Basic command line

Ok, I need to start off with some basic command lines for basic operation of VMware Server over SSH or Telnet. This is important as I am administering VMware Server running on Ubuntu Linux. I am doing this remotely, sometimes over a datacard connection, but always away from the main terminal.

VMware provides command line utilities for this type of admin work, namely the vmware-cmd command.
The syntax for this is as follows: -

vmware-cmd [configuration file] [option]

Examples

Starting a virtual machine

To start an existing virtual machine you must know the path to the .vmx file that defines your desired virtual computer, the command line syntax is as follows: -

vmware-cmd /path_to_vm/vm_config_file.vmx start

Your virtual machine will now start up and you will be able to connect to it as usual.

Stopping a virtual machine

So you can also stop virtual machines from running, this is accomplished in much the same way as starting but the obvious difference is the use of the command stop in place of start as used previously.

vmware-cmd /path_to_vm/vm_config_file.vmx start

It is reasonably safe to say that this is not the best way to shutdown a virtual machine though as this is akin to pressing the power off switch, which is likely to cause problems with most modern operating systems. It would be far better to use the operating systems own shutdown mechanism and reserve the user of the stop command for unresponsive virtual machines.

Hello Virtualisation types...

Good morning (only just, a few minutes of morning remaining!), Welcome to the Virtualisation blog, this is the place where I have chosen to collate the hopefully soon to be vast amounts of Virtualisation hints and tips that I am wanting to discover (or in cases that I already have inside my head) for the benefit of... well... me! But also for you, assuming that "you" whoever "you" are has even found this page.

There may be better, more detailed information elsewhere, but this I am intending is to be simplified information, the sort of thing I can just look at and say, ah, yes, that makes sense, I am off to do that now.

As ever, if there are any glaring mistakes, please feel free to correct me. It's what I need.