Recently I noticed that a manual man() page for vmrun utility in Linux doesn’t exist. Instead of that Vmware decided add the help when you run vmrun command without any parameters. Therefore for a reference purposes the output is shown below it has been captured under xbuntu 9.10 and vmware server 2.0.2.
vmrun version 2.0.2 build-203138
Usage: vmrun [AUTHENTICATION-FLAGS] COMMAND [PARAMETERS]
AUTHENTICATION-FLAGS
--------------------
These must appear before the command and any command parameters.
-h (not needed for Workstation)
-P (not needed for Workstation)
-T (ws|server|server1)
for example, use '-T server' for Server 2.0
use '-T server1' for Server 1.0
-u (not needed for Workstation)
-p
(not needed for Workstation)
-gu
-gp
POWER COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
-------------- ---------- -----------
start Path to vmx file Start a VM
[gui|nogui]
stop Path to vmx file Stop a VM
[hard|soft]
reset Path to vmx file Reset a VM
[hard|soft]
suspend Path to vmx file Suspend a VM
[hard|soft]
pause Path to vmx file Pause a VM
unpause Path to vmx file Unpause a VM
SNAPSHOT COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
----------------- ---------- -----------
snapshot Path to vmx file Create a snapshot of a VM
Snapshot name
deleteSnapshot Path to vmx file Remove a snapshot from a VM
Snapshot name
revertToSnapshot Path to vmx file Set VM state to a snapshot
Snapshot name
RECORD/REPLAY COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
---------------------- ---------- -----------
beginRecording Path to vmx file Begin recording a VM
Snapshot name
endRecording Path to vmx file End recording a VM
beginReplay Path to vmx file Begin replaying a VM
Snapshot name
endReplay Path to vmx file End replaying a VM
GUEST OS COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
----------------- ---------- -----------
runProgramInGuest Path to vmx file Run a program in Guest OS
[-noWait]
[-activeWindow]
[-interactive]
Complete-Path-To-Program
[Program arguments]
fileExistsInGuest Path to vmx file Check if a file exists in Guest OS
Path to file in guest
setSharedFolderState Path to vmx file Modify a Host-Guest shared folder
Share name
Host path
writable | readonly
addSharedFolder Path to vmx file Add a Host-Guest shared folder
Share name
New host path
removeSharedFolder Path to vmx file Remove a Host-Guest shared folder
Share name
listProcessesInGuest Path to vmx file List running processes in Guest OS
killProcessInGuest Path to vmx file Kill a process in Guest OS
process id
runScriptInGuest Path to vmx file Run a script in Guest OS
Interpreter path
script_text
deleteFileInGuest Path to vmx file Delete a file in Guest OS
Path in guest
createDirectoryInGuest Path to vmx file Create a directory in Guest OS
Directory path in guest
deleteDirectoryInGuest Path to vmx file Delete a directory in Guest OS
Directory path in guest
listDirectoryInGuest Path to vmx file List a directory in Guest OS
Directory path in guest
copyFileFromHostToGuest Path to vmx file Copy a file from host OS to guest
OS
Path on host
Path in guest
copyFileFromGuestToHost Path to vmx file Copy a file from guest OS to host
OS
Path in guest
Path on host
renameFileInGuest Path to vmx file Rename a file in Guest OS
Original name
New name
captureScreen Path to vmx file Capture the screen of the VM to a
local file
Path on host
writeVariable Path to vmx file Write a variable in the VM state
[runtimeConfig|guestEnv]
variable name
variable value
readVariable Path to vmx file Read a variable in the VM state
[runtimeConfig|guestEnv]
variable name
VPROBE COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
--------------- ---------- -----------
vprobeVersion Path to vmx file List VP version
vprobeLoad Path to vmx file Load VP script
'VP script text'
vprobeReset Path to vmx file Disable all vprobes
vprobeListProbes Path to vmx file List probes
vprobeListGlobals Path to vmx file List global variables
GENERAL COMMANDS PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
---------------- ---------- -----------
list List all running VMs
upgradevm Path to vmx file Upgrade VM file format, virtual hw
installtools Path to vmx file Install Tools in Guest
register Path to vmx file Register a VM
unregister Path to vmx file Unregister a VM
listRegisteredVM List registered VMs
clone Path to vmx file Create a copy of the VM
Path to destination vmx file
full|linked
[Snapshot name]
Examples:
Starting a virtual machine with Workstation on a Windows host
vmrun -T ws start "c:\my VMs\myVM.vmx"
Stopping a virtual machine with Server on a linux host
vmrun -T server -h https://myHost.com/sdk -u hostUser -p hostPassword stop "[
storage1] vm/myVM.vmx"
Running a program in a virtual machine with Workstation on a Windows host with W
indows guest
vmrun -T ws -gu guestUser -gp guestPassword runProgramInGuest "c:\my VMs\myVM
.vmx" "c:\Program Files\myProgram.exe"
Running a program in a virtual machine with Server on a linux host with linux gu
est
vmrun -T server -h https://myHost.com/sdk -u hostUser -p hostPassword -gu gue
stUser -gp guestPassword runProgramInGuest "[storage1] vm/myVM.vmx" /usr/bin/X11
/xclock -display :0
Creating a snapshot of a virtual machine with Workstation on a Windows host
vmrun -T ws snapshot "c:\my VMs\myVM.vmx" mySnapshot
Reverting to a snapshot with Workstation on a Windows host
vmrun -T ws revertToSnapshot "c:\my VMs\myVM.vmx" mySnapshot
Deleting a snapshot with Workstation on a Windows host
vmrun -T ws deleteSnapshot "c:\my VMs\myVM.vmx" mySnapshot
This is how I obtain a list of registered (installed) virtual machines (guests OS) on my host:
piotr@xbuntu-host:~$ vmrun -T server -h https://xbuntu-host:8333/sdk -u piotr -p mypassword listRegisteredVM Total registered VMs: 1 [standard] Virtual Machine/Virtual Machine.vmx