You can run the esxtop utility using the ESXi Shell to communicate with the management interface of the ESXi host. You must have root user privileges.

Type the command, using the options you want:

esxtop [-h] [-v] [-b] [-s] [-a] [-c config file] [-R vm-support_dir_path]  [-d delay] [-n iterations]

The esxtop utility reads its default configuration from .esxtop50rc on the ESXi system. This configuration file consists of nine lines.

The first eight lines contain lowercase and uppercase letters to specify which fields appear in which order on the CPU, memory, storage adapter, storage device, virtual machine storage, network, interrupt, and CPU power panels. The letters correspond to the letters in the Fields or Order panels for the respective esxtop panel.

The ninth line contains information on the other options. Most important, if you saved a configuration in secure mode, you do not get an insecure esxtop without removing the s from the seventh line of your .esxtop50rc file. A number specifies the delay time between updates. As in interactive mode, typing c, m, d, u, v, n, I, or p determines the panel with which esxtop starts.

Note: Do not edit the .esxtop50rc file. Instead, select the fields and the order in a running esxtop process, make changes, and save this file using the W interactive command.