You can start, reboot, stop, and suspend virtual machines by using vmware-cmd.

You must supply a value for the powerop_mode flag, which can be soft or hard.

Important: You must have the current version of VMware Tools installed and running in the guest operating system to use a soft power operation.
  • Soft power operations - When you specify soft as the powerop_mode value, the result of the call depends on the operation.
    Operation Result
    Stop vmware-cmd attempts to shut down the guest operating system and powers off the virtual machine.
    Reset vmware-cmd attempts to shut down the guest operating system and reboots the virtual machine.
    Suspend vmware-cmd attempts to run a script in the guest operating system before suspending the virtual machine.
  • Hard power operations - vmware-cmd immediately and unconditionally shuts down, resets, or suspends the virtual machine.

The following examples illustrate how to use vmware-cmd.

  • Start - Use the start option to power on a virtual machine or to resume a suspended virtual machine. The powerop_mode, either hard or soft, is required. 
    vmware-cmd -H <vc_system> -U <user> -P <password> --vihost <esx_host> /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmx start soft
  • Reset - When you reset the virtual machine with the soft powerop_mode, which is the default mode, the guest operating system is shut down before the reset.

    If VMware Tools is not currently installed on the virtual machine, you can perform only a hard reset operation.

    1. Check that VMware tools is installed so that you can reset the virtual machine with the default powerop_mode, which is soft. 
      vmware-cmd -H <vc_system> -U <user> -P <password> --vihost <esx_host> /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmx gettoolslastactive
      See Retrieving Virtual Machine Attributes.
    2. Use the reset option to shut down and restart the virtual machine. 
      vmware-cmd -H <vc_system> -U <user> -P <password> --vihost <esx_host> /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmx reset soft
  • Suspend - You have two options for suspending a virtual machine.
    • The suspend option with the hard powerop_mode unconditionally shuts down a virtual machine. 
      vmware-cmd -H <vc_system> -U <user> -P <password> --vihost <esx_host> /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmx suspend hard
    • The suspend option with the soft powerop_mode runs scripts that result in a graceful shut-down of the guest operating system and shuts down the virtual machine. VMware Tools must be installed for soft powerop_mode. 
      vmware-cmd -H <vc_system> -U <user> -P <password> --vihost <esx_host> /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmx suspend soft