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AI-powered VMware vCenter/ESXi monitoring and operations tool.
Need read-only monitoring only? See VMware-Monitor — an independent repository with code-level safety (zero destructive code in the codebase).
Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Trae, and 30+ AI agents:
npx skills add zw008/VMware-AIops# Add marketplace
/plugin marketplace add zw008/VMware-AIops
# Install plugin
/plugin install vmware-ops
# Use the skill
/vmware-ops:vmware-aiopsUser (Natural Language)
↓
AI CLI Tool (Claude Code / Gemini / Codex / Aider / Continue / Trae / Kimi)
↓ reads SKILL.md / AGENTS.md / rules
↓
vmware-aiops CLI
↓ pyVmomi (vSphere SOAP API)
↓
vCenter Server ──→ ESXi Cluster ──→ VM
or
ESXi Standalone Host ──→ VM
| vSphere Version | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 8.0 / 8.0U1-U3 | ✅ Full | CreateSnapshot_Task deprecated → use CreateSnapshotEx_Task |
| 7.0 / 7.0U1-U3 | ✅ Full | All APIs supported |
| 6.7 | ✅ Compatible | Backward-compatible, tested |
| 6.5 | ✅ Compatible | Backward-compatible, tested |
pyVmomi auto-negotiates the API version during SOAP handshake — no manual configuration needed. The same codebase manages both 7.0 and 8.0 environments seamlessly.
| Feature | vCenter | ESXi | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| List VMs | ✅ | ✅ | Name, power state, CPU, memory, guest OS, IP |
| List Hosts | ✅ | CPU cores, memory, ESXi version, VM count, uptime | |
| List Datastores | ✅ | ✅ | Capacity, free/used, type (VMFS/NFS), usage % |
| List Clusters | ✅ | ❌ | Host count, DRS/HA status |
| List Networks | ✅ | ✅ | Network name, associated VM count |
| Feature | vCenter | ESXi | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Alarms | ✅ | ✅ | Severity, alarm name, entity, timestamp |
| Event/Log Query | ✅ | ✅ | Filter by time range (--hours), severity level; 50+ event types |
| Hardware Sensors | ✅ | ✅ | Temperature, voltage, fan status |
| Host Services | ✅ | ✅ | hostd, vpxa, etc. running/stopped |
Monitored Event Types:
| Category | Events |
|---|---|
| VM Failures | VmFailedToPowerOnEvent, VmDiskFailedEvent, VmFailoverFailed |
| Host Issues | HostConnectionLostEvent, HostShutdownEvent, HostIpChangedEvent |
| Storage | DatastoreCapacityIncreasedEvent, NASDatastoreEvent, SCSI high latency |
| HA/DRS | DasHostFailedEvent, DrsVmMigratedEvent, DrsSoftRuleViolationEvent |
| Auth | UserLoginSessionEvent, BadUsernameSessionEvent |
| Operation | Command | Confirmation | vCenter | ESXi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power On | vm power-on <name> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Graceful Shutdown | vm power-off <name> |
Double | ✅ | ✅ |
| Force Power Off | vm power-off <name> --force |
Double | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reset | vm reset <name> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Suspend | vm suspend <name> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| VM Info | vm info <name> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Create VM | vm create <name> --cpu --memory --disk |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Delete VM | vm delete <name> |
Double | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reconfigure | vm reconfigure <name> --cpu --memory |
Double | ✅ | ✅ |
| Create Snapshot | vm snapshot-create <name> --name <snap> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| List Snapshots | vm snapshot-list <name> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Revert Snapshot | vm snapshot-revert <name> --name <snap> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Delete Snapshot | vm snapshot-delete <name> --name <snap> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| Clone VM | vm clone <name> --new-name <new> |
— | ✅ | ✅ |
| vMotion | vm migrate <name> --to-host <host> |
— | ✅ | ❌ |
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Daemon | APScheduler-based, configurable interval (default 15 min) |
| Multi-target Scan | Sequentially scan all configured vCenter/ESXi targets |
| Scan Content | Alarms + Events + Host logs (hostd, vmkernel, vpxd) |
| Log Analysis | Regex pattern matching: error, fail, critical, panic, timeout, corrupt |
| Structured Log | JSONL output to ~/.vmware-aiops/scan.log |
| Webhook | Slack, Discord, or any HTTP endpoint |
| Daemon Management | daemon start/stop/status, PID file, graceful shutdown |
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Dry-Run Mode | --dry-run on any destructive command prints exact API calls without executing |
| Plan → Confirm → Execute → Log | Structured workflow: show current state, confirm changes, execute, audit log |
| Double Confirmation | All destructive ops (power-off, delete, reconfigure, snapshot-revert/delete, clone, migrate) require 2 sequential confirmations — no bypass flags |
| Rejection Logging | Declined confirmations are recorded in the audit trail |
| Audit Trail | All operations logged to ~/.vmware-aiops/audit.log (JSONL) with before/after state |
| Input Validation | VM name, CPU (1-128), memory (128-1048576 MB), disk (1-65536 GB) validated |
| Password Protection | .env file loading with permission check; never in shell history |
| SSL Self-signed Support | disableSslCertValidation for ESXi 8.0 self-signed certs |
| Task Waiting | All async operations wait for completion and report result |
| State Validation | Pre-operation checks (VM exists, power state correct) |
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Health Check | Cluster-wide health summary, per-group test results |
| Capacity | Total/free/used capacity with projections |
| Disk Groups | Cache SSD + capacity disks per host |
| Performance | IOPS, latency, throughput per cluster/host/VM |
Requires pyVmomi 8.0.3+ (vSAN SDK merged). For older versions, install the standalone vSAN Management SDK.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Historical Metrics | Time-series CPU, memory, disk, network with months of history |
| Anomaly Detection | ML-based dynamic baselines and anomaly alerts |
| Capacity Planning | What-if analysis, time-to-exhaustion, forecasting |
| Right-sizing | CPU/memory recommendations per VM |
| Intelligent Alerts | Root cause analysis, remediation recommendations |
REST API at
/suite-api/. Auth:vRealizeOpsToken. Rebranded as VCF Operations in VCF 9.0.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| List Clusters | Tanzu Kubernetes clusters with phase status |
| Cluster Health | InfrastructureReady, ControlPlaneAvailable, WorkersAvailable conditions |
| Scale Workers | Adjust MachineDeployment replicas |
| Node Status | Machine status, ready/unhealthy counts |
Kubernetes-native API via kubectl/kubeconfig. VKS 3.6+ uses Cluster API specification.
| Capability | vCenter | ESXi Standalone |
|---|---|---|
| Full cluster inventory | ✅ | ❌ Single host only |
| DRS/HA management | ✅ | ❌ |
| vMotion migration | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cross-host clone | ✅ | ❌ |
| All VM lifecycle ops | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alarms & events | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hardware sensors | ✅ | ✅ |
| Host services | ✅ | ✅ |
| Snapshots | ✅ | ✅ |
| Scheduled scanning | ✅ | ✅ |
| Platform | Status | Config File | AI Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | ✅ Native Skill | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md |
Anthropic Claude |
| Gemini CLI | ✅ Extension | gemini-extension/GEMINI.md |
Google Gemini |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | ✅ Skill + AGENTS.md | codex-skill/AGENTS.md |
OpenAI GPT |
| Aider | ✅ Conventions | codex-skill/AGENTS.md |
Any (cloud + local) |
| Continue CLI | ✅ Rules | codex-skill/AGENTS.md |
Any (cloud + local) |
| Trae IDE | ✅ Rules | trae-rules/project_rules.md |
Claude/DeepSeek/GPT-4o/Doubao |
| Kimi Code CLI | ✅ Skill | kimi-skill/SKILL.md |
Moonshot Kimi |
| MCP Server | ✅ MCP Protocol | mcp_server/ |
Any MCP client |
| Python CLI | ✅ Standalone | N/A | N/A |
| Feature | Claude Code | Gemini CLI | Codex CLI | Aider | Continue | Trae IDE | Kimi CLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud AI | Anthropic | OpenAI | Any | Any | Multi | Moonshot | |
| Local models | — | — | — | Ollama | Ollama | — | — |
| Skill system | SKILL.md | Extension | SKILL.md | — | Rules | Rules | SKILL.md |
| MCP support | Native | Native | Via Skills | Third-party | Native | — | — |
| Free tier | — | 60 req/min | — | Self-hosted | Self-hosted | — | — |
# Python 3.10+ required
python3 --version
# Node.js 18+ required for Gemini CLI and Codex CLI
node --versionAll platforms share the same Python backend.
git clone https://github.com/zw008/VMware-AIops.git
cd VMware-AIops
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .mkdir -p ~/.vmware-aiops
cp config.example.yaml ~/.vmware-aiops/config.yaml
# Edit config.yaml with your vCenter/ESXi targetsSet passwords via .env file (recommended):
# Use the template
cp .env.example ~/.vmware-aiops/.env
# Edit and fill in your passwords, then lock permissions
chmod 600 ~/.vmware-aiops/.envSecurity note: Prefer
.envfile over command-lineexportto avoid passwords appearing in shell history. The.envfile should havechmod 600(owner-only read/write).
Password environment variable naming convention:
VMWARE_{TARGET_NAME_UPPER}_PASSWORD
# Replace hyphens with underscores, UPPERCASE
# Example: target "home-esxi" → VMWARE_HOME_ESXI_PASSWORD
# Example: target "prod-vcenter" → VMWARE_PROD_VCENTER_PASSWORD
- NEVER hardcode passwords in scripts or config files
- NEVER pass passwords as command-line arguments (visible in
ps) - ALWAYS use
~/.vmware-aiops/.envwithchmod 600 - ALWAYS use
ConnectionManager.from_config()for connections - Passwords are loaded automatically from
.envat module import time
Choose one (or more) of the following:
Method 1: Marketplace (recommended)
In Claude Code, run:
/plugin marketplace add zw008/VMware-AIops
/plugin install vmware-ops
Then use:
/vmware-ops:vmware-aiops
> Show me all VMs on esxi-lab.example.com
Method 2: Local install
# Clone and symlink
git clone https://github.com/zw008/VMware-AIops.git
ln -sf $(pwd)/VMware-AIops ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/vmware-aiops
# Register marketplace
python3 -c "
import json, pathlib
f = pathlib.Path.home() / '.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json'
d = json.loads(f.read_text()) if f.exists() else {}
d['vmware-aiops'] = {
'source': {'source': 'github', 'repo': 'zw008/VMware-AIops'},
'installLocation': str(pathlib.Path.home() / '.claude/plugins/marketplaces/vmware-aiops')
}
f.write_text(json.dumps(d, indent=2))
"
# Enable plugin
python3 -c "
import json, pathlib
f = pathlib.Path.home() / '.claude/settings.json'
d = json.loads(f.read_text()) if f.exists() else {}
d.setdefault('enabledPlugins', {})['vmware-ops@vmware-aiops'] = True
f.write_text(json.dumps(d, indent=2))
"Restart Claude Code, then:
/vmware-ops:vmware-aiops
Submit to Official Marketplace
This plugin can also be submitted to the Anthropic official plugin directory for public discovery.
# Install Gemini CLI
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
# Install the extension from the cloned repo
gemini extensions install ./gemini-extension
# Or install directly from GitHub
# gemini extensions install https://github.com/zw008/VMware-AIopsThen start Gemini CLI:
gemini
> Show me all VMs on my ESXi host
# Install Codex CLI
npm i -g @openai/codex
# Or on macOS:
# brew install --cask codex
# Copy skill to Codex skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills/vmware-aiops
cp codex-skill/SKILL.md ~/.codex/skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md
# Copy AGENTS.md to project root
cp codex-skill/AGENTS.md ./AGENTS.mdThen start Codex CLI:
codex --enable skills
> List all VMs on my ESXi# Install Aider
pip install aider-chat
# Install Ollama for local models (optional)
# macOS:
brew install ollama
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:32b
# Run with cloud API
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md
# Or with local model via Ollama
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b# Install Continue CLI
npm i -g @continuedev/cli
# Copy rules file
mkdir -p .continue/rules
cp codex-skill/AGENTS.md .continue/rules/vmware-aiops.mdConfigure ~/.continue/config.yaml for local model:
models:
- name: local-coder
provider: ollama
model: qwen2.5-coder:32bThen:
cn
> Check ESXi health and alarmsCopy the rules file to your project's .trae/rules/ directory:
mkdir -p .trae/rules
cp trae-rules/project_rules.md .trae/rules/project_rules.mdTrae IDE's Builder Mode reads .trae/rules/ Markdown files at startup.
Note: You can also install Claude Code extension in Trae IDE and use
.claude/skills/format directly.
# Copy skill file to Kimi skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.kimi/skills/vmware-aiops
cp kimi-skill/SKILL.md ~/.kimi/skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.mdThe MCP server exposes VMware operations as tools via the Model Context Protocol. Works with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.).
# Run directly
python -m mcp_server
# Or via the installed entry point
vmware-aiops-mcp
# With a custom config path
VMWARE_AIOPS_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml python -m mcp_serverClaude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"vmware-aiops": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "mcp_server"],
"env": {
"VMWARE_AIOPS_CONFIG": "/path/to/config.yaml"
}
}
}
}Install via Smithery:
npx -y @smithery/cli install @zw008/VMware-AIops --client claude# Already installed in Step 1
source .venv/bin/activate
vmware-aiops inventory vms --target home-esxi
vmware-aiops health alarms --target home-esxi
vmware-aiops vm power-on my-vm --target home-esxiFor users in China who prefer domestic cloud APIs or have limited access to overseas services.
Cost-effective, strong coding capability.
# Set DeepSeek API key (get from https://platform.deepseek.com)
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="your-key"
# Run with Aider
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model deepseek/deepseek-coderPersistent config ~/.aider.conf.yml:
model: deepseek/deepseek-coder
conventions: codex-skill/AGENTS.mdAlibaba Cloud's coding model, free tier available.
# Set DashScope API key (get from https://dashscope.console.aliyun.com)
export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="your-key"
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model qwen/qwen-coder-plusOr via OpenAI-compatible endpoint:
export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-dashscope-key"
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model qwen-coder-plus-latestexport OPENAI_API_BASE="https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/v3"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-ark-key"
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model your-doubao-endpoint-idConfigure ~/.continue/config.yaml:
# DeepSeek
models:
- name: deepseek-coder
provider: openai-compatible
apiBase: https://api.deepseek.com/v1
apiKey: your-deepseek-key
model: deepseek-coder
# Qwen
models:
- name: qwen-coder
provider: openai-compatible
apiBase: https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1
apiKey: your-dashscope-key
model: qwen-coder-plus-latestFor fully offline operation — no cloud API, no internet, full privacy.
Aider + Ollama + local Qwen/DeepSeek is ideal for air-gapped environments.
# macOS
brew install ollama
# Linux
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh| Model | Command | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B | ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:32b |
~20GB | Best local coding model |
| Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B | ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b |
~4.5GB | Low-memory option |
| DeepSeek Coder V2 | ollama pull deepseek-coder-v2 |
~8.9GB | Strong reasoning |
| CodeLlama 34B | ollama pull codellama:34b |
~19GB | Meta coding model |
Hardware: 32B → ~20GB VRAM (or 32GB RAM for CPU). 7B → 8GB RAM.
pip install aider-chat
ollama serve
# Aider + local Qwen (recommended)
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b
# Aider + local DeepSeek
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model ollama/deepseek-coder-v2
# Low-memory option
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
--model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:7bPersistent config ~/.aider.conf.yml:
model: ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b
conventions: codex-skill/AGENTS.mdUser → Aider CLI → Ollama (localhost:11434) → Qwen / DeepSeek local model
│ ↓
│ reads AGENTS.md instructions
│ ↓
└──────────────────────────────→ vmware-aiops CLI ──→ ESXi / vCenter
Tip: Local models are fully offline — perfect for air-gapped environments or strict data compliance.
# Inventory
vmware-aiops inventory vms # List VMs
vmware-aiops inventory hosts --target prod-vcenter # List hosts
vmware-aiops inventory datastores # List datastores
vmware-aiops inventory clusters # List clusters
# Health
vmware-aiops health alarms # Active alarms
vmware-aiops health events --hours 24 --severity warning # Recent events
# VM operations
vmware-aiops vm info my-vm # VM details
vmware-aiops vm power-on my-vm # Power on
vmware-aiops vm power-off my-vm # Graceful shutdown (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops vm power-off my-vm --force # Force power off (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops vm create my-new-vm --cpu 4 --memory 8192 --disk 100 # Create VM
vmware-aiops vm delete my-vm --confirm # Delete VM (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops vm reconfigure my-vm --cpu 4 --memory 8192 # Reconfigure (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops vm snapshot-create my-vm --name "before-upgrade" # Create snapshot
vmware-aiops vm snapshot-list my-vm # List snapshots
vmware-aiops vm snapshot-revert my-vm --name "before-upgrade" # Revert snapshot
vmware-aiops vm snapshot-delete my-vm --name "before-upgrade" # Delete snapshot
vmware-aiops vm clone my-vm --new-name my-vm-clone # Clone VM
vmware-aiops vm migrate my-vm --to-host esxi-02 # vMotion
# Scan
vmware-aiops scan now # One-time scan
# Daemon
vmware-aiops daemon start # Start scanner
vmware-aiops daemon status # Check status
vmware-aiops daemon stop # Stop daemon
# vSAN
vmware-aiops vsan health [--target prod-vcenter] # vSAN health
vmware-aiops vsan capacity [--target prod-vcenter] # vSAN capacity
vmware-aiops vsan disks [--target prod-vcenter] # Disk groups
vmware-aiops vsan performance [--hours 1] [--target prod-vcenter] # Performance
# Aria Operations / VCF Operations
vmware-aiops ops alerts [--severity critical] # Intelligent alerts
vmware-aiops ops metrics <resource-name> [--hours 24] # Time-series metrics
vmware-aiops ops recommendations [--target prod-vcenter] # Right-sizing
vmware-aiops ops capacity <cluster-name> # Capacity planning
# vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS)
vmware-aiops vks clusters [--namespace default] # List K8s clusters
vmware-aiops vks health <cluster-name> # Cluster health
vmware-aiops vks scale <machine-deployment> --replicas <n> # Scale workers
vmware-aiops vks nodes <cluster-name> # Node statusSee config.example.yaml for all options.
| Section | Key | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| targets | name | — | Friendly name |
| targets | host | — | vCenter/ESXi hostname or IP |
| targets | type | vcenter | vcenter or esxi |
| targets | port | 443 | Connection port |
| targets | verify_ssl | false | SSL certificate verification |
| scanner | interval_minutes | 15 | Scan frequency |
| scanner | severity_threshold | warning | Min severity: critical/warning/info |
| scanner | lookback_hours | 1 | How far back to scan |
| scanner | log_types | [vpxd, hostd, vmkernel] | Log sources |
| notify | log_file | ~/.vmware-aiops/scan.log | JSONL log output |
| notify | webhook_url | — | Webhook endpoint (Slack, Discord, etc.) |
VMware-AIops/
├── .claude-plugin/ # Claude Code marketplace manifest
│ └── marketplace.json
├── plugins/ # Claude Code plugin
│ └── vmware-ops/
│ ├── .claude-plugin/
│ │ └── plugin.json
│ └── skills/
│ └── vmware-aiops/
│ └── SKILL.md # Full operations skill
├── skills/ # Skills index (npx skills add)
│ └── vmware-aiops/
│ └── SKILL.md
├── vmware_aiops/ # Python backend
│ ├── config.py # YAML + .env config
│ ├── connection.py # Multi-target pyVmomi
│ ├── cli.py # Typer CLI (double confirm)
│ ├── ops/ # Operations
│ │ ├── inventory.py # VMs, hosts, datastores, clusters
│ │ ├── health.py # Alarms, events, sensors
│ │ └── vm_lifecycle.py # VM CRUD, snapshots, clone, migrate
│ ├── scanner/ # Log scanning daemon
│ └── notify/ # Notifications (JSONL + webhook)
├── gemini-extension/ # Gemini CLI extension
│ ├── gemini-extension.json
│ └── GEMINI.md
├── codex-skill/ # Codex + Aider + Continue
│ ├── SKILL.md
│ └── AGENTS.md
├── trae-rules/ # Trae IDE rules
│ └── project_rules.md
├── kimi-skill/ # Kimi Code CLI skill
│ └── SKILL.md
├── mcp_server/ # MCP server wrapper
│ ├── server.py # FastMCP server with tools
│ └── __main__.py
├── smithery.yaml # Smithery marketplace config
├── RELEASE_NOTES.md
├── config.example.yaml
└── pyproject.toml
Built on pyVmomi (vSphere Web Services API / SOAP).
| API Object | Usage |
|---|---|
vim.VirtualMachine |
VM lifecycle, snapshots, clone, migrate |
vim.HostSystem |
ESXi host info, sensors, services |
vim.Datastore |
Storage capacity, type, accessibility |
vim.ClusterComputeResource |
Cluster, DRS, HA |
vim.Network |
Network listing |
vim.alarm.AlarmManager |
Active alarm monitoring |
vim.event.EventManager |
Event/log queries |
| Project | Description | Install |
|---|---|---|
| VMware-Monitor | Read-only monitoring — code-level enforced safety, zero destructive operations | npx skills add zw008/VMware-Monitor |
| VMware-AIops (this repo) | Full AI-powered operations — monitoring + VM lifecycle management | npx skills add zw008/VMware-AIops |
Choosing between them: Use VMware-Monitor if you only need read-only monitoring with zero risk of accidental changes. Use VMware-AIops if you need full operations (create, delete, power, snapshot, clone, migrate).
If you encounter any errors or issues, please send the error message, logs, or screenshots to zhouwei008@gmail.com. Contributions are welcome — feel free to join us in maintaining and improving this project!
MIT