Vimsh(and vmware-vim-cm) is probably one of the worst documented commands out there. At the same time it’s one of the most powerful commands(I know it’s a shell…) out there. You name it and “vimsh” does it. Most of you ran into the “enabling vmotion” from the Service Console problem when first starting out with scripted install. Vimsh solves this:
/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd “hostsvc/vmotion/vnic_set vmk0″
As you can see “vimsh” is very powerful, but most of the other command-line stuff can be handled with the “esxcfg-*” commands. Well almost, for instance we talked about enabling autostart in my previous post. According to the KB article you must edit the file “/etc/vmware/hostd/vmAutoStart.xml”. Editing this file can be dangerous, I guess this goes for most ESX configuration files. During the Dutch VMUG I had a short chat with Wil van Antwerpen, Wil told me he was busy documenting the “vimsh” “command” in a wiki. After I published the enabling autostart blog Wil emailed me that this could and should be done with “vimsh”. I fully agree with Wil:
vmware-vim-cmd /hostsvc/autostartmanager/enable_autostart true
This enables the autostart functionality without manually editing the files. But I guess you would like to check if it’s enabled or disabled:
vmware-vim-cmd /hostsvc/autostartmanager/get_defaults
The big question remains, how do I know what I can and can’t do with “vimsh”. Well that’s the main reason for this post, as I said Wil has been very busy documenting “vimsh”. Wil created VI-Toolkit.com. VI-Toolkit.com contains a section on vimsh. Besides the the info that the vimsh command provices Wil added sample code. The sample code can be very usefull, but the search function is even more useful. Searching the vimsh documentation provides you with a fast way to check if a specific configuration action can be scripted with “vimsh”. For instance a search on “vimsh role” returns the following:
* Vimsvc/auth/role add
==== vimsh vimsvc/auth/role_add ==== Usage: role_add roleName [priv0] [priv1] [priv2] [priv3] [priv4]
171 B (24 words) – 14:32, 26 December 2008
* Vimsvc/auth/role permissions
==== vimsh vimsvc/auth/role_permissions ==== Usage: role_permissions roleName
1 KB (118 words) – 22:26, 28 December 2008
* Vimsvc/auth/role remove
==== vimsh vimsvc/auth/role_remove ==== Usage: role_remove roleName [failIfUsed]
123 B (16 words) – 14:34, 26 December 2008
* Vimsvc/auth/roles
==== vimsh vimsvc/auth/roles ==== Usage: roles
7 KB (550 words) – 21:50, 28 December 2008
I guess I can sum up this blog post in just one line:”Bookmark VI-Toolkit.com and add it to your RSS reader!”. Be sure to not miss out on anything regarding “vimsh” or any of the VI Toolkits that Wil be be describing and aggregating source code for. The “vimsh” section alone is already 345 pages large and it will continue to grow even more. Keep up the great work Wil and it was nice meeting you in person!
Thank you Duncan for the kind words.
Also thanks for the vmotion tip, i’ve added your example to the command description.
—
Wil
For find the Vmotion vmknic interface, you can do it bu this way:
pg_vmotion=$(esxcfg-vswitch -l|awk ‘/Vmotion/ {print $2}’)
vimsh -n -e “/hostsvc/vmotion/vnic_set ${pg_vmotion}”
Great help here. I’m a big fan of this site, thanks so much.
I am trying to add some commands to my EDA postinstall script, specifically some to modify my LVM and Disk settings undre “Advanced” settings in vCenter.
I see that /proc/vmware/config/Disk/SANDevicesWithAPFailover is where I query my current setting (5th field), but how do I change it?
What vmware-vim-cmd or vimsh parameters would let me change the value for this?
I’ve read and searched xtravirt’s great white paper, but have not been able to find or guess the syntax I need.
Similarly, I want to change “LVMDisallowSnapshotlun”. under LVM advanced settings.
cheers,
Kevin
you should be able to set them with esxcfg-advcfg.
Update: ah, Got it! There’s nothing like trial and error:
# vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/advopt/update Disk.SANDevicesWithAPFailover string “SANsymphony :”
Duncan, I’ll see check out your suggestion as well.
cheers muchly,
Kevin
okay,
# esxcfg-advcfg –set “SANSymphony :” /Disk/SANDevicesWithAPFailover
# esxcfg-advcfg –get /Disk/SANDevicesWithAPFailover
Value of SANDevicesWithAPFailover is SANSymphony :
cheers Duncan, you rock!
Has anyone ever tried to add a vm to the autstartseq? I always get a invalid argument with the following command:
vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/autostartmanager/update_autostartentry 48 PowerOn 60 1 GuestShutdown 60 true
Problem seems to be the StartOrder number: 1
OK, already foud it.
vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/autostartmanager/update_autostartentry 28 PowerOn “60” 1 GuestShutdown 60 systemDefault
I think vimsh cant do (initiate) vmotion – anyone know any way from service console?. (other then powershell/vcenter gui).
thanks
where do you find this in vSphere?
/Disk/SANDevicesWithAPFailover
I have it on my ESX3 hosts, but not esx4 ?