Powering on a virtual machine from the command line when the host cannot be managed using vSphere Client

ESXi 5.x

1. List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>

   Note: The first column of the output shows the vmid.
    

2. Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>
    

3. Power-on the virtual machine with the command:

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>

ESXi 4.1

1. List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>

   Note: The first column of the output shows the vmid.
    

2. Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>
    

3. Power-on the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>

ESXi 4.0

1. List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>

   Note: The first column of the output shows the vmid.
    

2. Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>
    

3. Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>

ESX 4.0 and ESX 4.1

1. To list the path of all the virtual machines on the host:

    

   vmware-cmd -l
    

2. Get the state of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> getstate
    

3. Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> start

ESXi 3.5

1. List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>
    

2. Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>
    

3. Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>

ESX 3.5

1. To list the path of all the virtual machines on the host:

    

   vmware-cmd -l
    

2. Get the state of the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> getstate
    

3. Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    

   vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> start