Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines
Contents
1. As of the VIX 1 10 release if you do not specify administrator login name and password vmrun prompts you for authentication information Also as of the VIX 1 10 release you do not need to specify leading https and trailing sdk with the h option Running VMware Server Remotely To set the host type for remote access to VMware Server 2 0 use the T option with h and other options vmrun T server h vm2 example com 443 u root p secretpw list To setthe host type for remote access to VMware Server 1 0 x use the mandatory T option the h option with the host name instead of the URL and the P option with the port number vmrun T serverl h vml example com P 443 u root p secretpw list Virtual Machine Run Reference 10 This section documents the syntax of commands in the vmrun utility Path to VMX File VMware stores virtual machines as a package that includes the virtual machine settings file vnname vmx and the virtual disks When required you must provide the complete path to the vmx file The vmtn file is similar for teams Here are examples of where the vmx file might be located W Datastore on an ESX ESXi host datastore1 Win XP Win XP vmx m VMware Server datastore storage1 Win XP Win XP vmx m Workstation for Windows path C Documents and Settings lt username gt My Documents My Virtual Machines Win XP Win XP vmx m Workstation for Linux path home lt username gt VirtualMachines Ubuntu Ubuntu2. vmrun stop C Documents and Settings lt user gt My Documents My Virtual Machines WinXP WinXP vinx On the remote ESX ESXi host with IP address 10 0 1 8 power on a virtual machine vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 8 u root p pass start datastore1 WinXP WinXP vmx If HTTPS service is not configured on port 443 specify the appropriate port after the colon vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 9 8333 u root p pass start datastore1 WinXP WinXP vmx On the remote ESX ESXi host with IP address 10 0 1 8 power off the virtual machine vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 8 u root p pass start datastore1 WinXP WinXP vmx VMware Inc 15 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 16 For vCenter Server installed on Windows Server the u user is usually Administrator not root vmrun T vc h 10 0 1 8 u Administrator p pass start datastore1 WinXP WinXP vmx Snapshot Commands Create a snapshot of a virtual machine with Workstation on a Linux host or VMware Fusion vmrun T ws snapshot path to vm Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx mySnapshot List snapshots on the virtual machine showing the one made in the previous command vmrun T ws listSnapshots path to vm Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx Total snapshots 1 mySnapshot Revert to the snapshot you made which suspends the virtual machine and restart to resume operation vmrun T ws revertToSnapshot path to vm Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx mySnapshot vmrun T ws start path to vm Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx Delete the snapshot
3. T ws setSharedFolderState UbuntuNUbuntu vmx lt sharedFolderName gt C Share readonly vmrun T ws removeSharedFolder UbuntuNUbuntu vmx lt sharedFolderName gt NOTE On Windows 7 and Vista only the Administrator account can use copyFileFromHostToGuest and deleteFileInGuest to write and delete files in C N and system folders or use createDirectoryInGuest and deleteDirectoryInGuest to modify system directories Regular users even those with administrator privilege cannot perform these operations Guest Variables and Environment From the host set a guest variable on two virtual machines vmrun writeVariable WindowsXP WindowsXP vmx guestVar vmstartdate 21April2011 vmrun writeVariable Ubuntul0 Ubuntu10 vmx guestVar vmstartdate 21April2011 On the guest operating systems read the guest variable that you just set vmware rpctool exe info get vmstartdate vmware rpctool info get vmstartdate From the host set a guest environment variable on a Linux virtual machines and verify by writing the environment variables into a temporary file vmrun writeVariable Ubuntui0 Ubuntu10 vmx guestEnv LD_LIBRARY_PATH usr local lib Guest user root Guest password vmrun runScriptInGuest Ubuntu10 Ubuntu10 vmx bin bash usr bin env gt tmp env out Guest user root Guest password No output comes to the host from runScriptInGuest so look at tmp env out on the guest VMware Inc 17 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 18
4. VMware Server does not support teams shared folders cloning or multiple snapshots When you try to create a second snapshot the UI asks you to overwrite your existing snapshot The record and replay commands were deprecated in Workstation 7 1 and removed from this release Setting Up vmrun The procedure for setting up vmrun varies based on the operating system of the client computer How to Get vmrun The vmrun utility installs with Workstation and VMware Fusion For use with remote product platforms you can obtain vmrun by installing the VIX standalone libraries available free of charge on the VMware download site Linux Setup To use the vmrun utility on Linux 1 Inacommand or terminal window type vmrun to see command line options 2 If this fails on an old Linux distribution as root or superuser edit the etc 1d so conf file add the following line with the default location of the VIX library save the file and run the ldconfig command usr lib vmware vix lib 8 VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines Windows Setup To use the vmrun utility on Windows 1 The vmrun utility is installed in one of these folders by default 32 bit systems C Program Files VMware VMware VIX 64 bit systems C Program Files x86 NVMwareNVMware VIX 2 IfVMware Workstation is already in your system Path this step is unnecessary because a copy of vmrun is installed there If not add the VIX folder location to your system
5. vmx m VMware Fusion for Mac OS X path Documents Virtual Machines localized Windows XP Home vmwarevm Windows XP Home vmx VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines Disabling Dialog Boxes With virtual machines that require user input through a dialog box the vmrun utility might time out and fail To disable dialog boxes insert the following line in the virtual machine configuration file vmx msg autoAnswer TRUE Syntax of vmrun Commands Table 2 lists vnrun commands and parameters according to their function Parameters are listed one per line Parameters enclosed in square brackets are optional The vertical bar indicates a keyword choice Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters Command Power Commands Description Parameters start Teams supported only on Workstation Starts a virtual machine vmx file or team vmtm file The default gui option starts the machine interactively which is required to display a VMware user interface The nogui option suppresses the user interface including the startup dialog box to allow noninteractive scripting path to vmx or vmtm file gt gui nogui stop Teams supported only on Workstation Stops a virtual machine vmx file or team vmtm file Use the soft option to power off the guest after running shutdown scripts Use the hard option to power off the guest without running scripts as if you pressed the power b
6. 11 unpause 11 R record and replay commands 8 register command 14 18 19 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 20 removeSharedFolder command 13 17 renameFilelnGuest command 13 reset command 11 15 revertToSnapshot command 12 16 runProgramInGuest command 12 16 runScriptInGuest command 12 16 S Server flags for 10 setSharedFolderState command 14 17 setup on Linux 8 setup on Mac OS 9 setup on Windows 9 snapshot command 11 16 snapshot commands 7 deleteSnapshot 12 listSnapshots 11 revertToSnapshot 12 snapshot 11 start command 11 15 stop command 11 15 suspend command 11 T technical support resources 5 U unpause command 11 unregister command 14 18 upgradevm command 14 V vCenter Server flags for 10 vmrun utility 7 VMware Fusion flags for 9 VMware Server flags for 10 VMware vSphere flags for 10 VMware Workstation flags for 9 VMX file specifying 10 VProbes commands 8 vprobeListGlobals 15 vprobeListProbes 15 vprobeLoad 15 vprobeLoadFile 15 vprobeReset 15 vprobeVersion 15 Ww Windows setup 9 Workstation flags for 9 writeVariable command 14 16 VMware Inc
7. On a Linux guest determine the IP address and set it in a guest variable ipaddr ifconfig eth grep inet addr vmware rpctool info set guestinfo ip ipaddr From the host retrieve the IP address that was just set on the guest vmrun readVariable Ubuntul0 Ubuntu10 vmx guestVar guestinfo ip Maintenance Commands List running virtual machines on Workstation vmrun T ws list Total running VMs 2 C Documents and Settings user My Documents My Virtual Machines Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx C Documents and Settings user My Documents My Virtual Machines Windows7 Windows7 vmx Prepare to install VMware Tools on VMware Fusion vmrun T fusion installTools RedHatEnt5 RedHatEnt5 vmx Register a new virtual machine installed on an ESX ESXi host vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 5 u root p pass register datastorel RHEL5 RHELS vmx Unregister an old virtual machine going out of service on an ESX ESXi host vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 5 u root p pass unregister datastorel RHEL3 RHEL3 vmx On vCenter Server the vmrun utility supports the same form of path to VMX specification as ESX ESXi hosts vmrun T vc h 10 0 1 9 u Administrator p pw register datastore1 RHELS RHEL5 vmx You cannot reach a virtual machine file through its resource pool or vApp VMware Inc Index A addSharedFolder command 13 17 C captureScreen command 14 clone command 14 command line flags 9 copyFileFromGuestToHost command 13 17 copyFi
8. activeWindow to finish This option is useful for interactive programs interactive The activeWindow option ensures that the Windows program name GUL is visible not minimized It has no effect on Linux p program arguments The interactive option forces interactive guest login It is useful for Vista and Windows 7 guests to make the program visible in the console window You must provide the full pathname of a program accessible to the guest Also provide full accessible pathnames for any files specified in the program arguments according to requirements of the program VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required runScriptInGuest Runs the specified command script in the guest path to vmx file gt operating system See runProgramInGuest for an explanation of options The interpreter path is the command that runs the script Provide the complete text of the script not a filename VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required noWait activeWindow interactive interpreter path lt script text gt listProcessesInGuest Lists all processes running in the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required path to vmx file gt killProcessInGuest Stops a specified process in the guest operating system path to vmx file gt VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required process ID The process ID can be any number listed after pid in
9. by specifying its name vmrun T ws deleteSnapshot path to vm Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx mySnapshot Running Guest Applications Most vmrun guest operations require VMware Tools to be installed on the guest operating system Start the command tool minimized on a Windows guest vmrun T ws gu user runProgramInGuest WinXPNWinXP vmx cmd exe Guest password pass Start the command tool on a Windows guest as an active window on the desktop vmrun T ws gu user runProgramInGuest WinXPNWinXP vmx activeWindow cmd exe Guest password pass Run a batch script file on a Windows guest with Perl as the script interpreter vmrun T ws gu user runScriptInGuest Win2k Win2k vmx C perl perl exe C script pl Guest password pass Run a batch script and keep running afterwards To use cmd exe on Windows you must specify the script interpreter as null vmrun T ws gu user gp pass runScriptInGuest WindowsXPNWindowsProfessionalXP vmx cmd exe k C Program Files Microsoft Visual StudioNNVCNNvcvarsall batN x86 Run a Bash shell script called runit on a Linux guest vmrun T ws gu user gp pass runScriptInGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx bin bash home lt user gt runit Start an X clock on a Linux guest this requires the display option to appear on the console vmrun gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest SUSE SUSE vmx usr bin xclock display 0 Run the same X clock command but return control back to the co
10. folders Description Modifies the writability state of a specified folder shared between the host and a guest virtual machine vmx file The share name is a mount point in the guest file system The path to folder is the exported directory on the host A shared folder can be made writable or read only Parameters path to vmx file gt share name path to folder on host writable readonly captureScreen Captures the screen of the virtual machine to a local file path to vmx file gt The specified output file on the host is in PNG format output path on host A valid guest login is required writeVariable Writes a variable to the virtual machine state or guest path to vmx file gt You can set either a non persistent guest variable guestVar guestVar a runtime configuration parameter as runtimeConfig stored in the vmx file or an environment variable guestEnv guestEnv in the guest operating system A guest variable names variable is a runtime only value that provides a simple way to pass runtime values in and out of the guest syanablevalies Environment variables require VMware Tools and valid guest login With Linux setting the guest environment also requires root login Provide the variable name and its value readVariable Reads a variable from the virtual machine state or guest lt path to vmx file gt You can get a guest variable a runtime configuration as stored in the vm
11. path On Windows 7 right click Computer click Properties Advanced System Settings Environment Variables in list of System Variables select Path click Edit With the right arrow key move the insertion point to the end of line add a semicolon add the full path of the folder where vmrun is located and click OK three times 3 Ina command window type vmrun to see command line options Mac OS X Setup To use the vmrun utility on Mac OS 1 Ina Terminal window add the VMware Fusion directory to your system path export PATH PATH Library Application Support VMware Fusion 2 Type vmrun to see command line options Specifying the VMware Product Platform The vmrun utility accepts option flags commands and parameters in the following syntax vmrun flags command parameters In the following syntax examples options enclosed in angle brackets indicate variables that you supply Encrypted Virtual Machines Encrypted virtual machines require a password for most operations vp password for encrypted virtual machine Guest Operations Guest operations require authentication by the guest operating system so their command descriptions in Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters on page 11 say that a valid guest login is required Use the following flags to specify the guest login gu userName in guest OS gp userPassword in guest OS As of the VIX 1 10 release you no longer need
12. the output of ListProcessesInGuest fileExistsInGuest Checks whether the specified file exists in the guest path to vmx file gt operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required path to file on guest VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters Continued Command Description Parameters renameFileInGuest Renames or moves a file in the guest operating system lt path to vmx file gt VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required lt original filename gt Specify the source name original before the destination lt new filename new deleteFileInGuest Deletes the give file from the guest operating system path to vmx file gt VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required For Vista and Windows 7 restrictions on this command see note in Guest to Host File Operations on page 17 path to file on guest directoryExistsInGuest Checks whether the specified directory exists in the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required path to vmx file gt directory path on guest createDirectoryInGuest Creates the specified directory in the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required For Vista and Windows 7 restrictions on this command see note in Guest to Host File Operations on page 17 path to vmx file gt directory path on guest listDir
13. to specify a guest user name and password or an encryption password If vmrun needs authentication information it prompts for it Running Hosted Platforms Locally On Workstation and VMware Fusion vmrun controls guest operating systems on the local host You do not need to specify a remote host name or port Use the T flag for Workstation Player and VMware Fusion vmrun T ws vmrun T player vmrun T fusion VMware Inc 9 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines NOTE On VMware Fusion Workstation and Player powering on a virtual machine with the default gui option requires a window system user interface to be running on the host ESX ESXi hosts vCenter Server and VMware Server do not impose this requirement Running VMware vSphere Remotely In VMware vSphere use the T flag to connect to an ESX ESXi host or to the vCenter Server vmrun T esx vmrun T vc VMware vSphere requires additional flags for connections to an ESX ESXi host or to vCenter Server VC h hostName or IPaddr gt P lt portNumber gt u adminLogin on ESX ESXi or VC p adminPassword on ESX ESXi or VC The port number defaults to 443 You can also specify the port number in the h option after the host name or IP address separated by a colon using standard URL syntax For example the following command lists all running virtual machines on a remote ESX ESXi host vmrun T esx h esx example com 8333 u root p secretpw list
14. Fusion and VMware vSphere ESX ESXi hosts managed by vCenter Server On these platforms the VIX API libraries and the vmrun utility are often the best way to automate guest operations Capabilities of vmrun are summarized in the sections below Power Commands Power commands control these virtual machine operations start power on stop power off reset reboot suspend but allow local work to resume pause without interrupting and unpause continue Workstation can group virtual machines in teams and apply power operations to the whole team Snapshot Commands A snapshot captures the state of a virtual machine at the time of the snapshot including all data on virtual disks You can then use the snapshot to revert the virtual machine to its previous state Snapshots are useful for data backup and as a placeholder for development and testing Snapshot commands list existing snapshots of a virtual machine create a snapshot delete a snapshot and revert a virtual machine to its state at the time of a snapshot VMware Fusion supports snapshots in a line only VMware Server limits each virtual machine to one snapshot Guest Operating System Commands You can use the vmrun utility to interact with a guest operating system in the following ways m Runanexecutable program in the guest operating system or run an interpreted script that you provide VMware Inc 7 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines W Check if a file or
15. Unpause supported only on Workstation Resumes operation of a virtual machine vmx file from where you paused replay or normal operation path to vmx file gt Snapshot Commands listSnapshots Lists all snapshots in a virtual machine vmx file path to vmx file gt The showtree option displays snapshots in tree format showtree with children indented under their parent snapshot Creates a snapshot of a virtual machine vmx file For path to vmx file gt VMware Server does not support multiple snapshots VMware Fusion does not support snapshot trees products that support multiple snapshots you must provide the snapshot name Because the forward slash defines pathnames do not use the slash character in a snapshot name because that makes it difficult to specify the snapshot path later snapshot name VMware Inc 11 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 12 Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters Continued Command deleteSnapshot VMware Server always deletes the root snapshot Description Removes a snapshot from a virtual machine vmx file For products that support multiple snapshots you must provide the snapshot name The virtual machine must be powered off or suspended If the snapshot has children they become children of the deleted snapshot s parent and subsequent snapshots continue as before from the end of the chain The andDeleteChildren opti
16. Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines VMware vSphere 5 0 VMware Player 4 0 and Workstation 8 0 VMware Fusion 4 0 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the documentis replaced by a new edition To check for more recent editions of this document see http www vmware com support pubs EN 000536 00 vmware Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines You can find the most up to date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at http www vmware com support The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates If you have comments about this documentation submit your feedback to docfeedback vmware com Copyright 2008 2011 VMware Inc All rights reserved This product is protected by U S and international copyright and intellectual property laws VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http www vmware com go patents VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware Inc in the United States and or other jurisdictions All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies VMware Inc 3401 Hillview Ave Palo Alto CA 94304 www vmware com 2 VMware Inc Contents About This Book 5 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 7 About the vmrun Utility 7 Power Commands 7 Snapshot Commands 7 Guest Operating System Commands 7 Maintenance Commands 8 VProbes Commands 8 Limitatio
17. directory exists in the guest delete a file or directory rename a file list files or create a new directory m Copy a file from the host to the guest or from the guest to the host m Add a shared folder from the host make a shared folder writable in the guest or remove a shared folder W Capture a screen image from the guest Workstation and VMware Fusion only m List the processes running in the guest operating system or end a process with permission m Read or write a variable in the guest operating system s environment or virtual machine state The timeout wait for VMware Tools is five minutes for all guest related commands Maintenance Commands This category includes commands to list all running virtual machines upgrade the virtual machine hardware version and install VMware Tools in the guest operating system Additionally except on VMware Server you can clone a virtual machine image to another virtual machine On VMware vSphere and VMware Server you can register and unregister virtual machines VProbes Commands On Workstation and Fusion vmrun can interact with VProbes a facility for instrumenting a powered on guest operating system its processes and the virtualization layer See the VProbes Programming Reference for details Limitations VMware Fusion does not support snapshot trees VMware Player does not support pause and unpause snapshot operations virtual machine cloning or virtual hardware upgrade
18. ectoryInGuest Lists contents of the specified directory in the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required path to vmx file gt directory path on guest deleteDirectoryInGuest Deletes the specified directory from the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required For Vista and Windows 7 restrictions on this command see note in Guest to Host File Operations on page 17 path to vmx file gt directory path on guest copyFileFromHostToGuest Copies a file from the host to the guest operating system VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required Specify the source file host before the destination file guest For Vista and Windows 7 restrictions on this command see note in Guest to Host File Operations on page 17 path to vmx file gt file path on host file path in guest copyFileFromGuestToHost Copies a file from the guest operating system to the host VMware Tools and a valid guest login are required Specify the source file guest before the destination file host path to vmx file gt tile path in guest file path on host enableSharedFolders VMware vSphere and VMware Server do not support shared folders Allows the guest virtual machine specified by vmx file to share folders with its host After enabling run addSharedFolder to specify each host folder to share The optional runtime ar
19. gument means to share folders only until the virtual machine is powered off Otherwise the setting persists at next power on path to vmx file gt runtime disableSharedFolders VMware vSphere and VMware Server do not support shared folders Stops the guest virtual machine specified by vmx file from sharing folders with its host The optional runtime argument means to stop sharing folders only until the virtual machine is powered off Otherwise the setting persists at next power on path to vmx file gt runtime addSharedFolder VMware vSphere and VMware Server do not support shared folders Adds a folder to be shared between the host and guest The share name is a mount point in the guest file system The path to folder is the exported directory on the host On Windows guests there might be a delay before shared folders are visible to the InGuest commands path to vmx file gt share name path to folder on host removeSharedFolder VMware vSphere and VMware Server do not support shared folders Removes the guest virtual machine s access to a shared folder on the host The share name is a mount point in the guest file system path to vmx file gt share name VMware Inc 13 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 14 Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters Continued Command setSharedFolderState VMware vSphere and VMware Server do not support shared
20. l support requests view your product and contract information and register your products go to http www vmware com support Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs go to http www vmware com support services VMware Professional Services VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands on labs case study examples and course materials designed to be used as on the job reference tools Courses are available onsite in the classroom and live online For onsite pilot programs and implementation best practices VMware Consulting Services provides offerings to help you assess plan build and manage your virtual environment To access information about education classes certification programs and consulting services go to http www vmware com services VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines This document contains the following sections m About the vmrun Utility on page 7 m Setting Up vmrun on page 8 m Specifying the VMware Product Platform on page 9 m Virtual Machine Run Reference on page 10 m Examples of Using vmrun on page 15 About the vmrun Utility You can use the vmrun command line utility to control virtual machines and automate guest operations on VMware virtual machines The vmrun utility is included with the VIX API libraries The vmrun utility runs on most VMware product platforms including Workstation Player VMware
21. leFromHostToGuest command 13 17 createDirectoryInGuest command 13 D deleteDirectoryInGuest command 13 deleteFilelnGuest command 13 deleteSnapshot command 12 16 deleteVM command 14 dialog boxes disabling 11 directoryExistsInGuest command 13 disableSharedFolders command 13 E enableSharedFolders 13 ESX ESXi hosts flags for 10 F fileExistsInGuest command 12 flags on command line 9 Fusion flags for 9 G guest operations 7 addSharedFolder 13 captureScreen 14 copyFileFromGuestToHost 13 copyFileFromHostToGuest 13 createDirectoryInGuest 13 deleteDirectorylnGuest 13 deleteFilelnGuest 13 directoryExistsInGuest 13 disableSharedFolders 13 enableSharedFolders 13 fileExistsinGuest 12 killProcessInGuest 12 listDirectoryInGuest 13 listProcessesInGuest 12 readVariable 14 removeSharedFolder 13 VMware Inc renameFilelnGuest 13 runProgramInGuest 12 runScriptInGuest 12 setSharedFolderState 14 user name and password 9 writeVariable 14 installTools command 14 18 K killProcessInGuest command 12 17 L Linux setup 8 list command 14 18 listDirectorylnGuest command 13 listProcessesInGuest command 12 17 listRegisteredVM command 14 listSnapshots command 11 16 M Mac OS setup 9 maintenance commands 8 clone 14 deleteVM 14 installTools 14 list 14 listRegisteredVM 14 register 14 unregister 14 upgradevm 14 P path to VMX file 10 pause command 11 power commands 7 pause 11 reset 11 start 11 stop 11 suspend
22. mat depends on the product For ESX ESXi datastore1 vm vm vmx starting with the datastore is typical path to vmx file gt listRegisteredVM Lists all registered virtual machines None deleteVM Removes the specified virtual machine path to vmx file gt clone Creates a copy of the virtual machine and guest Provide path to vmx file gt Cloning not supported on VMware Server or on VMware Fusion both the source and the destination vmx file pathname You can create either a full clone or a linked clone To create the clone from a snapshot rather than from the current virtual machine state specify a snapshot name destination vmx file path full linked snapshot name VProbes Commands VProbes permitted only on Workstation and VMware Fusion VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines Table 2 vmrun Commands and Parameters Continued Command Description Parameters vprobeVersion Shows the VProbes version on the virtual machine path to vmx file gt vprobeLoad Loads a VP script onto the virtual machine path to vmx file gt lt text of the VP script gt vprobeLoadFile Loads a VP script file onto the virtual machine path to vmx file gt lt path to VP script gt vprobeReset Disables all VProbes on the virtual machine path to vmx file gt vprobeListProbes Lists active VProbes on the virtual machine path to vmx file gt
23. ns 8 Setting Up vmrun 8 How to Get vmrun 8 LinuxSetup 8 WindowsSetup 9 MacOS XSetup 9 Specifying the VMware Product Platform 9 Encrypted Virtual Machines 9 Guest Operations 9 Running Hosted Platforms Locally 9 Running VMware vSphere Remotely 10 Running VMware Server Remotely 10 Virtual Machine Run Reference 10 Path to VMX File 10 Disabling Dialog Boxes 11 Syntax of vmrun Commands 11 Examples of Using vmrun 15 Reboot Commands 15 Power Commands 15 Snapshot Commands 16 Running Guest Applications 16 Guest to Host File Operations 17 Guest Variables and Environment 17 Maintenance Commands 18 Index 19 VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines 4 VMware Inc About This Book This manual Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines documents the vmrun utility which helps you manage a collection of virtual machines on a VMware host Revision History This book is revised with each release of the product or when necessary A revised version can contain minor or major changes Table 1 summarizes the significant changes in each version of this guide Table 1 Revision History Revision Description 2011 04 21 For the VIX API 1 11 and 1 12 releases 2010 07 19 For the VIX API 1 10 release which supported vSphere 4 1 Workstation 7 1 and Fusion 3 1 2009 10 20 For the VIX API 1 8 release which supported VMware Workstation 7 0 Player 3 0 and VMware Fusion 3 0 2009 09 09 For the VIX API 17 release which pr
24. nsole immediately vmrun gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest SUSE SUSE vmx noWait usr bin xclock display 0 New versions of Firefox support the display flag from X11 so the option looks a bit different vmrun gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx usr bin firefox display 0 For commands that require an environment variable you can set it first or export it for multiple commands vmrun gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest SUSE SUSE vmx DISPLAY 0 usr bin salesgui vmrun gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest SUSE SUSE vmx export REL 7 opt cmd1 opt cmd2 Setting the guest environment with guestEnv requires root permission on Linux because the change affects subsequent commands issued by other users vmrun T ws gu root gp lt rootpass gt writeVariable SUSE SUSE vmx guestEnv SRC tmp example com 1666 VMware Inc Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines List processes in a Linux guest and end the process numbered 8192 vmrun T ws gu lt user gt gp pass listProcessesInGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx vmrun T ws gu user gp pass killProcessInGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx 8192 Run a Perl script on a Linux guest to remove DOS style carriage returns from a file vmrun T ws gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx usr bin perl e open FILE gt tmp unix txt while lt gt 1 s r n n print FILET tmp dos txt Run a Perl script on a Windows gue
25. on deletes the specified snapshot and its children recursively See revertToSnapshot for solutions to name conflicts Parameters path to vmx file gt snapshot name andDeleteChildren revertToSnapshot VMware Server always reverts to the root snapshot Sets the virtual machine to its state at snapshot time However if the virtual machine was powered on at the time of the snapshot vmrun reverts it to suspended state If a snapshot has a unique name within a virtual machine revert to that snapshot by specifying the path to the virtual machine s configuration file and the unique snapshot name If several snapshots have the same name specify the snapshot by including a full pathname for the snapshot A pathname is a series of snapshot names separated by forward slash characters Each name specifies a new snapshot in the tree For example the pathname Snap1 Snap2 identifies a snapshot named Snap2 that was taken from the state of a snapshot named Snap1 path to vmx file gt snapshot name or path to vmx file gt lt snap1 snap2 snapN gt Guest Operating System Commands The timeout wait for VMware Tools is five minutes for all guest related commands runProgramInGuest Runs a specified program in the guest operating system lt path to vmx file gt The noWait option returns a prompt immediately after noWait the program starts in the guest rather than waiting for it
26. ovided support for ESX ESXi hosts and VMware vSphere 4 2008 12 31 New information about null interpreter for RunScriptInGuest on Windows 2008 08 15 More examples for VMware Server 2 0 RC2 and Workstation 6 5 RC 2008 07 24 Initial release including support for VMware Fusion on Intel based Macintosh OS X hosts 2008 06 23 Initial draft for the VMware Server 2 0 RC1 and Workstation 6 5 Beta2 releases Intended Audience This book is intended for developers and system administrators who want to control guest virtual machines on various VMware product platforms Supported platforms include VMware Workstation VMware Player VMware Fusion and VMware vSphere ESX ESXi hosts with vCenter Server VMware Technical Publications Glossary VMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you For definitions of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation go to http www vmware com support pubs Document Feedback VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation Send your feedback to docfeedbackevmware com Technical Support and Education Resources The following sections describe the technical support resources available to you To access the current versions of other VMware books go to http www vmware com support pubs VMware Inc 5 Using vmrun to Control Virtual Machines Online and Telephone Support To use online support to submit technica
27. st to insert DOS style carriage returns in a file vmrun T ws gu user gp pass runProgramInGuest WinXPNWinXP vmx C NcygwinNbinNperl exe e open FILE gt C dos txt while lt gt s n r n print FILE C Nunix txt Run a program in a Linux virtual machine on an ESX ESXi host vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 8 u root p pass gu user gp lt userpass gt runProgramInGuest datastore1 RHEL4 RHEL4 vmx usr X11R6 bin xclock display 0 Guest to Host File Operations To copy a file from the host to a guest the user must have write permission on the destination vmrun gu user gp pass copyFileFromHostToGuest Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx C Temp img db tmp img db To copy a file from a guest to the host the user must have read permission on the source file vmrun gu user gp pass copyFileFromGuestToHost UbuntuNUbuntu vmx home lt user gt addr addr txt Before sharing folders you must enable them with the enabledSharedFolders command or by selecting VM gt Settings gt Options gt Shared Folders gt Enabled in the user interface On Linux guests the mnt hgfs directory is available for sharing but you can use a different directory for shared folders To share a folder on a Windows host with a particular Linux guest vmrun T ws addSharedFolder Ubuntu Ubuntu vmx lt sharedFolderName gt C Share Shared folders are writable by default To make a shared folder read only or to delete the shared folder vmrun
28. utton The default is to use the powerType value specified in the vmx file if present path to vmx or vmtm file gt hard soft reset Teams supported only on Workstation Resets a virtual machine vmx file or team vmtm file Use the soft option to run shutdown scripts before rebooting the guest Use the hard option to reboot the guest without running scripts as if you pressed the reset button The default is to use the powerType value specified in the vmx file if present path to vmx or vmtm file gt hard soft suspend Teams supported only on Workstation Suspends a virtual machine vmx file or team vmtm without shutting down so local work can resume later The soft option suspends the guest after running system scripts On Windows guests these scripts release the IP address On Linux guests the scripts suspend networking The hard option suspends the guest without running the scripts The default is to use the powerType value specified in the vmx file if present To resume virtual machine operation after suspend use the start command On Windows the IP address is retrieved On Linux networking is restarted path to vmx or vmtm file gt hard soft pause Pause supported only on Workstation Pauses a virtual machine vmx file You can use this either to pause replay or to pause normal operation path to vmx file gt unpause
29. vprobeListGlobals Lists VProbes global variables on the virtual machine path to vmx file gt Examples of Using vmrun The following command line examples work on Workstation T ws VMware Fusion T fusion or VMware ESX ESXi hosts T esx You can derive the guest operating system type in examples by distinguishing for Linux and for Windows Reboot Commands Reboot a virtual machine running on Workstation for Linux vmrun T ws reset path to vm RHEL4 RHEL4 vmx soft Reboot a virtual machine running on Workstation for Windows cd C Documents and Settings lt user gt My Documents My Virtual Machines vmrun T ws reset WindowsXP WindowsxXP vmx soft Reboot a virtual machine running on VMware Fusion vmrun T fusion reset Documents VirtualMachines localized WindowsXP vnwarevm WindowsXP vmx soft Reboot a virtual machine running on an ESX ESXi host vmrun T esx h 10 0 1 8 u root reset datastore1 WinXP WinXP vmx soft Host password pass Power Commands Power on a virtual machine with Workstation on a Windows host vmrun start C Documents and Settings lt user gt My Documents My Virtual Machines WinXP WinXP vmx This error message following this command indicates that the VIX package you installed does not support VMware Server vmrun T server start My Virtual Machines WinXP WinXP vmx Error The specified service provider was not found Power off a virtual machine with Workstation on a Windows host
30. x file or environment variables in the guest operating system Reading the guestEnv requires a valid guest login See above for a description of variable types guestVar runtimeConfig guestEnv lt variable name gt Maintenance Commands list Lists all running virtual machines None upgradevm Upgrades a virtual machine to the current version of virtual hardware Has no effect if the virtual hardware version is the most recent supported lt path to vmx file gt installTools Prepares to install VMware Tools in the guest operating system In Windows guests with autorun enabled the VMware Tools installer starts by itself In Linux guests without autorun this command connects the virtual CD ROM drive to the VMware Tools ISO image suitable for the guest but the installer does not start You must complete the installation with additional manual steps as described in the product documentation lt path to vmx file gt register Registration not supported on Workstation or on VMware Fusion Registers the specified virtual machine adding it to the host s inventory Path format depends on the product For ESX ESXi hosts datastore1 vm vm vmx starting with the datastore is typical path to vmx file gt unregister Registration not supported on Workstation or on VMware Fusion Unregisters the specified virtual machine removing it from the host s inventory Path for
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