In this post, I tried listing down all commands that I use everyday for ESXi Troubleshooting. I have categorized the commands for easy accessibility.

I find these commands are very useful when the ESXi host disconnected from vCenter and when not able to connect to vSphere Client.

[toggle type=”first” title=”Virtual Machine Operations”]

To get All registered VMs on the Host:

[code]vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms[/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
Vmid Name     File                                  Guest OS Version       Annotation
1    DeskTop  [datastore1 (3)] DeskTop/DeskTop.vmx  windows8_64Guest       vmx-08
2    Domain   [datastore1 (3)] Domain/Domain.vmx    windows7Server64Guest  vmx-08
3    VCD55    [datastore1 (3)] VCD55/VCD55.vmx      centos64Guest          vmx-08

Power ON a VM:

[code]vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <VMID> [/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 3
Powering on VM:

Power OFF a VM:

[code]vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off <VMID> [/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off 3
Powering off VM:

 Gracefully shutdown a VM’s Guest OS:

[code]vim-cmd vmsvc/power.shutdown <VMID> [/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/power.shutdown 3
~ #

Register a VM

[code]vim-cmd solo/registervm <vmxpath> [/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd solo/registervm "/vmfs/volumes/datastore1 (3)/VCD55/VCD55.vmx"
4

UnRegister a VM:

[code]vim-cmd vmsvc/unregister <VMID> [/code]

Example:

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/unregister 4
~ #

 

[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Host Operations”]

Enter Host into Maintenance mode:

[code] vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter  [/code]

 

Exit Host into Maintenance mode:

[code] vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit  [/code]

 

[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Storage”]

 

Storage Commands

 

LUNs

To get All disks attached to ESXi host.

[code] esxcfg-scsidevs -l [/code]

or

[code] esxcli core storage device list [/code]

Sample Output.

naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e
 Display Name: HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk (naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e)
 Has Settable Display Name: true
 Size: 429215
 Device Type: Direct-Access
 Multipath Plugin: NMP
 Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e
 Vendor: HP
 Model: LOGICAL VOLUME
 Revision: 3.54
 SCSI Level: 5
 Is Pseudo: false
 Status: degraded
 Is RDM Capable: true
 Is Local: false
 Is Removable: false
 Is SSD: false
 Is Offline: false
 Is Perennially Reserved: false
 Queue Full Sample Size: 0
 Queue Full Threshold: 0
 Thin Provisioning Status: unknown
 Attached Filters:
 VAAI Status: unknown
 Other UIDs: vml.0200010000600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e4c4f47494341
 Is Local SAS Device: false
 Is Boot USB Device: false
 No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds: 32

 

 To get All disks attached to ESXi host(Compact List)

~ # esxcfg-scsidevs -c
Device UID Device Type Console Device Size Multipath PluginDisplay Name
naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e Direct-Access /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e 429215MB NMP HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk (naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e)

LUN to Datastore Mapping

~ # esxcfg-scsidevs -m
naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e:3 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e:3 5131890d-0c77f39a-0382-e4115b9b7270 0 datastore1 (3)

LUN Paths:

 

~ # esxcfg-mpath -L
 vmhba0:C0:T0:L1 state:active naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e vmhba0 0 0 1 NMP active san sas.5001438027641890 sas.1438027641890

 ~ # esxcfg-mpath -m
 vmhba0:C0:T0:L1 vmhba0 sas.5001438027641890 sas.1438027641890 naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e

 ~ # esxcfg-mpath -b
 naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e : HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk (naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e)
 vmhba0:C0:T0:L1 LUN:1 state:active sas Adapter: 5001438027641890 Target: 1438027641890

 

HBA Commands

To List all HBAs available on the ESXi Host.

~ # esxcfg-scsidevs -a
vmhba0 hpsa link-n/a sas.5001438027641890 (0:3:0.0) Hewlett-Packard Company Smart Array P220i
vmhba1 qlnativefc link-up fc.50060b0000c26205:50060b0000c26204 (0:5:0.0) QLogic Corp ISP2532-based 8Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA
vmhba2 qlnativefc link-n/a fc.50060b0000c26207:50060b0000c26206 (0:5:0.1) QLogic Corp ISP2532-based 8Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA
vmhba32 iscsi_vmk online iscsi.vmhba32 iSCSI Software Adapter

HBA and LUN Mapping.

~ # esxcfg-scsidevs -A
vmhba0 naa.600508b1001c0f0e831036c264b4203e

To Rescan a HBA

[code]esxcfg-rescan <HBANAME>[/code]

example

~ # esxcfg-rescan vmhba32
~ #

iSCSI Commands

Discovery Stats for a iSCSI adapter

[code]~ # vmkiscsi-tool -D <HBANAME>[/code]

Example

~ # vmkiscsi-tool -D vmhba32
=========Discovery Properties for Adapter vmhba32=========

 iSnsDiscoverySettable : 0
 iSnsDiscoveryEnabled : 0
 iSnsDiscoveryMethod : 0
 iSnsHost.ipAddress : ::
 staticDiscoverySettable : 0
 staticDiscoveryEnabled : 1
 sendTargetsDiscoverySettable : 0
 sendTargetsDiscoveryEnabled : 1
 slpDiscoverySettable : 0
 No Discovery Addresses Found
 No Static Discovery Targets Found

[code]~ # vmkiscsi-tool -E <HBANME>[/code]

Example

 ~ # vmkiscsi-tool -E vmhba32
 No active targets.

ISCSI – IQN Name

[code]~ # vmkiscsi-tool -I HBANAME[/code]

Example

~ # vmkiscsi-tool -I vmhba32
iSCSI Node Name: iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:is-tse-h44-56726a3c

MTU Value

[code]~ # vmkiscsi-tool -M vmhba32[/code]

Example.

 ~ # vmkiscsi-tool -M vmhba32
 MTU SETTABLE : Not Valid
 MTU Size : Not Valid

 

NFS Commands

To list all the mounted NFS datastores.

~ # esxcli storage nfs list

or

~ # esxcfg-nas -l

 

Add a NFS Datastore

~ # esxcli storage nfs add -H NFS_IP|NFS_HOSTNAME -s Share_mount_point_on_the_NFS -vDatastoreName

or

~ # esxcfg-nas -a -o NFS_IP -s Share_mount_point_on_the_NFSDatastoreName

Delete a NFS Datastore

 esxcli storage nfs remove -v NFS_Datastore_Name

or

esxcfg-nas -d NFS_Datastore_Name

 

 

[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Networking”]Still Working on [/toggle]

[toggle title=”vSphere Replication”]

[code]vim-cmd hbrsvc/[/code]

[/toggle]

 

[toggle title=”Advanced & Misc “]Working on[/toggle]