VMware vSphere/ESXi operations reference for VMs, snapshots, datastores, networking, storage, services, logs and maintenance checks.
Host status
- ESXi version — vmware -vlConfirms build before comparing compatibility or KBs.
- Uptime/load — esxtopPowerful interactive tool; use carefully and quit with q.
- Hardware — esxcli hardware platform getShows vendor, model and host UUID.
- Services — esxcli system service listChecks ESXi services and startup policy.
Virtual machines
- VM inventory — vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvmsShows VMID, datastore and VMX path.
- Power state — vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate VMIDConfirms state without vCenter.
- VMware Tools — vim-cmd vmsvc/get.guest VMIDDepending on version, provides guest/tools information.
- VM events — Review Tasks & Events in vCenter. Correlate migrations, snapshots, resets or errors with incident time.
Snapshots
- List snapshots — vim-cmd vmsvc/snapshot.get VMIDChecks snapshot presence and hierarchy.
- Snapshot age — Check the creation date in vCenter. Old snapshots can grow and hurt storage/performance.
- Consolidation — Check the Needs Consolidation status. Do not manually delete delta VMDKs.
- Before removal — Check datastore space, I/O activity and the backup. Consolidation can create significant I/O load.
Datastores
- Filesystem list — esxcli storage filesystem listShows capacity, free space, type and mount state.
- Critical free space — Monitor datastores approaching full capacity. A full datastore can break snapshots, VMs and consolidation.
- NFS shares — esxcli storage nfs listChecks NFS mounts.
- VMFS — esxcli storage vmfs extent listMaps VMFS datastores to devices/partitions.
Storage & paths
- Devices — esxcli storage core device listShows devices, model and status.
- Paths — esxcli storage core path listChecks active/dead paths and multipathing.
- HBAs — esxcli storage core adapter listLists storage adapters.
- Storage errors — /var/log/vmkernel.logLook for APD/PDL, path failures and latency.
Network
- Physical NICs — esxcli network nic listChecks link, speed, duplex and driver.
- VMkernel NICs — esxcli network ip interface ipv4 getShows vmkernel IP configuration.
- Routes — esxcli network ip route ipv4 listChecks gateways and static routes.
- vmkping — vmkping -I vmk1 192.168.20.10Tests from a specific VMkernel interface.
Useful logs
- vmkernel — /var/log/vmkernel.logStorage, networking, drivers and kernel.
- hostd — /var/log/hostd.logLocal host management and VM operations.
- vpxa — /var/log/vpxa.logCommunication between ESXi and vCenter.
- auth — /var/log/auth.logAuthentication and shell access depending on version.
Before maintenance
- Backups — Verify that a recent backup can be restored. Do not confuse VMware snapshots with backups.
- Capacity — Datastores + RAM + CPU + HA admission controlEnsure the cluster can absorb host evacuation.
- vMotion — Check VMkernel connectivity and compatibility. Blocked vMotion can prevent maintenance mode.
- Cluster state — Check HA, DRS and existing alarms before maintenance. Address pre-existing alarms before creating a new event.
Key points
- A VMware snapshot is not a backup.
- Never manually delete VMDK/delta files to free space.
- Before maintenance, verify cluster capacity and datastore health.
- ESXi commands vary by version and shell availability.