Determining the amount of memory installed from the ESXi command line (2005821)

Purpose

This article provides a command to determine the amount of memory installed on an ESXi host.

Resolution

To determine the amount of memory installed on an ESXi host, run this command on the host ESXi host through an SSH session:

cim-diagnostic.sh > mem.out 

 

Where mem.out is the file in which the command output is stored.

After you have determined the amount of memory installed on the host, run this command to determine how much memory each slot of physical RAM is reporting.

less -i mem.out
To jump to the memory specific output, run this command from within the less session:

/CIM_Mem
The output appears similar to:

Dumping instances of CIM_Memory
Dumping instances of CIM_PhysicalMemory

OMC_PhysicalMemory.CreationClassName="OMC_PhysicalMemory",Tag="32.0"
Tag = 32.0
CreationClassName = OMC_PhysicalMemory
MaxMemorySpeed = (NULL)
IsSpeedInMhz = false
InterleavePosition = 255
PositionInRow = 255
TotalWidth = 32
Speed = (NULL)
SerialNumber = (NULL)
RemovalConditions = (NULL)
PartNumber = (NULL)
OperationalStatus = { 0, }
MemoryType = 2
Manufacturer = (NULL)
HealthState = (NULL)
FormFactor = 8
ElementName = RAM slot #0
Description = RAM slot #0
DataWidth = 32
Caption = RAM slot #0
Capacity = 2147483648
Note: The capacity of the RAM is in bytes.

Alternate:

#cim-diagnostic.sh | grep -i capacity  will return capacity.

Powering on a virtual machine from the command line when the host cannot be managed using vSphere Client (1038043)

Purpose

This article provides steps to power on virtual machines from the command line (either through the ESX host console or through the RCLI/vSphere CLI) if the host cannot be managed from vCenter Server or from vSphere Client.

Resolution

Note: The steps in this article require root access to the host, either at the physical console or using SSH. For more information on enabling root access, see:

• Enabling root SSH login on an ESX host (8375637)
• Tech Support Mode for Emergency Support (1003677) (for ESXi 3.5 and 4.0)
• Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 (1017910)

ESXi 5.x

To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

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>

Convert a virtual machine from VMware workstation to ESXi (vSphere)

VMware Workstation is a great product, but there will often be times where you need to move up to the next level, and start using VMware ESXi or vSphere. Thankfully VMware have a software program that makes the transition process painless. The VMware vCenter Converter provides the ability to convert between an existing virtual machine image, a physical PC, or a hard disk image. The converter is compatable with virtual machine images created with VMware Workstation, VMware Infrustructure, Microsoft Virtual PC, Parallels, Acronis True Image, Symantec LiveState and more.

VMware vCenter Converter is available as a free download from the VMware website, but you do need to register to be able to access it.

It can be downloaded from https://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

This guide will step through the process of converting an existing VMware Workstation virtual image of Windows 2008 server, to a ESXi 4 server. It assumes you have downloaded and installed the VMware converter.

Start by loading the VMware Converter application.

The main screen will look similar to the image below.