How to find and Start/Stop VM on ESXI.
SSH to the ESXI server.
# esxcli vm process list
# esxcli vm process list WebHost World ID: 35689 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 35686 UUID: 56 4d 72 7c da 4c 82 f1-9f 10 9c e3 d6 7d a4 9d Display Name: WebHost Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/WebHost/WebHost.vmx Windows World ID: 4150543 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 4150542 UUID: 56 4d 49 5f 12 7e 26 96-d8 31 37 05 21 64 5d 46 Display Name: Windows Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/Windows/Windows.vmx Monitor World ID: 2487010 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 2487009 UUID: 56 4d 99 de b0 13 a1 76-bd 2d 95 8a be 25 35 39 Display Name: Monitor Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/Monitor/Monitor.vmx Mail World ID: 2487029 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 2487028 UUID: 56 4d 4f 88 c8 bf a6 37-b5 5b 96 6f b4 23 c5 fb Display Name: Mail Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/Mail/Mail.vmx
Stop a VM:
# esxcli vm process kill -t soft --world-id 4150543
Review to verify the VM is off:
# esxcli vm process list WebHost World ID: 35689 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 35686 UUID: 56 4d 72 7c da 4c 82 f1-9f 10 9c e3 d6 7d a4 9d Display Name: WebHost Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/WebHost/WebHost.vmx Monitor World ID: 2487010 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 2487009 UUID: 56 4d 99 de b0 13 a1 76-bd 2d 95 8a be 25 35 39 Display Name: Monitor Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/Monitor/Monitor.vmx Mail World ID: 2487029 Process ID: 0 VMX Cartel ID: 2487028 UUID: 56 4d 4f 88 c8 bf a6 37-b5 5b 96 6f b4 23 c5 fb Display Name: Mail Config File: /vmfs/volumes/54c1dfef-00e03f4b-784e-6805ca0a3085/Mail/Mail.vmx
How to start a Guest VM from Command line:
Get a list of VMs on a host using the command:
# vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms Vmid Name File Guest OS Version Annotation 32 Monitor [datastore1] Monitor/Monitor.vmx centos64Guest vmx-08 44 Mail [datastore1] Mail/Mail.vmx ubuntu64Guest vmx-08 58 WebHost [datastore1] WebHost/WebHost.vmx centos64Guest vmx-08 61 Plesk [datastore1] Plesk/Plesk.vmx centos64Guest vmx-08 62 Windows [datastore1] Windows/Windows.vmx windows8Server64Guest vmx-08
NOTE: The important fields will be the the VMID of your desired VM
Double check the power state of the VM:
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>
# vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate 62 Retrieved runtime info Powered off
Start
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>
# vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 62 Powering on VM: