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RanjnaAggarwal
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Run Commands Directly in ESXi Shell

Why vmware recommends to run commands directly in esxi shell only in troubleshooting situations or at the request of vmware technical support team?

Regards, Ranjna Aggarwal
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mcowger
Immortal
Immortal

Because those commands are:

  1. Potentially dangerous to system stability
  2. Not logged via vCenter, so not subject to normal AAA
  3. Not subject to regular backups/restore options, nor generally visible to change tracking systems
--Matt VCDX #52 blog.cowger.us
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Josh26
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Look over this very forum. Nearly every thread that starts with "I'm trying to run xxx in the shell" involves a user attempting to do something they should not be doing - installing generic Linux drivers or software, attempting to compile apps, trying to modify config files directly..

If you can do it using the supported APIs then you know it's generally an appropriate thing to do.

If you need the shell, there's a good chance you shouldn't be doing it.

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