vmctl

Simple, safe, and reliable virtual machine management for standalone ESXi

vmctl is a modern CLI tool for creating, managing, and operating virtual machines on standalone ESXi without vCenter.

Key Features

• Fully standalone (works without vCenter)
• Template-based provisioning with cloud-init
• Multi-datastore support with placement control
• Strict quotas and protection for critical VMs (protected_vms)
• Full lifecycle: create → status → delete → purge + recover
• Secure model: forced-command SSH helper with minimal privileges
• Built-in diagnostics: preflight + doctor

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Quick Start

# Download and install
curl -L https://github.com/bashrusakh/vmctl/releases/latest/download/hermes-vmctl-v0.1.4.tar.gz -o hermes-vmctl.tar.gz

tar -xzf hermes-vmctl.tar.gz
cd hermes-vmctl

cp install.env.example install.env
nano install.env

sudo scripts/install-full-stack.sh --env ./install.env

vmctl preflight
vmctl doctor

VM Creation Example

vmctl create \
  --name web-prod-01 \
  --template alma10 \
  --cpu 4 \
  --ram-mb 8192 \
  --disk-gb 80 \
  --network "VM Network" \
  --user admin \
  --ssh-key-file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub \
  --ip dhcp

Core Commands

• create — create a new VM
• status <name> — show VM status
• list [--all] — list VMs
• delete <name> [--force] — delete a VM
• purge <deleted-name> — permanently remove deleted VM data
• recover [--apply] — recover VM state from markers
• preflight — run configuration checks
• doctor — run full system diagnostics

Requirements

• ESXi 7.0+ Enterprise (standalone)
• Linux host (Hermes) with Python 3.8+
• SSH access from Hermes to ESXi

Security

• Direct mode is disabled by default
• Forced-command SSH helper with whitelisted commands
• Strict path and name validation
• Protected VM list support (protected_vms)

Documentation

• Installation Guide
• Bugfix List
• Changelog

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Made with ❤️ for clean and secure ESXi infrastructure