Licensing: vmrun & Vix with ESXi

[dennisgu]

Hello,

My understanding is that vmrun / the ViX API doesn't work with the free edition of ESXi. I have virtual machines stored on a NFS datastore and want to shutdown the VMs remotely to make backups of the vm files (on the NFS server). Is there a way to accomplish this with the free edition of ESXi?

If not, would purchasing "Essentials Kit for 3 hosts" solve this issue? Would I simply have to enter the purchased license key on the ESXi host and the API would be enabled? Do I need to install vCenter Server (whatever that is) or could I continue managing my ESXi hosts with the vSphere Client?

Thanks!

Regards,

Dennis

[logiboy123]

I don't know much about ViX API and vmrun, but I found a link that may help you;

http://blogs.vmware.com/vix/2008/12/managing-vm-guests-using-vmrun.html

Essentials Kit for 3 hosts would allow you to have three managed ESX or ESXi servers and a vCenter server. vCenter is a management server that allows high level functions like High Availability (HA), VMotion, Cloning etc to name but a few of the features. This product in and of itself would not give you a VM backup solution.

Using vCenter means that your VI Client connects to vCenter server instead of your ESX(i) servers and you can see and configure them as required from a centralized console.

[dennisgu]

Thanks for the reply. Well, I'm not really interested in some kind of centralized management, but I would simply purchase the licenses to take advantage of vmrun / ViX, which in my understanding is not available in the free edition. So the questions remain:

- If I purchased the Essential kit, could I simply enter the Essential kit license key for the ESXi hosts to enable the ViX API / use vmrun?

- Can I continue managing my ESXi hosts directly via the vSphere Client when I purchase the Essential kit, or do I have to use the vCenter Server?

- Are there any differences between ESXi free and the Essential kit except that the licensed version adds a few features (e.g. access to APIs)?

Thanks!

[logiboy123]

This article provides steps to add, assign, and remove the licenses of ESX 4.x, ESXi 4.x, and vCenter Server 4.x.

You will need to purchase at least one single ESX or ESXi license. I would ring your local distributor or VMware Sales directly to discuss your requirements.

Regards,

Paul Kelly

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[logiboy123]

As a side note, when you install ESX you still recieve a free and fully featured grace period. With this you could test your process to confirm that it will work, then once proven go and purchase the required licenses.

Regards,

Paul Kelly

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[admin]

If I purchased the Essential kit, could I simply enter the Essential kit license key for the ESXi hosts to enable the ViX API / use vmrun?

Yes, that should be sufficient.

Can I continue managing my ESXi hosts directly via the vSphere Client when I purchase the Essential kit, or do I have to use the vCenter Server?

Sure. vCenter Server is only needed for centralized management (defining clusters of hosts and whatnot). You can always connect directly to a host (not recommend if you do have vCenter Server managing it, though).

Are there any differences between ESXi free and the Essential kit except that the licensed version adds a few features (e.g. access to APIs)?

I don't know, but some web searching shows this blog post: http://blogs.vmware.com/esxi/2009/06/esxi-vs-esx-a-comparison-of-features.html

It's a little old, so I am not sure it is completely up-to-date. Still, it should give you the gist of the kind of differences.