Using the ESXCLI vm namespace to kill a misbehaving VM

After exploring the namespaces of ESXCLI, you can see that these are represented as elements in an ESXCLI object when used in PowerCLI. One of these namespaces or elements is the vm namespace. Within the vm namespace, you have commands that can list all of the running virtual machines on a host along with their process number. With this information, there is also a method in the vm namespace that allows you to kill a VM. If you are running PowerCLI to manage ESXi hosts, using the ESXCLI object is a quick way to access the virtual machine's kill command without enabling troubleshooting modes: the ESXi shell or SSH on an ESXi host. In this recipe, you will examine how to perform this operation.

Getting ready

To begin this recipe, you will need a PowerCLI window and an active connection to a vCenter Server.

Note

Caution! Do not execute this recipe on a VM unless you are sure you want to power it off. Running this on the wrong VM can cause...