executed inside the esxi host (via ssh or the esxi shell) or remotely using the vcli.
Here are some examples of the power of this command:
1. List how many nfs mounts exist.
# esxcli storage nfs list
2. Get information about fcoe adapters and cards
# esxcli fcoe nic list
# esxcli fcoe adapter list
3. Get information about installed packages
# esxcli software vib list
4. Find out how much memory exist on your esxi server
# esxcli hardware memory get
5. Find out how many cpus exist on your esxi server
# esxcli hardware cpu list
6. Find out the name of your iscsi adapter
# esxli iscsi adapter list
7. Find out how many physical nics exist
# esxcli network nic list
8. Find out the state of your firewall
# esxcli network firewall get
# esxcli network firewall ruleset list
9. Find out information about your vmfs file systems
# esxcli storage vmfs extent list
10. Find out the version of esxi
# esxcli system version list
Then SSH to the host using Putty
The basic command to control the virtual machines is
vim-cmd vmsvc/
To manage a virtual machine you need get its ID, run:
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
To get a summary of the machine run:
vim-cmd vmsvc/get.summary [ID]
To power on a VM run:
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on [ID]
To power off a VM run
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off [ID]
To suspend a VM run
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.suspend [ID]
REFERENCES
http://esx-guy.blogspot.ca/2012/03/power-of-esxcli-command-in-esxi-5.html
http://myitstuff.tumblr.com/post/350186035/how-to-control-esxi-virtual-machine-from-a-command-line
