Hi,
I see that I can use vmtoolsd --cmd='info-get guestinfo.<some_custom_property_name>' on the guest VM on an ESX4.1u1 server to retrieve values that I inject to the VM configuration through the ReconfigVM_Task SOAP call to ESXi4.1u1 when I create and start the guest VM, but I cannot use vmtoolsd --cmd='info-get ' to retrieve other non-custom properties of the guest VM.
An example is -
$ vmtoolsd --cmd='info-get replay.filename'
Invalid key name supplied
$
The same happens if I try -
$ vmtoolsd --cmd='info-get annotation'
Invalid key name supplied
$
This fails for machine.id as well, however, one exception is that a particular vmtoolsd command works for it - (I set this parameter via ReconfigVM_Task) -
$vmtoolsd --cmd 'machine.id.get'
os-guest
$
$vmtoolsd --cmd='info-get machine.id'
Invalid key name supplied
$
Why is this so? How can I query for these standard properties if vmtoolsd doesn't work for this? Or, am I required to use some other option with vmtoolsd? Or, is there some other command that I can use on the guest VM to retrieve these pre-configured guest VM values?
I am specifically interested in the "annotation" property. I am not sure however, if I can set it using ReconfigVM_Task. Any inputs will be very helpful!
Thanks!
Regards,
Vijay
PS - I do not want to define guestinfo.* properties for the VM since those are not persistent across host reboots, and I would like the properties to be preserved across vmotions, etc, without having to rely on the underlying host or vCenter.
