Project moved under openSUSE umbrel 95FC la
Since now, all new commits will go there.
Lightweight tool for ESXi management from Linux box.
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VM creation and provisioning from
- ISO
- VMDK
- SUSE Studio
- PXE
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Cloning
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Snapshotting
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Virtual network management
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VM control through VNC
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Exporting to VMware Workstation/Player
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Nested virtualization enablement
It wraps and automates so called ESXi 'Tech Support Mode' which is effectively ssh server and number of special(poor documented) VMware management commands.
Currently it well tested with ESXi 4.0/4.1. It should also work with ESX, but it was minimally covered by testing.
Recent ESXi 5.0 support is also tested and implemented.
cat > ~/.suseviclientrc << EOF
esx_server="esxi.example.com"
studioserver="susestudio.com"
apiuser="your_user"
apikey="your_key"
EOF
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Create VM of 512MB RAM and 8GB disk with ISO attached, poweron, connect to VM console:
suseviclient.sh -c -n "ISO Example" -m 512 -d 8G --iso datastore1/path/to/image.iso Enter new VNC password: Repeat VNC password:
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List existing VMs
suseviclient.sh -l Powerstate VMID VM Label Config file ---------- ---- -------- ----------- Powered on 16 SLES4VMware 32bit [datastore1] SLES4VMware 32bit/SLES4VMware 32bit.vmx Powered on 32 SLES4VMware 64bit [datastore1] SLES4VMware 64bit/SLES4VMware 64bit.vmx Powered off 64 ISO Example [datastore1] ISO Example/ISO Example.vmx -
Power on VM
suseviclient.sh --poweron 64
Where 64 is VM id.
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Connect to VM console
suseviclient.sh --vnc 64
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Create VM from VMDK image( includes automated conversion of desktop vmdk to server version):
suseviclient.sh -c -n "VMDK Example" --vmdk datastore1/path/to/image.vmdk -
Create VM from SUSE Studio appliance
suseviclient.sh -c -n "Appliance Deployment" --studio $appliance_id -
Create VM from PXE
suseviclient.sh -c -n "PXE Example" -m 512 -d 5G
This will create blank VM with network attached. If PXE is enabled in your network it should be possible to perform a network boot after the VM is powered on.
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Create VM with nested virtualization capabilities, a.k.a. to test another hypervisor within ESXi( KVM works pretty good there!)
suseviclient.sh -c -n "Nested VM Example" --vmdk datastore1/path/to/image.vmdk --nested
--vmdk provided only for illustration: --nested will work with any provisioning type
For full list of possible options see
suseviclient.sh --help
Just download and put suseviclient.sh somewhere in the $PATH for you convenience.
Shell version of suseviclient introduces no dependencies except of bash, ssh and vncviewer which can be found on almost any Linux desktop.
On the ESXi server side you have to enable ssh access, see:
*http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003677 for ESXi 4.0 *http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1017910 for ESXi 4.1/5.0
It's recommended to upload your ssh key to the server to not to enter password each time as passing management command through client. The root fs on ESXi is not permanent storage, so it's recommended to put the key on some connected datastore and automate the key copy on next reboot.
Assuming that you have "datastore1" connected to ESXi server, do this
mkdir /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/.ssh/ and place your ssh key there
echo "cp -r /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/.ssh/ /" >> /etc/rc.local
That's it. It's all you need to start using suseviclient.
All .rb files are additional modules( like web interface) and will be described separately.
Web fronted is available with webfrontend.rb currently under initial development state but already functional.
It is built with
- Sinatra ( http://www.sinatrarb.com/ ) ruby framework ( so please '#gem install sinatra' if you want to try)
- NoVNC ( VNC client using HTML5 WebSockets, Canvas, http://kanaka.github.com/noVNC/ ) to allow access to VMs consoles.