List of Available Host Management Commands

vCLI host management commands from earlier versions have been replaced with commands that have equivalent functionality.
The following table lists vCLI host management commands in alphabetical order and the corresponding ESXCLI command if available. For ESXCLI, new commands and namespaces are added with each release. See the
Release Notes
for the corresponding release for information.
Functionality of the DCLI command set that is being added in vSphere 6.0 and later is different from these commands. They are not included in the table.
vCLI 4.1 Command
vCLI 5.1 and later Command
Comment
esxcli
esxcli
(new syntax)
All vCLI 4.1 commands have been renamed. Significant additions have been made to ESXCLI. Many tasks previously performed with a
vicfg-
command is now performed with ESXCLI.
resxtop
resxtop
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Supported only on Linux.
Monitors in real time how
hosts use resources. Runs in interactive or batch mode.
See Using resxtop for Performance Monitoring. See the
vSphere Resource Management
documentation for a detailed reference.
svmotion
svmotion
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Must run against a
system.
Moves a virtual machine’s configuration file, and, optionally, its disks, while the virtual machine is running.
vicfg-advcfg
esxcli system settings advanced
Performs advanced configuration.
The advanced settings are a set of VMkernel options. These options are typically in place for specific workarounds or debugging.
Use this command as instructed by VMware.
vicfg-authconfig
vicfg-authconfig
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Remotely configures Active Directory settings for an
host.
vicfg-cfgbackup
vicfg-cfgbackup
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Cannot run against a
system.
Backs up the configuration data of an
system and restores previously saved configuration data.
vicfg-dns
esxcli network ip dns
Specifies an
host’s DNS (Domain Name Server) configuration.
vicfg-dumppart
esxcli system coredump
Sets both the partition (
esxcli system coredump partition
) and the network (
esxcli system coredump network
) to use for core dumps. Use this command to set up
Dump Collector.
vicfg-hostops
esxcli system maintenancemode
esxcli system shutdown
vicfg-ipsec
esxcli network ip ipsec
Sets up IPsec (Internet Protocol Security), which secures IP communications coming from and arriving at
hosts.
hosts support IPsec using IPv6.
vicfg-iscsi
esxcli iscsi
Manages hardware and software iSCSI storage.
vicfg-module
esxcli system module
Enables VMkernel options. Use this command with the options listed in this document, or as instructed by VMware.
vicfg-mpath
vicfg-mpath35
esxcli storage core path
Configures storage arrays.
vicfg-nas
esxcli storage nfs
Manages NAS/NFS filesystems.
vicfg-nics
esxcli network nic
Manages the
host's uplink adapters.
vicfg-ntp
vicfg-ntp
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Defines the NTP (Network Time Protocol) server.
vicfg-rescan
esxcli storage core adapter rescan
Rescans the storage configuration.
vicfg-route
esxcli network ip route
Manages the
host's route entry.
vicfg-scsidevs
esxcli storage core device
Finds and examines available LUNs.
vicfg-snmp
esxcli system snmp
Manages the SNMP agent. See Managing SNMP Agents. Using SNMP in a vSphere environment is discussed in detail in the
vSphere Monitoring and Performance
documentation.
New options added in vCLI 5.0.
Expanded SNMP support added in vCLI 5.1.
vicfg-syslog
esxcli system syslog
Specifies log settings for
hosts including local storage policies and server and port information for network logging. See Configuring Syslog Services.
The
vCenter Server and Host Management
documentation explains how to set up system logs using the
.
vicfg-user
vicfg-user
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Creates, modifies, deletes, and lists local direct access users and groups of users. See Managing Users.
The
vSphere Security
documentation discusses security implications of user management and custom roles.
vicfg-vmknic
esxcli network ip interface
Adds, deletes, and modifies VMkernel network interfaces.
vicfg-volume
esxcli storage filesystem
Supports resignaturing the copy of a VMFS volume, and mounting and unmounting the copy.
vicfg-vswitch
esxcli network vswitch
Adds or removes virtual switches or modifies virtual switch settings.
vifs
vifs
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Performs file system operations such as retrieving and uploading files on the
system.
vihostupdate
esxcli software vib
Updates legacy
hosts to a different version of the same major release.
You cannot run
vihostupdate
against
5.0 and later hosts.
vmkfstools
vmkfstools
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Creates and manipulates virtual disks, file systems, logical volumes, and physical storage devices on an
host.
vmware-cmd
vmware-cmd
(No ESXCLI equivalent)
Performs virtual machine operations remotely. This includes, for example, creating a snapshot, powering the virtual machine on or off, and getting information about the virtual machine.