The API commands in the vCenter Server Appliance let you perform various administrative tasks in the vCenter Server Appliance. The API commands are provided by appliance management service in the vCenter Server Appliance. You can edit time synchronization settings, monitor processes and services, set up the SNMP settings, and so on.

Table 1. API Commands Available in the vCenter Server Appliance
API Command Description
com.vmware.appliance.health.applmgmt.get Get the health of the applmgmt service.
com.vmware.appliance.health.databasestorage.get Get the health of the database storage.
com.vmware.appliance.health.load.get Get the CPU load health.
com.vmware.appliance.health.mem.get Get the memory health.
com.vmware.appliance.health.softwarepackages.get Get the health of the system update.
com.vmware.appliance.health.storage.get Get the overall storage health.
com.vmware.appliance.health.swap.get Get the swap health.
com.vmware.appliance.health.system.get Get the system health.
com.vmware.appliance.health.system.lastcheck Get the time of the last check of the health status.
com.vmware.appliance.monitoring.list Get a list of monitored items.
com.vmware.appliance.monitoring.get Get monitored item information.
com.vmware.appliance.monitoring.query Query a range of values for the monitored items.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.job.cancel Cancel a backup job by id.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.job.create Start a backup job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.job.get Get a status of the backup job by id.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.job.list Get a list of backup jobs.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.parts.list Get a list of the vCenter Server components that can be included in a backup job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.parts.get Get detailed info for a backup part.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.validate Validate parameters for a backup job without starting the job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.restore.job.cancel Cancel a restore job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.restore.job.create Start a restore job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.restore.job.get Get status of the restore job.
com.vmware.appliance.recovery.restore.validate Validate restore parameters of a restore job without starting the job.
com.vmware.appliance.system.uptime.get Gets the system uptime.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.consolecli.get Get information about the state of the console-based controlled CLI (TTY1).
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.consolecli.set Set enabled state of console-based controlled CLI (TTY1).
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.dcui.get Get information about the state of the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI TTY2).
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.dcui.set Set enabled state of the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI TTY2).
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.shell.get Get information about the state of Bash shell, that is, access to Bash shell from within the controlled CLI.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.shell.set Set enabled state of Bash shell, that is, access to Bash shell from within the controlled CLI.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.ssh.get Get enabled state of the SSH-based controlled CLI.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.access.ssh.set Set enabled state of the SSH-based controlled CLI.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.add Create a new local user account.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.delete Delete a local user account.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.get Get the local user account information.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.list List local user accounts.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.password.update Update the password of a logged in user or of the user that you specify in the username parameter.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.localaccounts.user.set Update local user account properties, such as role, full name, enabled status, and password.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.disable Stop an enabled SNMP agent.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.enable Start a disabled SNMP agent.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.get Return an SNMP agent configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.hash Generate localized keys for secure SNMPv3 communications.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.limits Get SNMP limits information.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.reset Restore settings to factory defaults.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.set Set SNMP configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.monitoring.snmp.stats Generate diagnostics report for SNMP agent.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.domains.add Add domains to DNS search domains.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.domains.list Get a list of DNS search domains.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.domains.set Set DNS search domains.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.hostname.get Get the Fully Qualified Domain Name.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.hostname.set Set the Fully Qualified Domain Name.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.servers.add Add a DNS server. This method fails if you use DHCP.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.servers.get Get DNS server configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.servers.set Set the DNS server configuration. If the host is configured to acquire DNS servers and host name by using DHCP, a DHCP refresh is forced.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.firewall.addr.inbound.add Add a firewall rule to allow or deny access from an incoming IP address.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.firewall.addr.inbound.delete Delete a specific rule at a given position or delete all rules.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.firewall.addr.inbound.list Get an ordered list of inbound IP addresses that are allowed or denied by a firewall rule.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.interfaces.get Get information about a particular network interface.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.interfaces.list Get a list of available network interfaces, including interfaces that are not yet configured.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv4.get Get IPv4 network configuration for interfaces.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv4.list Get IPv4 network configuration for all configured interfaces.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv4.renew Renew IPv4 network configuration on interfaces. If the interface is configured to use DHCP for IP address assignment, the lease of the interface is renewed.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv4.set Set IPv4 network configuration for an interface.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv6.get Get IPv6 network configuration for interfaces.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv6.list Get IPv6 network configuration for all configured interfaces.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.ipv6.set Set IPv6 network configuration for an interface.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.routes.add Add static routing rules. A destination/prefix of the type 0.0.0.0/0 (for IPv4) or ::/0 (for IPv6) refers to the default gateway.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.routes.delete Delete static routing rules.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.routes.list Get routing table. A destination/prefix of the type 0.0.0.0/0 (for IPv4) or ::/0 (for IPv6) refers to the default gateway.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.proxy.delete Delete the proxy configuration for a protocol that you provide as input.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.proxy.get Get proxy configuration information for all protocols.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.proxy.set Set proxy configuration for a protocol that you provide as input.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.ntp.get Get NTP configuration settings. If you run the tymesync.get command, you can retrieve the current time synchronization method (by using NTP or VMware Tools). The ntp.get command always returns the NTP server information, even when the time synchronization method is not set to NTP. If time synchronization method is not set by using NTP, the NTP status is displayed as down.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.ntp.server.add Add NTP servers. This command adds NTP servers to the configuration. If the time synchronization is NTP-based, then NTP daemon is restarted to reload the new NTP servers. Otherwise, this command just adds servers to the NTP configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.ntp.server.delete Delete NTP servers. This command deletes NTP servers from the configuration. If the time synchronization mode is NTP-based, the NTP daemon is restarted to reload the new NTP configuration. Otherwise, this command just deletes servers from the NTP configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.ntp.server.set Set NTP servers. This command deletes old NTP servers from the configuration and sets the input NTP servers in the configuration. If the time synchronization is set by using NTP, the NTP daemon is restarted to reload the new NTP configuration. Otherwise, this command just replaces the servers in NTP configuration with the NTP servers that you provide as input.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.cpu.stats.get Get CPU statistics.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.load.health.get Get load health.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.load.stats.get Get load averages (over 1, 5, and 15-minute intervals).
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.mem.health.get Get memory health.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.mem.stats.get Get memory statistics.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.net.stats.get Get network statistics.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.net.stats.list Get network statistics for all interfaces that are up and running.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.processes.stats.list Get statistics on all processes.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.softwarepackages.health.get Get the health of the update component.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.storage.health.get Get storage health statistics.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.storage.stats.list Get storage statistics for each logical disk.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.swap.health.get Get swap health.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.swap.stats.get Get swap statistics.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.system.health.get Get the overall health of the system.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.resources.system.stats.get Get the system status.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.services.list Get the list of all known services.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.services.restart Restart a service.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.services.status.get Get the status of a service.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.services.stop Stop a service.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.storage.list Gets disk to partition mapping.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.storage.resize Resizes all partitions to 100 percent of disk size.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.time.get Gets system time.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.update.get Get the URL-based patching configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.update.set Set the URL-based patching configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.system.version.get Get the version of the appliance.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.timesync.get Get the time synchronization configuration.
com.vmware.appliance.version1.timesync.set Set the time synchronization configuration.