of the package.
var ch = new SSPIHelper();
ch.InitializeClient(out ct, st, out cc);
var ct_b64 = Convert.ToBase64String(ct);
DoLogin(ct_b64);
}
}
NameValueCollection filter = new NameValueCollection();
filter.Add("name", "^" + "CG001876" + "$");
VirtualMachine vm = (VirtualMachine)VMClient.FindEntityView(typeof(VirtualMachine), null, filter, null);
}
public void DoLogin(string tokenStr)
{
SessionManager sm = new SessionManager(VMClient, VMClient.ServiceContent.SessionManager);
UserSession us = sm.LoginBySSPI(tokenStr, null);
}

vdiskcreate.pl PROBLEM

ii00907 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:14:42 GMT

Hi,

i have many problem con vdiskcreate.pl.

Initially I could not create a new disk, then I read this document and now all ok

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/213276

Now however, I need to create a rdmp but I think for my mistake, I always return the same error

Error; Incompatible device backing specified for device.

Maybe I'm wrong syntax. I use vsphere4, can you help?
I do not understand, on 'option --filename, what should I put.

I tried

perl vdiskcreate.pl --server 133.22.11.211 --username root --password password --vmname Test_IVAN --filename vml.02000000006006016055351f00506decc0459cde11524149442035 --backingtype rdm

Error; Incompatible device backing specified for device.

perl vdiskcreate.pl --server 172.22.11.211 --username root --password password --vmname Test_IVAN --filename /vmfs/devices/disks/vml.02000100006006016055351f00516decc0459cde11524149442035 --backingtype rdm

Error; Incompatible device backing specified for device.

I do not know what to do, help!

Problem vmreconfig.pl

ii00907 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:13:13 GMT

Hi,

I have a problem when i remove a disk. I run this command ;

perl vmreconfig.pl --url https://172.23.42.211/sdk/vimService --username root --password passw0rd --filename ../sampledata/vmreconfig.xml --schema ../schema/vmreconfig.xsd

But i have this result;

No reconfiguration performed as there is no device config spec created.

In attach the file vmreconfig.xml

Help please!!!!!!

rdmCreate.pl Problem

ii00907 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:24:08 GMT

Hi,

i have a problem with Perl Script rdmCreate.pl.

If I create a new disk rdm puntanto all 'esx4, the disc that I am going to add it correctly deal. This is the command;

--root@ITRMVSC1 vm--# perl rdmCreate.pl --url https://172.33.22.111/sdk/vimService --username MYUSER --password MYPSW --vmname VM1 --filename Test.vmdk --backingtype rdm

Adding Virtual Disk on Virtual machine VM1 in the host esxhost.it.domain.com with file name Test.vmdk

env browser

*****
ARRAY(0x1fe9eb90)
*****

*****
number of present disks is 2
*****
ITRMVSC Disk[0]: Capacity /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11
cannonical_name: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11VM1 Disk[1]: Capacity /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00506decc0459cde11
cannonical_name: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11
calling the reconfigure VM

returned from reconfigure VM
Virtual Disk created.

but when I try to point the Virtual Center back to me the following error;

perl rdmCreate.pl --url https://172.55.22.444/sdk/webService --username administrator --password MYPSW --vmname VM1 --filename Test.vmdk --backingtype rdm

Adding Virtual Disk on Virtual machine ITRMVSC in the host 172.33.22.111 with file name Test.vmdk
env browser

*****
ARRAY(0xb5a20d0)
*****

*****
number of present disks is 2
*****
ITRMVSC Disk[0]: Capacity /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11
cannonical_name: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11ITRMVSC Disk[1]: Capacity /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00506decc0459cde11
cannonical_name: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016055351f00516decc0459cde11
calling the reconfigure VM
Error trapped
SOAP Fault:

Fault string: Invalid datastore path 'Test.vmdk'.
Fault detail: InvalidDatastorePathFalut :
SOAP Fault:

Fault string: Invalid datastore path 'Test.vmdk'.

My version ESX : VMware ESX 4.0.0 build-164009

My version Vsphere : VMware vCenter Server Version 4.0.0 Build 162856

vSpher CLI Version : VMware vSphere CLI 4.0.0-161974.x86_64

Please help me.

Attached the script I use

Any way, utilizing Vsphere CLI, to verify md5 checksum values of files within a datastore?

d1st4nt — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:11:43 GMT

I was hoping vifs.pl would be my solution but the Directory List function contains no more information in the output than the filenames themselves.

Seeing as vSphere Client never confirms an upload of a file, I have no way of knowing if the source iso's I'm wanting to copy over are there in full and useable.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

error message popped up when installing vSphere Client

Jasonzhao1986 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:35:17 GMT

Hi all,

I ran into this problem when I tried to install vSphere Client. Please see the pic below:

Could anyone tell me what I should to solve the problem? Thanks very much in advance

list files of datastore for virtual machine

filip.hasa — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:41:49 GMT

Hello,

how to list files of datastore for virtual machine?! I cannot find it in command reference.

Thank you

Changes to the ESX Service Console for ESX 4.0

navadavuluri — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:34:37 GMT

Please check out the attached document for this information.

This technical paper discusses incompatibilities between the ESX 3.5 service
console and the ESX 4.0 service console. Included are suggestions of what you might do to upgrade your
existing environments that depend on the ESX service console. This document also discusses how you might
bridge the gap to support ESXi, which does not include a service console. And finally, if you are currently
writing applications that run in the ESX service console, this document suggests some possible options you
have for transitioning away from it.

Installing SDK & CLI as regular user

torrent11 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:29:03 GMT

Hi folks)

Are is possible to install SDK or CLI without root access? Of course, Linux))

For investigate purpose, best to install it into chroot env or as restricted user. I afraid, and many people can say same, install 3-rd parity software on live, working system.

Force root install depend from license restrictions? Or, I not carefully reading manual?

With best whishes - Y.D.

Installing vCLI on Ubuntu Server 9.04

cookieme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:36:43 GMT

Hi

I not very familiar with Linux/ UNIX, but I have setup an Ubuntu Server 9.04 minimal install as a VM and I am trying to install vCLI. I went through the manual and this particular Ubuntu version is not on the supported list, so I went ahead and first installed all the pre-requisites:

Linker utility (binutils package)
GNU C libraries (glibc or libc6 package)
XML DOM/SAX libraries (libxml2 package)
Perl documentation (perl-doc) package
Perl URI library (liburi-perl package)
libssl-dev

After installing the above I ran the following commands:

untar -xf vmware_vcli.tar.gz
cd vmware-vsphere-cli-distrib
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

It asks me if I want to overwrite some perl modules, so I answer the default yes and then the installer finishes successfully.

However, when I cd /usr/bin and try to run any command such as vmware-cmd I get the following error:

/usr/bin/perl: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/perl/5.10/auto/XML/LibXML/Common/Common.so: undefined symbol: Perl_Tstack_sp_ptr

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

Add rdm with command line

ii00907 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:56:23 GMT

Hi,

I would hook a rdmp a VM using the command line.

As a first step I created via the command rdmp

vmkfstools -z /vmfs/devices/disks/vml.123456... /Path/VMname.vmdk

As a second step I tried with the command

*_vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/device.diskaddexisting VMI
But does not return any error and no hooks the new rdmp

Then I wanted to try using the command vmreconfig.pl, but the only syntax

_. / vmreconfig.pl - url _https://ESX_HOST/sdk/vimService_ -username USER -password PASSWORD _

I returned the following error

Error: Server version unavailable at 'https: / / 172.23.42.211/sdk/vimService.wsdl'

I also found this script ( Add-Delete-HD-vSphere-annotated.ps1) but I do not know quite how to use it

Can you kindly help me?
I do not know what to do.

Automating VM clone/Snapshot/Restore using Vsphere CLI

saurabhgale — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:37:32 GMT

Hi all,

I am using VMware
Vsphere CLI options for automating my environment. While automating I ran into
below queries.

Currently by looking into the documentation I used the CLI “vmkfstool –clonevirtualdisk” for cloning the VM Image. I observed that the CLI only cloned the “<VM Name>.vmdk” file but other dependent configuration files like “<VM Name>.nvram , <VM Name>.vmx” etc were not cloned by the CLI.

Snapshot

Also please let me know if we have a CLI that can
be executed remotely using which we can Query a particular VM for its *MAC
and IP Address*.

Thanks and Regards

-Saurabh

Automating VM clone/Snapshot/Restore using Vsphere CLI

saurabhgale — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:30:08 GMT

Hi all,

I am using VMware Vsphere CLI options for automating my environment. While automating I ran into below queries.

{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}{color:navy}_VM Cloning _ {font}

{font:Verdana}{size:2}{color:#0000ff}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}Currently by looking into the
documentation I used the CLI “vmkfstool –clonevirtualdisk” for cloning the VM
Image. I observed that the CLI only cloned the “<VM Name>.vmdk” file but
other dependent configuration files like “<VM Name>.nvram , <VM
Name>.vmx” etc were not cloned by the CLI.
{font}{font}

{font:Verdana}{size:2}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}{color:navy} {color}{size}

{color:#0000ff}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}How can we clone the existing
VMWare images using CLI so that we have all the required files like “ ’.vmdk’,
‘.vmx’, ‘.nvram’ ” etc available with us?{size}{font}

{font:Verdana}{size:2}{color:#0000ff}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}{color:navy} {font}{color}

{font:Verdana}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}{color:navy}_*VM
Snapshot/Restore*_
{font}

{font:Verdana}{size:2}{color:#0000ff}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}How can we list the names of all
the snapshots available for a particular VM Image using
CLI?{font}{font}
{font:Verdana}{size:2}{color:#0000ff}{font:Verdana}{size:10pt}How can we restore a particular
snapshot from list of available snapshots using CLI?{color}{size}

Also please let me know if we have a CLI that can be executed remotely using which we can Query a particular VM for its MAC and IP Address.

Thanks and Regards

-Saurabh

Automatic exit of maintenance mode after ESXi startup

MarkusAngerer — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:28:40 GMT

Hi,

at the moment I'm playing a bit with a single ESXi 4 server and I came to one problem I could not yet find a solution to:
When I use vSphere CLI to reboot the host I need to enter maintenance mode and then reboot.
hostops.pl --operation enter_maintenance http://...
hostops.pl --operation reboot http://...

it automatically leave the maintenance mode and restarts fine.

If I try the same but shutdown the host it is still in maintenance mode after a restart. Is there any way to have it in normal operation after the boot-up?

Background: I'm thinking of switching some of your VMware Server 1.0.9 vm's to a new ESXi box. But if we have a power cut I need to shut down the host and after power is restored I'd like the server to start up again. It does not help much if it is booting up but does not execute any vm because of maintenance mode. Do I have missed something in my thoughts? Do I need to use other tools than vShpere CLI?

Thanks! Markus

My login script: create a "stateful" vCLI experience.

c_shanklin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:41:17 GMT

One of the things everyone seems to struggle with when using vCLI is just logging in. I had the same struggles so I decided to write a script to help out. The two problems I try to solve are:
1) I don't ever remember my server IP addresses.
2) I don't want to type my password every time.

Before you begin using this script you have to define a VI_SESSIONFILE environment variable, which defines where your session will get saved.

Also, you should note that this script takes advantage of the so-called "credential cache". Full disclosure: this cache is not cryptographically secure, similar to the observations made in this blog. The cache is protected by filesystem security, so you probably shouldn't use this script on a disk that you can't physically secure.

With all that out of the way, here's a sample of this script in action.

vmware@ubuntu:~$ vcli-login
Select the host you want to access or enter its Name/IP: 10.21.4.62
Using host 10.21.4.62
Enter your username: Administrator
Enter password: Session information saved.
Login succeeded. Caching credential.

Since I just logged in to a vCenter server, whenever I want to run a command I have to use -h. Here I list the NICs on one of my hosts.

vmware@ubuntu:~$ vicfg-nics -l -h 192.168.1.11
Name    PCI     Driver     Link Speed    Duplex MAC Address        MTU    Description                                  
vmnic0  02:00.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:fb         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic1  02:03.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:05  1500   Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic2  02:04.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:0f         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic3  02:05.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:19         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter

Now let me switch to a different server, this time an ESX server.

vmware@ubuntu:~$ vcli-login
Available hosts:
[1] 10.21.4.62
Select the host you want to access or enter its Name/IP: 10.21.1.83
Using host 10.21.1.83
Enter your username: root
Enter password: Session information saved.
Login succeeded. Caching credential.

Here I don't need -h.

vmware@ubuntu:~$ vicfg-nics -l
Name    PCI     Driver     Link Speed    Duplex MAC Address        MTU    Description                                  
vmnic0  03:00.0 bnx2       Up   1000Mbps Full   00:1e:4f:3f:04:e4  1500   Broadcom Corporation Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 1000Base-T 
vmnic1  07:00.0 bnx2       Up   1000Mbps Full   00:1e:4f:3f:04:e6  1500   Broadcom Corporation Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 1000Base-T 
vmnic2  0a:00.0 e1000e     Down 0Mbps    Half   00:15:17:74:4a:fe  1500   Intel Corporation 82571EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
vmnic3  0a:00.1 e1000e     Down 0Mbps    Half   00:15:17:74:4a:ff  1500   Intel Corporation 82571EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Now I switch back to my vCenter, taking advantage of the fact that my credentials are cached. Note that I don't enter a password.

vmware@ubuntu:~$ vcli-login 10.21.4.62
Using host 10.21.4.62
Using user Administrator. You can override this by re-running the command with a user specified.
Session information saved.
vmware@ubuntu:~$ vicfg-nics -l -h 192.168.1.11
Name    PCI     Driver     Link Speed    Duplex MAC Address        MTU    Description                                  
vmnic0  02:00.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:fb         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic1  02:03.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:05  1500   Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic2  02:04.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:0f         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter 
vmnic3  02:05.0 e1000      Up   1000Mbps Full   00:0c:29:ef:17:19         Intel Corporation Abstract PRO/1000 MT Single Port Adapter

The script is attached, hopefully someone will find it useful. Note that script only works on Linux. If you have any improvements or suggestions let me know.

Error connecting

isi — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:28:07 GMT

Hi,

here's what i get, if i try vmware-cmd -H esx1 -U root -P password -l

Error: Server version unavailable at 'https://esx1/sdk/vimService.wsdl'

What's wrong here ? Is it the self signed certificate ?

What shall I do ?

Thanks

If you need any sample code to get started, make a request here!

navadavuluri — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:09:30 GMT

Need a sample code, then submit your request here: CodeCentral Sample Code Request Box

We assure you that all the requests will be processed promptly.

For more information on how this works: Learn about Sample Code Request Box and CodeCentral Feedback

Welcome to our vSphere CLI Community

heyitspablo — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:06:45 GMT

We created a dedicated community for vSphere command line interface topics. We welcome you to participate by sharing your ideas, providing feedback and helping us grow our community.

Regards

Anyone else having problems posting to the vCLI community ?

heyitspablo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:30:36 GMT

Folks we have had reports of posting docs, discussion in this community,,, If you are having problems please let us know, PM, twitter @heyitspablo