Stand Alone ESXi: offline copy and register to inventory, answering "I Copied It" while first power on VM with command line.

Objectives:

personal memo

Refs:

Target System:

ESXi 6.7 (stand alone free licensed)

Operation:

Get VM ID

vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep -i <VM NAME>

Power Off VM (if needed)

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <VMID>

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.shutdown <VMID>

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <VMID>

Get file path

vim-cmd vmsvc/get.summary <VMID> | grep vmPathName

vim-cmd vmsvc/get.filelayout <VMID> | less

Create Target Folder

example

mkdir /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01

Copy medadata and config file

example

cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore2/centos7-test01
cp -p centos7-test01.vmsd /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/.
cp -p centos7-test01.vmxf /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/.
cp -p centos7-test01.vmx /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/.

Clone VMDK file

Use absolute path for each vmdk file paths.

example

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore2/centos7-test01/centos7-test01.vm
dk /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/centos7-test01.vmdk

output-example

Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/datastore2/centos7-test01/centos7-test01.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.

Rename

example

cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/
vmkfstools -E centos7-test01.vmdk rancher01.vmdk
cp centos7-test01.vmx rancher01.vmx

edit old name related lines

example

vi rancher01.vmx

if use sed

sed -i 's/<previous name>/<new name>/g' <new name>.vmx

Register VM to inventory

example

vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/rancher-server01/rancher01.vmx

stdout is VMID
if have some trouble, unregister

vim-cmd /vmsvc/unregister <VMID>

Power On VM

vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <VMID>
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <VMID>

prompt is waiting ...

Answer with command line

start another ssh session

vim-cmd vmsvc/message <VMID>
vim-cmd vmsvc/message <VMID> <MESSAGE ID> <ANSWER ID>

example

vim-cmd vmsvc/message 8

Virtual machine message 121402125:
This virtual machine might have been moved or copied. In order to configure certain management and networking features, VMware ESX needs to know if this virtual machine was moved or copied. If you don't know, answer "I Copied It".
   0. button.uuid.cancel (Cancel)
   1. button.uuid.movedTheVM (I Moved It)
   2. button.uuid.copiedTheVM (I Copied It) [default]

vim-cmd vmsvc/message 8 121402125 2

power.on prompt should return now

Get IP address from vmware tools

vim-cmd vmsvc/get.summary <VMID> | grep ipAddress