How to Power on a virtual machine from the command line?

ESXi 4.x, 5.x and 6.0

To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

    List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>Note: The first column of the output shows the vmid.   

    Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>   

    Power-on the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>


ESX 4.0 and ESX 4.1

To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

    To list the path of all the virtual machines on the host:

    vmware-cmd -l   

    Get the state of the virtual machine with the command:

    vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> getstate

    Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> start

ESXi 3.5

To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

    List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep <vm name>

    Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>

    Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>

ESX 3.5
To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

    To list the path of all the virtual machines on the host:

    vmware-cmd -l

    Get the state of the virtual machine with the command:

    vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> getstate

    Power on the virtual machine with the command:

    vmware-cmd <path to the VMX file> start