I need to document which services and virtual machines are running across our VMware environment. The setup includes two rack servers and one tower server that I can physically access. Our RMM tool may not show which virtual machines are hosted on which physical servers. When I connect a monitor and keyboard, I only see the ESXi version screen rather than a normal login prompt. I have the root passwords for the ESXi hosts, but the previous administrator did not leave the vCenter credentials. I want to gather this information without restarting hosts, shutting down VMs, or making configuration changes. What is the safest way to access the host management interfaces and map the VMs to their physical hosts?
4 Answers
The ESXi console usually displays the host's management IP address. Once you have it, the web interface should let you inspect the VMs without needing vCenter. This identifies what is registered on that host, but determining what services run inside each VM is a separate task that may require access to the guest operating systems.
Connect an approved laptop to the ESXi management network, find each host's management IP from the direct console, and open that IP in a browser. Sign in with the supplied root credentials and review the list of registered or running VMs. Stick to read-only inspection and do not alter settings, networking, storage, or power state unless you have explicit authorization.
If the environment is difficult to map or the credentials do not work, bringing in an experienced VMware contractor for a short, supervised discovery session would be sensible. Tools such as RVTools can also produce useful inventory reports once you have authorized access, but do not install or run anything that changes the environment without approval.
vCenter is normally the easiest place to see the inventory and which VMs are running on each ESXi host. If you cannot recover the vCenter credentials, you can still inspect each ESXi host individually through its management interface.
The individual-host approach sounds like the safest place to start. I mainly need an inventory and do not want to change anything.
This may require knowing the management subnet or whether the hosts use DHCP, so check the network documentation or ask whoever manages the switches before connecting anything.