In addition to the standard Linux commands covered thus far VMware has implemented a specific set of commands directed toward ESX-specific tasks. The following list of commands show how to manage various components of the ESX Server configuration.
esxcfg-auth Used to configure an ESX Server host to support network-based authentication
methods (e.g., Active Directory [AD]).
--enablead to configure Service Console for AD authentication
--addomain to set the domain the Service Console will authenticate against
--addc to set the domain controller to authenticate against for AD authentication
--usecrack to enable the pam cracklib formanaging password complexity
esxcfg-firewall Used to query, enable, and disable services on the Service Console firewall.
-q to query the current firewall settings
-q servicename to query the status of a specific service
-q incoming/outgoing to query the status of incoming and outgoing ports
--blockIncoming to block all incoming connections on ports not required for system function
--blockOutgoing to block all outgoing connections on ports not required for system function
--allowIncoming to allow incoming connections on all ports
--allowOutgoing to allow outgoing connections on all ports
--e servicename to enable a specific service
--d servicename to disable a specific service
esxcfg-info Used to review the hardware information for Service Console and VMKernel.
-w to print hardware information
-s to print storage and disk information
-n to print network information
esxcfg-mpath Used to view and configure the multipathing settings for an ESX Server host’s
fibre channel or iSCSI storage devices.
-p to set the policy for mru (most recently used), fixed, or rr (round-robin)
-P to define a path to operate on
-s with ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘off’’ to enable or disale a specific path
-f to set a specified path as the preferred
esxcfg-nas Used to configure NAS storage on ESX Server.
-l to list all NAS
-a to add a new NAS datastore on a specified host
-o to provide the name of the NAS host
-s to provide the name of the NAS share
-delete to delete a NAS datastore
esxcfg-nics Used to obtain information about and configure the physical network adapters
installed in an ESX Server host.
-s to set the speed of a card to 10, 100, 1000, or 10,000.
-d to set the duplex to half or full
esxcfg-route Used to configure the default gateway for the VMkernel.
esxcfg-swiscsi Used to configure the software iSCSI component of ESX Server.
-e to enable software iSCSI
-d to disable software iSCSI
-q to query if software iSCSI is enabled
-s to scan for new LUNs using software iSCSI
esxcfg-vmhbadevs Used to obtain information about the LUNs available to the ESX Server.
-m to print the VMFS UUID if formatted as VMFS
esxcfg-vmknic Used to configure the VMkernel NIC.
-a to add a VMkernel port group
-d to delete a VMKernel
-e to enable the VMkernel NIC
-D to disable the VMkernel port
-i to set the IP address of the VMkernel NIC
-n to set the networkmask for the IP of the call
esxcfg-vswif Used to set the parameters of the Service Console
-a to add a Service Console NIC (this option is predicated on having IP information and
port group names)
-d to delete a the Service Console NIC
-e to enable the Service Console NIC
-D to disable the Service ConsoleNIC
-p to set the port group name for the Service Console NIC
-i to set the IP address to be used for the Service Console NIC
-n to set the network mask of for the Service Console NIC
esxcfg-vswitch Used to add, remove, or modify a virtual switch.
-a to add a new virtual switch
-d to delete a new virtual switch
-l to list all existing virtual switches
-L to unlink a network adapter from a hosting provider
-U to link a network adapter
-v to set the vLAN ID for a port group
-A to add a new port group
-D to delete a port group
-C to query for the existence of a port group name