ESXi 5.0 Command Cheat Sheet
vSphere CLI vihostupdate.pl commands are no longer supported on ESXi 5.0
(vihostupdate
<conn_options> --nosigcheck --install --bundle <offline-bundle>.zip)
Esxupdate commands are no longer supported on ESXi 5.0
(esxupdate
--bundle=<offline-bundle>.zip update)
Qlogic Driver Installation/Removal
Note: Putty SSH session logged into ESXi 5.0 host as root:
# esxcli software vib install –v /tmp/net-qlge-1.0.0.471vmw.500.0.0.406165.x86_64.vib
# esxcli software vib remove -n
net-qlge --dry-run*
Removal Result
Message: Dryrun only, host not changed. The following installers will be applied:
[BootBankInstaller]
Reboot Required: true
VIBs Installed:
VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_net-qlge_1.0.0.47-1vmw.500.0.0.406165
*Do not use the –-dry-run if you intend to remove the driver.
Driver Version Queries:
# esxcli software vib get -n net-qlge
VMware_bootbank_net-qlge_1.0.0.47-1vmw.500.0.0.406165
# esxcli software vib get –n scsi-qla2xxx
VMware_bootbank_scsi-qla2xxx_901.k1.1-14vmw.500.0.0.469512
# esxcli software vib get –n scsi-qla4xxx
VMware_bootbank_scsi-qla4xxx_5.01.03.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512
Firmware version Queries:
# esxcli network nic get -n vmnic2
Driver: qlge
Firmware Version: v1.35.11
Version: v1.00.00.47-051711
Software Queries:
# esxcli software vib list | grep qla2xxx
# esxcli software vib list | more
# esxcli –-help
Hardware Queries
Note: Qlogic serial number is NOT listed in these commands
# esxcli fcoe adapter list
# esxcli fcoe nic list
# esxcli hardware memory get
# esxcli hardware pci list
# esxcli hardware cpu list
# esxcli hardware bootdevice list
# esxcli hardware clock get
# esxcli hardware platform get
(or qla4xxx)
Network Queries
# esxcli network ip connection list
# esxcli network nic list
# esxcli network nic get -n vmnic2
# esxcli network nic set –n vmnic2
# esxcli network vswitch standard list
# esxcli network vswitch standard portgroup list
# esxcli network vswitch standard policy shaping get –v vSwitch0
# esxcli network vswitch standard policy security get -v vSwitch0
# esxcli network vswitch standard policy failover get -v vSwitch0
Network Commands
Set MTU to 9000 for vSwitchx:
# esxcli network vswitch standard set -m 9000 -v vSwitch0
Add a Standard vSwitch:
# esxcli network vswitch standard add -v vSwitch1
Add an Uplink to a Standard vSwitch
# esxcli network vswitch standard uplink add -u vmnic2 -v vSwitch1
Remove an Uplink from a Standard vSwitch
# esxcli network vswitch standard uplink remove -u vmnic2 -v vSwitch1
Bring network NIC down/up
# esxcli network nic down -n vmnic2
# esxcli network nic up -n vmnic2
Set NIC Speed and Duplex
# esxcli network nic set -S 10000 -D full -n vmnic2
Set NIC speed and Duplex to Auto-negotiate
# esxcli network nic set -a -n vmnic0
Storage Queries
# esxcli storage core adapter list
vmhba4 qla2xxx link-n/a fc.200000c0dd1077d9:210000c0dd1077d9 (0:2:0.2) QLogic Corp ISP81xxbased 10 GbE FCoE to PCI Express CAN
vmhba5 qla2xxx link-n/a fc.200000c0dd1077db:210000c0dd1077db (0:2:0.3) QLogic Corp ISP81xxbased 10 GbE FCoE to PCI Express CNA
# esxcli storage core adapter stats get -a vmhba4
# esxcli storage core device list
# esxcli storage nmp device list
# esxcli storage filesystem list
# esxcli storage nfs list
Storage Commands
Rescan a specific adapter
# esxcli storage core adapter rescan --adapter vmhba4
Rescan All adapters
# esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all
List all Scsi paths in the system
# esxcli storage core path list
Get scsi statistics for all scsi paths
# esxcli storage core path stats get
List SCSI device statistics
# esxcli storage core device stats get
System Queries
# esxcli system version get
Product: VMware ESXi
Version: 5.0.0
Build: Releasebuild-469512
# esxcli system module list
Name
Is Loaded
Is Enabled
qla2xxx
true
true
qlge
true
true
# esxcli system hostname get
# esxcli system settings advanced list |more
System Commands
List parameter options for the Qlogic qlge driver
# esxcli system module parameters list -m qlge
Set debug level for Qlogic qlge driver
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qlge –p debug=1 (0=none,
16=all)
MPI firmware dump for Qlogic qlge driver
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qlge –p qlge_force_coredump=1
# esxcli system module parameters set -m qlge -p qlge_spool_coredump=1
Disable/Enable the Qlogic qlge driver
# esxcli system module set -m qlge -e false
# esxcli system module list
Name
Is Loaded
qlge
true
Is Enabled
false
# esxcli system module set -m qlge -e true
# esxcli system module list
Name
Is Loaded
Is Enabled
qlge
true
true
List parameter options for the qla2xxx driver
# esxcli system module parameters list -m qla2xxx
Enable extended error logging for the qla2xxx driver
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qla2xxx –p
ql2xextended_error_logging=1
VM Queries
List running virtual machines
# esxcli vm process list
Esxcli General Help
esxcli --help
Usage: esxcli [options] {namespace}+ {cmd} [cmd options]
--debug
Enable debug or internal use options
--version
Display version information for the script
-?, --help
Display usage information for the script
esxcli
Commands that operate on the esxcli system itself allowing users to get additional
information.
fcoe
hardware
VMware FCOE commands.
VMKernel hardware properties and commands for configuring hardware.
iscsi
VMware iSCSI commands.
network
Operations that pertain to the maintenance of networking on an ESX host. This
includes a wide variety of commands to manipulate virtual networking components
(vswitch, portgroup, etc) as well as local host IP, DNS and general host networking
settings.
software
storage
system
Manage the ESXi software image and packages
VMware storage commands.
VMKernel system properties and commands for configuring properties of the kernel
core system.
A small number of operations that allow a user to Control Virtual Machine operations.
vm
Qlogic Fibre Channel Driver qla2xxx parameters
# esxcli system module parameters list -m qla2xxx
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qla2xxx –p <parameter name=integer>
Parameter Name
Type
Parameter Description
heap_initial
heap_max
ql2xallocfwdump
integer
integer
integer
ql2xcmdtimeout
ql2xcmdtimermin
ql2xdevdiscgoldfw
integer
integer
integer
ql2xenablemsi
integer
ql2xenablemsi2422
integer
ql2xexecution_throttle
integer
ql2xextended_error_logging
integer
ql2xfdmienable
integer
ql2xfwloadbin
integer
ql2xiidmaenable
ql2xintrdelaytimer
integer
integer
ql2xioctltimeout
integer
ql2xloginretrycount
integer
Initial heap size allocated for the driver.
Maximum attainable heap size for the driver.
Option to enable allocation of memory for a firmware dump during
HBA initialization. Memory allocation requirements vary by ISP
type. Default is 1 - allocate memory.
Timeout value in seconds for scsi command, default is 20
Minimum command timeout value. Default is 30 seconds.
Option to enable device discovery with golden firmware Default is
0 - no discovery. 1 - discover device.
Enables MSI-X/MSI interrupt scheme Default is 1 - enable MSIX/MSI. 0 - disable MSI-X/MSI.
Enables MSI interrupt scheme on 2422sDefault is 0 - disable MSIX/MSI. 1 - enable MSI-X/MSI.
IOCB exchange count for HBA. Default is 0, set intended value to
override Firmware defaults
Option to enable extended error logging, Default is 0 - no logging.
1 - log errors
Enables FDMI registratons Default is 0 - no FDMI. 1 - perfom
FDMI.
Option to specify location from which to load ISP firmware:
2 -- load firmware via the request_firmware() (hotplug)
interface.
1 -- load firmware from flash.
0 -- use default semantics.
Enables iIDMA settings Default is 1 - perform iIDMA. 0 - no iIDMA.
ZIO: Waiting time for Firmware before it generates an interrupt to
the host to notify completion of request.
IOCTL timeout value in seconds for pass-thur commands. Default
is 66 sec seconds.
Specify an alternate value for the NVRAM login retry count.
ql2xlogintimeout
integer
Login timeout value in seconds.
ql2xmaxqdepth
integer
Maximum queue depth to report for target devices.
ql2xmaxsgs
integer
ql2xmqcpuaffinity
integer
qlport_down_retry
integer
ql2xoperationmode
integer
ql2xplogiabsentdevice
integer
ql2xqfullrampup
integer
ql2xqfulltracking
integer
ql2xusedefmaxrdreq
integer
ql2xusedrivernaming
integer
Maximum scatter/gather entries per request,Default is the Max the
OS Supports.
Enables CPU affinity settings for the driver Default is 0 for no
affinity of request and response IO. Set it to 1 to turn on the cpu
affinity.
Maximum number of command retries to a port that returns a
PORT-DOWN status.
Option to disable ZIO mode for ISP24XX: Default is 1, set 0 to
disable
Option to enable PLOGI to devices that are not present after a
Fabric scan. This is needed for several broken switches. Default
is 0 - no PLOGI. 1 - perfom PLOGI.
Number of seconds to wait to begin to ramp-up the queue depth
for a device after a queue-full condition has been detected.
Default is 120 seconds.
Controls whether the driver tracks queue full status returns and
dynamically adjusts a scsi device's queue depth. Default is 1,
perform tracking. Set to 0 to disable dynamic tracking and
adjustment of queue depth.
Default is 0 - adjust PCIe Maximum Read Request Size. 1 - use
system default.
Enables Consistent Device Naming feature Default is 0, set 1 to
enable.
Qlogic iSCSI Driver qla4xxx Parameters
# esxcli system module parameters list -m qla4xxx
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qla4xxx –p <parameter name=integer>
Parameter Name
Type
Parameter Description
cmd_timeout
extended_error_logging
Integer
Integer
gratuitous_arp
heap_initial
Integer
Integer
heap_max
ioctl_timeout
ka_timeout
ql4xdiscoverywait
ql4xdontresethba
Integer
Integer
Integer
Integer
Integer
Maximum attainable heap size for the driver
IOCTL Timeout
Keep Alive Timeout
Discovery wait time
Dont reset the HBA when the driver gets 0x8002 AEN
default it will reset hba :0 set to 1 to avoid resetting HBA
recovery_tmo
ql4xmaxqdepth
Integer
Integer
Recovery Timeout
Maximum queue depth to report for target devices
Command Timeout
Option to enable extended error logging, Default is 0 - no
logging, 1 - debug logging
Gratuitous ARP
Initial heap size allocated for the driver.
Qlogic 81xx Network Driver qlge Parameters
# esxcli system module parameters list -m qlge
# esxcli system module parameters set –m qlge –p <parameter name=integer>
Parameter Name
Type
debug
max_msix_vectors
Integer
Integer
qlge_force_coredump
Integer
heap_initial
Integer
heap_max
qlge_irq_type
qlge_mpi_coredump
Integer
Integer
Integer
qlge_spool_coredump
Integer
rx_desc_count
Array of
Integers
Array of
Integers
Integer
Integer
rx_ring_count
skb_mpool_initial
skb_mpool_max
tx_desc_count
array of
Integers
Parameter Description
Debug level (0-16: 0=none,16=all)
Option to limit number of MSX-X vectors used by
this function, Default is system assigned.
Option to force MPI coredump when msglevel is updated.
Default is 0
Initial heap size allocated for the driver.
Maximum attainable heap size for the driver
0 = MSI-X, 1 = MSI, 2 = Legacy.
Option to enable allocation of memory for an MPI
firmware dump. Default is 1 - allocate memory.
Option to enable spooling of firmware dump. to log.
Default is 0 - do not spool.
Number of RX descriptors, default is 512
Number of receive queues, default is 2
Driver's minimum private socket buffer memory pool size.
Maximum attainable private socket buffer memory pool
size for the driver.
Number of TX descriptors, default is 1024