What management software is free with ESXi 4.0? (re: vSphere, vCenter, etc)

[sofakng]

I'm new to VMware and ESXi but I'm trying to learn and I'd like to better understand the different management products available.

I've installed the free ESXi 4.0, so what management software is available? (for free)

1) I can download "vSphere Client" directly from my ESXi host. Is this different than "vSphere" from the VMware website?

2) What is the different between vSphere Client and vSphere Remote Command Line?

3) Do I have free access to vSphere vCenter? Is this only used to manage several ESXi hosts at once?

Thanks so much for any help!

[RvdNieuwendijk]

For a list of free management software take a look at this blogpost: VMware Tools.

1. The vSphere Client that you can download from the ESXi host is the same as the one from the VMware website.

2. The vSphere Client is a grapical user interface. The vSphere Remote Command Line is a command line based tool simular to the console in an ESX server.

3. You need a license for vSphere vCenter Server. With vCenter Server you can manage several ESXi servers at once. But also features like HA, FT and vMotion you can use only with a vCenter server.

Regards, Robert

[AntonVZhbankov]

>1) I can download "vSphere Client" directly from my ESXi host. Is this different than "vSphere" from the VMware website?

No. vSphere Client is unified.

>2) What is the different between vSphere Client and vSphere Remote Command Line?

vSphere Client is GUI application, RCLI - not.

>3) Do I have free access to vSphere vCenter? Is this only used to manage several ESXi hosts at once?

No, vCenter is not free, and Free ESXi can not be managed by vCenter.

No, a lot of new functions are available to you when using vCenter, like AD-based granular permissions, VM migration, cloning etc.

---

MCSA, MCTS Hyper-V, VCP 3/4, VMware vExpert

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[sofakng]

Thanks so much for the help. (I'm interested in official VMware tools and not third-party tools, by the way.)

What's a little confusing is that the VMware website shows "vSphere 4" as a product. Is this the same as the "vSphere Client"?

Also, last question, on the ESXi downloads page it shows something called "vSphere Client and Host Update". What is this? More specifically, what is the Host Update and is it needed?

Thanks again!

[RvdNieuwendijk · Accepted solution]

One of the most interesting free tools from VMware is in my opinion VMware vSphere PowerCLI.

vSphere 4 is a product suite. vSphere client is one product from this suite.

Host Update is a utility that you can use to upgrade a vSphere host (ESX or ESXi server) from one version to another. You don't need this if you start with the latest version ESXi 4.0 update 2.

[sofakng]

Thanks!

There seems to be a lot of different terms and products, suites, etc. I think have it all straightened out.

It makes sense that an ESX/ESXi server is a vSphere Host, but why not just call it ESX Server instead of "vSphere Host". That makes it a bit confusing...

[RvdNieuwendijk]

In VMware vSphere you talk about hosts and guests. The hosts are the ESX servers. The guests are the virtual machines running on the hosts.