How to connect to vmware ESXi remote console

Question

I need to know what is the protocol used in vmware ESXi vSphere client to connect to the remote console? Is this protocol open source ? Is their any vmware/third party applications enables VM Remote console connection other than vsphere client ?

Solution 1

If you're looking to connect to a ESX machine, without the heavy overhead of the vSphere client then you can use the VMware Remote Console.

While this isn't formally documented, one of the developers has kindly posted some fairly detailed information on the VMware Forums.

• vmware-vmrc.exe command documentation

Depending what version of the plugin or vSphere client you have installed depends on the exact location of the plugin. Here is an example for what I have installed as part of vShpere 5

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VMware\
VMware VMRC Plug-in\Internet Explorer\vmware-vmrc.exe"
-u user -p password -h esxi.localnet -d "[store1] Test/Test.vmx"

Solution 2

VMware's console access is indeed a closed protocol. However, they do have an embeddable web control called the Remote Console that implements this. It is an 'experimental' feature I believe, and won't be supported by them. But it's doable.

So while the protocol isn't implemented by anyone else I know of, there is an option to wrap the control at least.

See: Installing and Using the VMware Remote Console Plug-in