Useful Linux Commands for ESXI Administrators

The most challenging part of managing VMware ESXi is the steep learning curve for its CLI. With so many management tasks to perform, you may find yourself wishing there was an easier way to do this. But there is! You can manage ESXi using its built-in command line interface (CLI), which uses a small number of commands that are very powerful. To exploit the power of CLI and reduce operational costs, administrators can leverage these 10 useful Linux commands for ESXI management. These commands are simple, but they have a wide range of applications in your day-to-day work. Let’s take a look at what these commands can do for you and how they can streamline your workflow.

esxcli

The "esxcli" command is the most common way to access the ESXi Shell. This command is an acronym for "ESXi Shell Command Line Interface". Using "esxcli" can be a very quick way to get the information you need, especially if you know the exact commands to use. You can use "esxcli" to retrieve statistics and information about the VMs and hosts, configure the data network, and get information about the storage devices. The "esxcli" command also has a number of subcommands that can be useful for performing specific functions. Some of these are "esxcfg-", "esxcfg-advcfg", and "esxcfg-debug".

esxcli network

The "esxcli network" command is used to view and change configuration settings for the data network on an ESXi host. The "esxcli network" command has a couple of subcommands that can be very useful. The "esxcli network ip" command can be used to view and modify IP addresses, DNS servers, and other data network configuration settings on a host. The "esxcli network nic list" command can be used to view and change settings for the host’s data network adapters. This command can be useful if you want to change the name or MAC address of a data network adapter, or if you want to reset a data network adapter.

esxcli storage

The "esxcli storage" command can be used to view and modify configuration settings for the storage devices on an ESXi host. The command has a couple of subcommands that can be very useful for performing specific functions. The "esxcli storage vmfs" command can be used to create, mount, and dismount VMFS datastores on an ESXi host. The "esxcli storage nfs" command can be used to create, mount, and dismount NFS datastores on an ESXi host. The "esxcli storage core" command can be used to configure the distributed storage option on an ESXi host. This command can be used to enable or disable the distributed storage, set the distributed storage policy, and set the distributed storage network details.

esxcli vm

The "esxcli vm" command can be used to view the VMs on an ESXi host. This command can be useful if you want to quickly see which VMs are running on an ESXi host. The "esxcli vm" command also has a subcommand called "esxcli vm process" that can be used to view and kill processes running on a VM. This command can be useful if you are attempting to troubleshoot a VM and you want to kill a process. The "esxcli vm" command also has a subcommand called "esxcli vm statistics" that can be used to view statistics about the VMs on an ESXi host. This command can be useful if you want to see how much resources VMs are using, how much time they are spending on which CPUs, and other statistics.

esxcli vsan

The "esxcli vsan" command can be used to monitor and troubleshoot a VSAN cluster. This command can be useful if you want to quickly see how many hosts are in your cluster, how much capacity you are using, and other VSAN-specific information.