Navigating the Service Console command line and performing management, configuration, and
troubleshooting tasks is an important skill set for virtual infrastructure administrators.
This appendix discusses the following topics: navigating and managing the Service Console,
managing disks and files in the Service Console, and using esxcfg, a management tool from VMware.
Navigating,Managing, andMonitoring through the Service Console
First and foremost, getting around the service console is a critical skill for troubleshooting and
managing ESX Server hosts when the traditional graphical tools are not available. The following
commands are some of the common and basic commands for moving around a Linux-based
operating system.
cd Used to change directories.
Example: #cd /vmfs/volumes
ls Used to list files and folders in the current directory.
Example: #ls
ls -l Used to list files and folders in a long format with rights and owners.
ls -s Used to list files and folders in a short format.
ls -R Used to list files and folders with the ability to scroll.
whoami Used to identify the effective user.
who am i Used to identify the currently logged-on user.
logout Used to log out the current user.
reboot Used to reboot a system.
adduser Used to add a new user.
Example: useradd newaccount
passwd Used to update a user account password.
Example: passwd newaccount