ESXi 3.5u4 is out, does the RCLI still have r/w access for the free version?

[lamw]

Found out through twitter from @scott_lowe and @jasonboche ESX(i) 3.5u4 just got released today. I was wondering has anyone gotten a chance to play with the new version to see if a fix went out to lock down the VI API to read only mode when using tools like the RCLI? or does it still allow both read/write operations using the free licensed version of ESXi.

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William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

[AnsgarOnTVE]

I've tried some of the vim-cmd vmsvc/**** commands and have had no "restricted version" error message sofar. I'm still looking for some further documentation on the vmsvc/sanpshot.remove command. According to my understanding I should be able to remove specific snapshots of a VM. In my script I check for existing snapshots and won't do a backup if there is is a snapshot. With the RCLI there was only the possibility to remove the snapshots of the VM. There was no way to delete your backup snapshot. On the other site it doesn't make much sense to keep a snapshot for a long time, mostly there is some sort of testing going on. Therefore I decided against doing a backup in this case.

Ansgar

[lamw]

Take a look here for further information regarding vimsh : http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/#vmware_vimsh

Also check out ghettoVCB which allows you to run backups utilizing the unsupported SSH console.

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William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

[agomezp]

at this moment i have a ghettoVCB and this work fine in my 9 esxi u4 servers

Just hope it does not who the console (SSH) so that if something is worrying, read this article (http://vmetc.com/2008/08/10/whats-the-difference-between-free-esxi-and-licensed-esxi/):

“Can NOT use SSH / WinSCP / mRemote - there is not a Service
Console. ( it is possible to open a busybox console as explained here
and here, but this function was intended for VMware Technical Support
only. If you listen to the VMTN Podcast mentioned earlier it is very
clear that VMware does not support this access by it’s customers and is
also seriously considering removing this function completely.)”

thanks for your help

[kindlund]

The fact that VMware made a "mistake" in opening up RCLI on the free version of ESXi is besides the point. The period of time as to when RCLI was usable is huge and has shaped my expectations that RCLI would remain read/write for future versions of ESXi. I believe this lockdown does a huge disservice for VMware's reputation and am disappointed by this "patch".

I have been developing code using the VI Perl toolkit that worked perfectly with ESXi 3.5u3, which now returns "fault.RestrictedVersion.summary" on all free versions of ESXi.

This mistake has costed me many hours of lost development time, let alone called into question VMware's licensing practices.

[m4biz]

I've fully understood?

Via remote CLI connected to ESXi U4 host is impossible to start or stop a VM (by means vmware-cmd ... start / stop command)?

And if yes, is there any (free!) workaround solution ?.

Thanks in advance.

Ing. Cosimo MERCURO

Mercuro for Business

[lamw]

You're correct, powering on/off a VM is considered a write operation and you will not be able to do that with the free version of ESXi.

There are no supported alternatives, you have the option of unlocking the unsupported SSH console and you automate some tasks using vimsh wrapper and on ESXi it's called vim-cmd. If you would like more information take a look at our page: http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/#vmware_vimsh

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William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[Visordude]

Wow!

At first I thought this was a joke. WMWare removes an essential feature of its product, calling the feature a "mistake"

What a way to service users who have spent hundreds of hours writing scripts for the RCLI.....

I've spent several days researching various virtualization products, and had decided to go for WMWare, in particular the free ESXi.

That's not going to happen now.