VMware Configuration

This guide covers configuring VMware platforms so they can be managed by OpenIDCS.

Supported VMware Products

Platform	Status	Supported OS	Notes
VMware Workstation	✅ Production	Windows, Linux	Desktop virtualization
VMware vSphere ESXi	✅ Production	Windows, Linux, macOS	Enterprise type-1 hypervisor

✅ Pros

Mature ecosystem: battle-tested for 20+ years
Best Windows guest support (tools, shared folders, drag & drop)
Snapshot / clone / template workflow is polished
Workstation REST API works out-of-the-box (port 8697)
vSphere / vCenter scales to hundreds of hosts

❌ Cons

Workstation is single-host, not cluster-aware
Commercial licensing (Pro / vSphere Standard / Enterprise)
Higher per-VM overhead than KVM / containers
ESXi needs dedicated hardware

VMware Workstation

System Requirements

Hardware

CPU with Intel VT-x or AMD-V
≥ 4 GB RAM (8 GB+ recommended)
≥ 50 GB free disk

Software

VMware Workstation Pro 15.0+
Windows 10/11 or Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+, CentOS 7+)

Step 1: Install Workstation

Windows

Download from VMware website
Run the installer
Enter license key (or use trial)
Reboot

Linux

bash

wget https://download3.vmware.com/software/wkst/file/VMware-Workstation-Full-17.0.0-20800274.x86_64.bundle
chmod +x VMware-Workstation-Full-*.bundle
sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-*.bundle
sudo systemctl enable --now vmware

Step 2: Enable REST API

VMware Workstation 15+ ships the vmrest REST API service.

Windows

batch

:: Manual start
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrest.exe"

:: As a Windows service
sc create VMwareRESTAPI binPath= "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrest.exe" start= auto DisplayName= "VMware REST API Service"
sc description VMwareRESTAPI "VMware Workstation REST API Service"
sc start VMwareRESTAPI
sc query VMwareRESTAPI

Linux

bash

vmrest &

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/vmrest.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=VMware REST API Service
After=network.target vmware.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vmrest
Restart=always
RestartSec=3

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now vmrest

Step 3: Configure REST API

First vmrest run prompts for credentials:

Please input username: admin
Please input password: ********

Or edit the preferences file manually:

Windows: %APPDATA%\VMware\preferences.ini
Linux: ~/.vmware/preferences

ini

webServer.enabled = "TRUE"
webServer.port = "8697"
webServer.https.port = "8697"

Step 4: Firewall

Windows

powershell

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "VMware REST API" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 8697 -Action Allow
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "VMware REST API"

Linux

bash

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo ufw allow 8697/tcp && sudo ufw reload

# CentOS / RHEL
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8697/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 5: Test REST API

bash

curl -k -u "admin:password" https://localhost:8697/api/vms

Step 6: Add Host in OpenIDCS

OpenIDCS → Host Management → Add Host
Fill in:
- Name: vmware-01
- Type: VMware Workstation
- Address: your-server-ip (or localhost)
- Port: 8697
- Username: admin
- Password: <your password>
- VM Path: C:\Virtual Machines\ (Windows) or ~/vmware (Linux)
Test Connection → Save

VM Operations

Create a VM (via OpenIDCS Web UI)

Go to VM Management → Create VM
Fill in:
- Name: my-vm
- OS: select template
- CPU: 2
- Memory: 4 GB
- Disk: 40 GB
Click Create

Power Operations

Start / Stop / Force Stop / Restart / Suspend / Resume

Snapshots (via API)

bash

# Create
curl -k -u "admin:password" -X POST \
  https://localhost:8697/api/vms/{vm-id}/snapshots \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "snapshot1", "description": "First snapshot"}'

# Revert
curl -k -u "admin:password" -X PUT \
  https://localhost:8697/api/vms/{vm-id}/snapshots/{snapshot-id}

# Delete
curl -k -u "admin:password" -X DELETE \
  https://localhost:8697/api/vms/{vm-id}/snapshots/{snapshot-id}

Network Modes

Mode	Description	Use case
Bridged	VM joins LAN directly	VM must be visible on LAN
NAT	VM shares host IP via NAT	Share host's network
Host-only	VM ↔ host only	Isolated test env
Custom	Custom vmnet	Special needs

Configure NIC via API:

bash

curl -k -u "admin:password" -X PUT \
  https://localhost:8697/api/vms/{vm-id}/nic/{nic-index} \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"type": "nat", "vmnet": "vmnet8"}'

Shared Folders

bash

curl -k -u "admin:password" -X POST \
  https://localhost:8697/api/vms/{vm-id}/sharedfolders \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"folder_id": "shared1", "host_path": "C:\\SharedFolder", "flags": 4}'

VMware vSphere ESXi

See also: VMware vSphere ESXi for the dedicated deployment guide.

Requirements

ESXi 6.7+
Optional vCenter for cluster management
Port 443 reachable from the manager

Step 1: Enable SSH (Optional)

Log in to the ESXi Web UI
Host → Manage → Services
Start TSM-SSH

Step 2: Firewall

bash

ssh root@esxi-host
esxcli network firewall ruleset set --ruleset-id=httpClient --enabled=true
esxcli network firewall ruleset list

Step 3: Credentials

Use the ESXi root account or a vCenter administrator like administrator@vsphere.local.

Step 4: Test Connection

python

from pyVim.connect import SmartConnect, Disconnect
import ssl

context = ssl._create_unverified_context()
si = SmartConnect(
    host='esxi-host',
    user='root',
    pwd='password',
    port=443,
    sslContext=context,
)
print("Connected to ESXi successfully!")
Disconnect(si)

Step 5: Add Host in OpenIDCS

Host Management → Add Host
Fill in:
- Name: esxi-01
- Type: VMware vSphere ESXi
- Address: esxi-host-ip
- Port: 443
- Username: root
- Password: <admin password>
Test Connection → Save

Troubleshooting

1. REST API Unreachable

batch

:: Windows
sc query VMwareRESTAPI
sc start VMwareRESTAPI
netstat -ano | findstr 8697

bash

# Linux
ps aux | grep vmrest
sudo systemctl restart vmrest
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep 8697

2. 401 Unauthorized

Re-set credentials:

bash

# Stop vmrest
sc stop VMwareRESTAPI          # Windows
sudo systemctl stop vmrest     # Linux

# Delete auth
del "%APPDATA%\VMware\preferences.ini"   # Windows
rm ~/.vmware/preferences                 # Linux

# Restart and re-enter credentials
vmrest

3. VM Won't Start

Check .vmx file exists
Check disk space
Check log files:
- Windows: %APPDATA%\VMware\vmware.log
- Linux: ~/.vmware/vmware.log

4. No Network

batch

:: Windows
net stop "VMware NAT Service" && net start "VMware NAT Service"
net stop "VMware DHCP Service" && net start "VMware DHCP Service"

bash

# Linux
sudo systemctl restart vmware-networks

Advanced

Virtual Network Editor

Windows: run Virtual Network Editor as admin
Linux: edit /etc/vmware/networking, then sudo systemctl restart vmware-networks

Performance Tweaks in `.vmx`

ini

vhv.enable = "TRUE"
MemTrimRate = "0"
sched.mem.pshare.enable = "FALSE"
prefvmx.useRecommendedLockedMemSize = "TRUE"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
scsi0:0.mode = "persistent"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"

Batch Create VMs

python

import requests
base_url = "https://localhost:8697/api"
auth = ("admin", "password")

for c in [{"name": "vm1", "memory": 4096, "cpus": 2},
          {"name": "vm2", "memory": 8192, "cpus": 4}]:
    r = requests.post(f"{base_url}/vms", auth=auth, json=c, verify=False)
    print(c["name"], r.status_code)

Best Practices

Snapshot before risky operations
Encrypt sensitive VMs
Keep Workstation updated
Monitor via OpenIDCS dashboard
Isolate sensitive VMs on separate vmnets

References

🐳 Docker
📦 LXD
🏢 Proxmox VE
🚀 Back to Quick Start

VMware Configuration ​

Supported VMware Products ​

✅ Pros ​

❌ Cons ​

VMware Workstation ​

System Requirements ​

Hardware ​

Software ​

Step 1: Install Workstation ​

Windows ​

Linux ​

Step 2: Enable REST API ​

Windows ​

Linux ​

Step 3: Configure REST API ​

Step 4: Firewall ​

Windows ​

Linux ​

Step 5: Test REST API ​

Step 6: Add Host in OpenIDCS ​

VM Operations ​

Create a VM (via OpenIDCS Web UI) ​

Power Operations ​

Snapshots (via API) ​

Network Modes ​

Shared Folders ​

VMware vSphere ESXi ​

Requirements ​

Step 1: Enable SSH (Optional) ​

Step 2: Firewall ​

Step 3: Credentials ​

Step 4: Test Connection ​

Step 5: Add Host in OpenIDCS ​

Troubleshooting ​

1. REST API Unreachable ​

2. 401 Unauthorized ​

3. VM Won't Start ​

4. No Network ​

Advanced ​

Virtual Network Editor ​

Performance Tweaks in .vmx ​

Batch Create VMs ​

Best Practices ​

References ​

Next ​

VMware Configuration

Supported VMware Products

✅ Pros

❌ Cons

VMware Workstation

System Requirements

Hardware

Software

Step 1: Install Workstation

Windows

Linux

Step 2: Enable REST API

Windows

Linux

Step 3: Configure REST API

Step 4: Firewall

Windows

Linux

Step 5: Test REST API

Step 6: Add Host in OpenIDCS

VM Operations

Create a VM (via OpenIDCS Web UI)

Power Operations

Snapshots (via API)

Network Modes

Shared Folders

VMware vSphere ESXi

Requirements

Step 1: Enable SSH (Optional)

Step 2: Firewall

Step 3: Credentials

Step 4: Test Connection

Step 5: Add Host in OpenIDCS

Troubleshooting

1. REST API Unreachable

2. 401 Unauthorized

3. VM Won't Start

4. No Network

Advanced

Virtual Network Editor

Performance Tweaks in `.vmx`

Batch Create VMs

Best Practices

References

Next