Useful vMA commands

NFS Storage

If you are connecting an NFS share to your ESX(i) server, use the command vicfg-nas

To see what NFS datastores are connected to a host, use

• vicfg-nas -h esxhostname/ip address -l
• e.g. vicfg-nas -h esx.test.com -l
  

To add a datastore to a host

• vicfg-nas -h ESXhostname/ip address -a "Datastore name" -o NFS Servername/ip address -s sharename
• vicfg-nas -h esx.test.com -a "NFS datastore" -o nfs.test.com -s /mnt/nfs
  

To delete a datastore from a host

• vicfg-nas -h ESXhostname/ip address -d "Datastore name"
• e.g. vicfg-nas -h esx.test.com -d "NFS datastore"

Virtual Machine vSwitch Configuration

To list vSwitches and portgroups use:

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -l
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -l

To create a vSwitch

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -a vSwitchname
  
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -a esxvSwitch
  

To delete a vSwitch

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -d vSwitchname
  
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -d esxvSwitch

To create a portgroup in a vSwitch

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -A portgroupname vSwitchname
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -A portgroup1 esxvSwitch

To configure a portgroup with a VLAN ID (this can't be done when the portgroup is created

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -v vlanid -p portgroupname vSwitchname
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -v 32 -p portgroup1 esxvSwitch

To delete a portgroup from a vSwitch

• vicfg-vswitch -h ESXhostname/ip address -D portgroupname
• e.g. vicfg-vswitch -h esx.test.com -D portgroup1

vmkernel vSwitch Configuration

The format is very similar to the vicfg-vswitch command
To list vmkernel portgroup details use:

• vicfg-vmknic -h ESXhostname/ip address -l
• e.g. vicfg-vmknic -h esx.test.com -l

To create a vmkernel portgroup (i.e. convert the portgroup from a Virtual Machine portgroup to a vmkernel portgroup)

• vicfg-vmknic -h ESXhostname/ip address -a -i ipaddress -n netmask -p portgroupname
  
• e.g. vicfg-vmknic -h esx.test.com -a -i 10.10.10.1 -n 255.255.255.0 -p portgroup1
  

To delete a vmkernel portgroup (i.e. convert it back to a Virtual Machine portgroup)

• vicfg-vmknic -h ESXhostname/ip address -d -p portgroupname
  
• e.g. vicfg-vmknic -h esx.test.com -d -p portgroup1

To enable a vmkernel portgroup for VMotion

• vicfg-vmknic -h ESXhostname/ip address -E -p portgroupname
  
• e.g. vicfg-vmknic -h esx.test.com -E -p portgroup1