PowerShell | PowerCLI & ESXCLI
Managing and maintaining a huge VMware environment is always associated with a lot of effort… if you don’t use automation tools 😉
By automation tools I am thinking about PowerShell, the Vmware Module PowerCLI and the native CLI interface from vSphere Hosts ESXCLI.
So what’s the difference?
PowerCLI is a PowerShell based tool from VMware itself, it can be downloaded and installed easily from PowerShell -> Check my Post: PowerShell | VMware Module The purpose is for managing and automating vSphere Environment tasks. This could be for example adding new VLANs to all ESXI Hosts in bulk. Or to take create VMs which pre defined specs in bulk etc. The cool think about PowerCLI is, you can use ESXCLI within it!
For example:
$esxcli = get-esxcli -vmhost 'myhostname.fqdn'
$esxcli.hardware.platform.get().SerialNumber #here youll get the serialnumber of the esxi host 'myhostname'
So we learned what PowerCLI is and what it does. So why do need ESXCLI: ESXCLI is a cli interface for managing the ESXi host itself due ssh connection, for example with putty. So ESXCLI is for managing and maintaining at ESXi Host level! This also means, that ESXCLI is mainly focused on the host configuration for example to manage storage, network or hardware specific stuff.
It’s also important to know that you don’t need any environment preparations like PowerShell and the PowerCLI Module because you can directly access to your Host through ssh (for example by putty).
Both tools have their advantages and it depends on the scenario which one should be used. So let’s have a look at the benefits of both tools:
PowerCLI provides a wide range of cmdlets and functions, leveraging the vSphere API. It enables automation, scalability, customization, integration with other tools, and extensive reporting capabilities. PowerCLI is well-suited for managing and automating the entire vSphere environment, including virtualization, configuration, and resource management tasks.
ESXCLI gives direct access to the ESXi host’s command line, allowing administrators to perform host-level tasks efficiently. It provides granular control over host-specific configurations and operations, making it useful for managing and troubleshooting the ESXi host.
As an PowerShell fan I am always trying to cover things up within PowerShell, because once you got your preparations done, you can do all the cool stuff from ESXCLI within PowerShell.
Edit: If the ESXCLI service is disabled on the host, you won’t be able to execute “esxcli” commands within PowerCLI. However, you can still utilize PowerCLI cmdlets and functions to manage and automate various aspects of your vSphere environment, including virtual machines, networking, storage, and more, as long as you have the necessary access and permissions.
Cheers!