VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 7.0

8.0 7.0 6.7 6.5

Connection Options for ESXCLI Host Management Command Execution

You can use connection options that are available for all ESXCLI host management commands.
The following table lists options that are available for all ESXCLI host management commands in alphabetical order. The table includes options for use on the command line and variables for use in configuration files.
ESXCLI supports both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.
Option and Environment Variable
Description
--cacertsfile <certsfile>
-t <certs_file>
VI_CACERTFILE=<cert_file_path>
Specifies the CA (Certificate Authority) certificate file, in PEM format, to verify the identity of the
vCenter Server
 system or
ESXi
 system to run the command on.
You can only run ESXCLI commands if a trust relationship exists between the host you are running the command on and the system you are targeting with the
--server
 option (
ESXi
 host or
vCenter Server
 system). You can establish the trust relationship by specifying the CA certificate file or by passing in the thumbprint for each target server (
ESXi
 host or
vCenter Server
 system).
--config <cfg_file_full_path>
VI_CONFIG=<cfg_file_full_path>
Uses the configuration file at the specified location.
Specify a path that is readable from the current directory.
--credstore <credstore>
VI_CREDSTORE=<credstore>
Name of a credential store file. Defaults to
<
HOME
>/.vmware/credstore/vicredentials.xml
 on Linux and
<
APPDATA
>/VMware/credstore/vicredentials.xml
 on Windows. Commands for setting up the credential store are included in the vSphere SDK for Perl. See the
vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide
 for information on managing the credential store.
--encoding <encoding>
VI_ENCODING=<encoding>
Specifies which encoding to use. Several encodings are supported.
  • utf8
  • cp936
     (Simplified Chinese)
  • shftjis
     (Japanese)
  • iso-885901
     (German)
You can use
--encoding
 to specify the encoding for ESXCLI to map to when it is run on a foreign language system.
--passthroughauth
VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTH
If you specify this option, the system uses the Microsoft Windows Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) for authentication. Trusted users are not prompted for a user name and password. See the Microsoft Web site for detailed information on SSPI.
This option is supported only if you are connecting to a
vCenter Server
 system.
--passthroughauthpackage <package>
VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTHPACKAGE= <package>
Use this option with
--passthroughauth
 to specify a domain-level authentication protocol to be used by Windows. By default, SSPI uses the Negotiate protocol, which means that client and server try to negotiate a protocol that both support.
If the
vCenter Server
 system to which you are connecting is configured to use a specific protocol, you can specify that protocol by using this option.
This option is supported only if you are running ESXCLI on a Windows system and connecting to a
vCenter Server
 system.
--password <passwd>
VI_PASSWORD=<passwd>
Uses the specified password (used with
--username
) to log in to the server.
  • If
    --server
     specifies a
    vCenter Server
     system, the user name and password apply to that server. If you can log in to the
    vCenter Server
     system, you need no additional authentication to run commands on the
    ESXi
     hosts that server manages.
  • If
    --server
     specifies an
    ESXi
     host, the user name and password apply to that server.
Use the empty string (' ' on Linux and " " on Windows) to indicate no password.
If you do not specify a user name and password on the command line, the system prompts you and does not echo your input to the screen.
--portnumber <number>
VI_PORTNUMBER=<number>
Uses the specified port to connect to the system specified by
--server
. Default is 443.
--protocol <HTTP|HTTPS>
VI_PROTOCOL=<HTTP|HTTPS>
Uses the specified protocol to connect to the system specified by
--server
. Default is HTTPS.
--savesessionfile <file>
VI_SAVESESSIONFILE=<file>
Saves a session to the specified file. The session expires if it is idle for 30 minutes.
--server <server>
VI_SERVER=<server>
Uses the specified
ESXi
 or
vCenter Server
 system. Default is
localhost
.
Use the
--vihost
 option to specify the
ESXi
 host that you want to run the command against. See Authenticating Through vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On.
--servicepath <path>
VI_SERVICEPATH=<path>
Uses the specified service path to connect to the
ESXi
 host. Default is
/sdk/webService
.
--sessionfile <file>
VI_SESSIONFILE=<file>
Uses the specified session file to load a previously saved session. The session must be unexpired.
--thumbprint <thumbprint>
VI_THUMBPRINT=<thumbprint>
Expected SHA-1 host certificate thumbprint if no CA certificates file is provided in the
--cacertsfile
 option. The thumbprint is returned by the server in the error message if you attempt to run a command without specifying a thumbprint or certificate file.
--url <url>
VI_URL=<url>
Connects to the specified vSphere Web Services SDK URL.
--username <u_name>
VI_USERNAME=<u_name>
Uses the specified user name.
  • If
    --server
     specifies a
    vCenter Server
     system, the user name and password apply to that server. If you can log in to the
    vCenter Server
     system, you need no additional authentication to run commands on the
    ESXi
     hosts that server manages.
  • If
    --server
     specifies an
    ESXi
     system, the user name and password apply to that system.
If you do not specify a user name and password on the command line, the system prompts you and does not echo your input to the screen.
--vihost <host>
-h <host>
When you run an ESXCLI command with the
--server
 option pointing to a
vCenter Server
 system, use
--vihost
 to specify the
ESXi
 host to run the command against.
This option is not supported for each command. If supported, the option is included when you run
<
cmd
> --help
.

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