VMware ESX and ESXi 4.

0 Comparison
Purpose
This article provides a detailed comparison of VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0. The article is separated into
capabilities or features and compared at that level.

Resolution
Capability
Service Console

CLI-Based
Configuration

VMware ESX
VMware ESXi
Service Console is a standard Linux
VMware ESXi is designed to make the
environment through which a user has
server a computing appliance. Accordingly,
privileged access to the VMware ESX
VMware ESXi behaves more like firmware
kernel. This Linux-based privileged accessthan traditional software. To provide
allows you to manage your
hardware-like security and reliability,
environment by installing agents and
VMware ESXi does not support a privileged
drivers and executing scripts and other
access environment like the Service
Linux-environment code.
Console for management of VMware ESXi.
To enable interaction with agents, VMware
has provisioned CIM Providers through
which monitoring and management tasks
traditionally done through Service Console
agents can be performed. VMware has
provided remote scripting environments
such as vCLI and PowerCLI to allow the
remote execution of scripts.
VMware ESX Service Console has a host The vSphere CLI (vCLI) is a remote scripting
CLI through which VMware ESX can be environment that interacts with VMware
configured. VMware ESX can also be
ESXi hosts to enable host configuration
configured using vSphere CLI (vCLI).
through scripts or specific commands. It
replicates nearly all the equivalent COS
commands for configuring ESX.
Notes:
vCLI is limited to read-only access
for the free version of VMware ESXi.
To enable full functionality of
vCLI on a VMware ESXi host, the
host must be licensed with vSphere
Essentials, vSphere Essential Plus,
vSphere Standard, vSphere
Advanced, vSphere Enterprise,
or vSphere Enterprise Plus.

VMware vSphere PowerCLI (for

Windows) and vSphere SDK for Perl
access ESXi through the same API
as vCLI. Similarly, these toolkits are
limited to read-only access for the
free version of VMware ESXi. When
the host is upgraded to vSphere
Essentials, vSphere Essential Plus,
vSphere Standard, vSphere

Advanced, vSphere Enterprise, or

vSphere Enterprise Plus these
toolkits have write-access and
provide a scriptable method for
managing ESXi hosts.

Scriptable
Installation

Boot from SAN

Serial Cable
Connectivity
SNMP

Active Directory
Integration
HW
Instrumentation

Certain COS commands have not

been implemented in the vCLI
because they pertain to the
management of the COS itself and
not ESXi. For details, please see the
vSphere Command-Line Interface
Documentation.
VMware ESX supports scriptable
VMware ESXi Installable does not support
installations through utilities like
scriptable installations in the manner ESX
does, at this time. VMware ESXi does
KickStart .
provide support for post installation
configuration script using vCLI-based
configuration scripts.
VMware ESX supports boot from SAN.
VMware ESXi may be deployed as an
Booting from SAN requires one dedicated embedded hypervisor or installed on a hard
LUN per server.
disk.
The installable version of VMware ESXi
does not support booting from SAN.
VMware ESX supports interaction through VMware ESXi does not support interaction
direct-attached serial cable to the VMware through direct-attached serial cable to the
ESX host.
VMware ESXi host at this time.
VMware ESX supports SNMP.
VMware ESXi supports SNMP when
licensed with vSphere Essentials, vSphere
Essential Plus, vSphere Standard, vSphere
Advanced, vSphere Enterprise, or vSphere
Enterprise Plus.

VMware ESX supports Active Directory

integration through third-party agents
installed on the Service Console.
Service Console agents provide a range
of HW instrumentation on VMware ESX.

Software Patches VMware ESX software patches and

and Updates
upgrades behave like traditional Linux
based patches and upgrades. The

The free version of VMware ESXi does not

support SNMP.
VMware ESXi does not support Active
Directory authentication of local users at this
time.
VMware ESXi provides HW instrumentation
through CIM Providers. Standards-based
CIM Providers are distributed with all
versions of VMware ESXi. VMware partners
include their own proprietary CIM Providers
in customized versions of VMware ESXi.
These customized versions are available
either from VMwares web site or the
partners web site, depending on the partner.
Remote console applications like Dell
DRAC, HP iLO, IBM RSA, and FSC iRMC
S2 are supported with ESXi.
VMware ESXi patches and updates behave
like firmware patches and updates. Any
given patch or update is all-inclusive of

VI Web Access

Licensing
Diagnostics and
Troubleshooting

installation of a software patch or upgrade previous patches and updates. That is,
may require multiple system boots as the installing patch version n includes all
patch or upgrade may have dependencies updates included in patch versions n-1, n-2,
on previous patches or upgrades.
and so forth. Furthermore, third party
components such as OEM CIM providers
can be updated independently of the base
ESXi component, and vice versa.
VMware ESX supports managing your
VMware ESXi does not support web access
virtual machines through VI Web Access. at this time.
You can use the VI Web Access to
connect directly to the ESX host or to the
VMware Infrastructure Client.
For licensing information, see the
For licensing information, see the
VMware Sphere Editions Comparison.
VMware Sphere Editions Comparison.
VMware ESX Service Console can be
VMware ESXi has several ways to enable
used to issue command that can help
support of the product:
diagnose and repair support issues with
Remote command sets such as the
the server
vCLI include diagnostic commands
such as vmkfstools, resxtop, and
vmware-cmd
T he console interface of VMware
ESXi (known as the DCUI or Direct
Console User Interface) has
functionality to help repair the
system, including restarting of all
management agents

Tech Support Mode, which allows

low-level access to the system so
that advanced diagnostic
commands can be issues. For more
information, see Tech Support Mode
for Emergency Support (1003677).