Managing VMware vSphere environments often requires fast and precise control over virtual machines and hosts. While command-line interfaces (CLI) offer immediate results for IT professionals, software developers, and network administrators, they can be complex due to the variety of commands and tools involved.
To simplify management, VMware provides several CLI tools, including vSphere CLI, PowerCLI, and DCLI that allow administrators to automate tasks, configure hosts, and monitor environments efficiently. In this article, we will focus on vSphere CLI, explain its purpose, and provide a step-by-step guide on how to install it on Linux and Windows.
What is vSphere Command-Line Interface?
vSphere Command-Line Interface (vCLI) is an administration tool for VMware virtual environments built on vSphere SDK for Perl. It comes as a standalone installer available on Linux and Windows. The most recent version is 6.7 in 2018.
You can run system administration commands against ESXi systems and automate routine processes like establishing and managing storage for ESXi hosts and configuring VM networks that you conduct when deploying and maintaining your virtual data center.
It contains a series of commands for host management such as ESXCLI, vicfg, DCLI, and others listed as follows:
| Command | Description |
| esxcli device | Descriptions for device commands. |
| esxcli esxcli | Descriptions for esxcli commands. |
| esxcli fcoe | FCOE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) commands |
| esxcli graphics | Commands for Graphics |
| esxcli hardware | Namespace for hardware. used largely to extract data about the present system configuration. |
| esxcli iscsi | iSCSI namespace for controlling and watching over iSCSI-enabled hardware and software. |
| esxcli network | Network namespace for controlling virtual switches and VMkernel network interfaces. |
| esxcli nvme | NVMe devices management commands. |
| esxcli rdma | RDMA devices monitoring commands. |
| esxcli sched | Control the shared system-wide swap space. |
| esxcli software | Software namespace that contains commands for managing and installing image profiles and VIBs. |
| esxcli storage | Commands for managing storage and core storage commands. |
| esxcli system | Commands for monitoring and managing system. |
| esxcli vm | Namespace for listing virtual machines and turning them off forcefully. |
| esxcli vsan | Namespace for managing Virtual SAN commands. |
| svmotion | Migrates the configuration file and optionally disks for a running virtual machine in a vCenter Server system. |
| vicfg-advcfg | Enabling and disabling CIM providers. |
| vicfg-authconfig | Handles Active Directory authentication. |
| vicfg-cfgbackup | Backs up an ESXi system's configuration file and restores the previously saved data. |
| vicfg-dns | Specifies the DNS (Domain Name Server) setup for an ESX/ESXi host. vicfg-dumppart Manages diagnostic partitions. |
| vicfg-hostops | Enables you to command ESX/ESXi hosts to go into maintenance mode and come out of maintenance mode, as well as to start, stop, and analyze those hosts. |
| vicfg-ipsec | IPSec setup. |
| vicfg-iscsi | iSCSI storage management. |
| vicfg-module | Enables VMkernel options. |
| vicfg-mpath | Displays details about storage array pathways and gives you the option to modify a path's status. |
| vicfg-nas | NAS file systems management. |
| vicfg-nics | ESX/ESXi host's NICs (uplink adapters) management. |
| vicfg-ntp | Defines the NTP (Network Time Protocol) server. |
| vicfg-rescan | Rescans the storage setup. |
| vicfg-route | Lists or modifies the route entry (IP gateway) for ESX/ESXi hosts. |
vicfg-scsidevs | Locates available LUNs. |
| vicfg-snmp | The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent management. |
| vicfg-syslog | Defines the syslog server and the port for ESXi hosts to connect to that server. |
| vicfg-user | Enables the creation, modification, erasure, and listing of local direct access users and user groups. |
| vicfg-vmknic | Adds, removes, and changes virtual network adapters (VMkernel NICs). |
| vicfg-volume | Resignaturing, mounting, and unmounting of VMFS snapshot volumes. |
| vicfg-vswitch | Adds or removes virtual switches or vNetwork Distributed Switches, or changes switch settings. |
| vifs | Performs file system activities such as retrieving and uploading files on the remote server. |
| vihostupdate | ESX/ESXi hosts update management. Use vihostupdate35 for ESXi 3.5 hosts. |
| vmkfstools | Creates and manages virtual disks, file systems, logical volumes, and physical storage devices on ESX/ESXi hosts. |
vmware-cmd | Perform remote virtual machine activities. |
How to Install vSphere CLI on Linux?
Applies to:
1. Download the installer package from vmware.com.
2. Open a shell prompt and go to the directory where you download the package.
3. Unzip the package.
4. Launch the installer (vmware-install.pl).
5. Input yes at the prompt and hit Enter.
6. Define the installation directory or press Enter for the default (/usr/bin).
7. Run commands to verify the installation.
a. Launch the command prompt.
b. Change to the installation directory.
c. Run the command.
<command> <conn_options> <params>
Uninstall the package
1. Connect to the installation directory.
2. Run the vmware-uninstall-vSphere-CLI.pl script
How to Install vSphere CLI on Windows?
Applies to:
1. Download the installer package from vmware.com.
2. Launch the installer.
3. Click Next on the Welcome page, and click Change to modify the installation directory, or stay with the default (s C:Program FilesVMwareVMware vSphere CLI). Click Next.
4. Click Install.
5. Run commands from the Windows command prompt.
a. Launch the command prompt.
b. Change to the installation directory.
c. Run the command.
<command>.pl <conn_options> <params>
Note: .pl is not required for esxcli.
Uninstall the package
1. Go to Start> Settings> Control Panel> Add or Remove Programs.
2. Choose vSphere CLI> Remove in the panel.
3. Click Yes.
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vSphere CLI is a management utility to automate daily jobs, however, memorizing a huge amount of commands is a hard task, and you could copy the wrong commands and accidentally delete or move files to the wrong location even if you do copy-paste. In addition, with vSphere CLI being phased out since vSphere 7, its long-term usability has become limited. As a result, many organizations are gradually shifting toward GUI-based solutions to simplify management and reduce operational risks.
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Conclusion
vSphere CLI is a command line tool to manage virtual machines in VMware environments and automate day-to-day tasks, but you should note that although it is still available on the VMware website, it has been terminated since vSphere 7, and its capabilities will be supported with API centric tools.
You can opt for Vinchin Backup & Recovery to backup automatically and manage backups of VMware and other platforms in a web pane.
