VMware Monitor

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Read-only VMware vCenter/ESXi monitoring tool. Code-level enforced safety — no destructive operations exist in this codebase.

Why a separate repository? VMware Monitor is fully independent from VMware-AIops. Safety is enforced at the code level: no power off, delete, create, reconfigure, snapshot-create/revert/delete, clone, or migrate functions exist in this codebase. Not just prompt constraints — zero destructive code paths.

Quick Install (Recommended)

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Trae, and 30+ AI agents:

npx skills add zw008/VMware-Monitor

Claude Code Plugin Install

# Add marketplace
/plugin marketplace add zw008/VMware-Monitor

# Install plugin
/plugin install vmware-monitor

# Use the skill
/vmware-monitor:vmware-monitor

Capabilities (Read-Only)

Architecture

User (Natural Language)
  ↓
AI CLI Tool (Claude Code / Gemini / Codex / Aider / Continue / Trae / Kimi)
  ↓ Reads SKILL.md / AGENTS.md / rules
  ↓
vmware-monitor CLI (read-only)
  ↓ pyVmomi (vSphere SOAP API)
  ↓
vCenter Server ──→ ESXi Clusters ──→ VMs
    or
ESXi Standalone ──→ VMs

Version Compatibility

vSphere Version	Support	Notes
8.0 / 8.0U1-U3	✅ Full	pyVmomi 8.0.3+
7.0 / 7.0U1-U3	✅ Full	All read-only APIs supported
6.7	✅ Compatible	Backward-compatible, tested
6.5	✅ Compatible	Backward-compatible, tested

1. Inventory

Feature	vCenter	ESXi	Details
List VMs	✅	✅	Name, power state, CPU, memory, guest OS, IP
List Hosts	✅	⚠️ Self only	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

2. Health & Monitoring

Feature	vCenter	ESXi	Details
Active Alarms	✅	✅	Severity, alarm name, entity, timestamp
Event/Log Query	✅	✅	Filter by time range, severity; 50+ event types
Hardware Sensors	✅	✅	Temperature, voltage, fan status
Host Services	✅	✅	hostd, vpxa running/stopped status

Monitored Event Types:

Category	Events
VM Failures	`VmFailedToPowerOnEvent`, `VmDiskFailedEvent`, `VmFailoverFailed`
Host Issues	`HostConnectionLostEvent`, `HostShutdownEvent`, `HostIpChangedEvent`
Storage	`DatastoreCapacityIncreasedEvent`, SCSI high latency
HA/DRS	`DasHostFailedEvent`, `DrsVmMigratedEvent`, `DrsSoftRuleViolationEvent`
Auth	`UserLoginSessionEvent`, `BadUsernameSessionEvent`

3. VM Info & Snapshot List (Read-Only)

Feature	Details
VM Info	Name, power state, guest OS, CPU, memory, IP, VMware Tools, disks, NICs
Snapshot List	List existing snapshots with name and creation time (no create/revert/delete)

4. Scheduled Scanning & Notifications

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
Structured Log	JSONL output to `~/.vmware-monitor/scan.log`
Webhook	Slack, Discord, or any HTTP endpoint
Daemon Management	`daemon start/stop/status`, PID file, graceful shutdown

5. Safety Features

Feature	Details
Code-Level Isolation	Independent repository — zero destructive functions in codebase
Audit Trail	All queries logged to `~/.vmware-monitor/audit.log` (JSONL)
Password Protection	`.env` file loading with permission check (warn if not 600)
SSL Self-signed Support	`disableSslCertValidation` for ESXi 8.0 self-signed certs

What's NOT Included (By Design)

These operations do not exist in this repository:

❌ Power on/off, reset, suspend VMs
❌ Create, delete, reconfigure VMs
❌ Create, revert, delete snapshots
❌ Clone or migrate VMs
❌ _double_confirm, _show_state_preview, _validate_vm_params

For these operations, use the full VMware-AIops repository.

Supported AI Platforms

Platform	Status	Config File	AI Model
Claude Code	✅ Native Skill	`skills/vmware-monitor/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
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

Platform Comparison

Feature	Claude Code	Gemini CLI	Codex CLI	Aider	Continue	Trae IDE	Kimi CLI
Cloud AI	Anthropic	Google	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	—	—

Installation

Step 0: Prerequisites

# Python 3.10+ required
python3 --version

# Node.js 18+ required for Gemini CLI and Codex CLI
node --version

Step 1: Clone & Install Python Backend

git clone https://github.com/zw008/VMware-Monitor.git
cd VMware-Monitor
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Step 2: Configure

mkdir -p ~/.vmware-monitor
cp config.example.yaml ~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml
# Edit config.yaml with your vCenter/ESXi targets

Set passwords via .env file (recommended):

cp .env.example ~/.vmware-monitor/.env
chmod 600 ~/.vmware-monitor/.env
# Edit and fill in your passwords

Security note: Prefer .env file over command-line export to avoid passwords appearing in shell history.

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

Step 3: Connect Your AI Tool

Choose one (or more) of the following:

Option A: Claude Code (Marketplace)

Method 1: Marketplace (recommended)

In Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add zw008/VMware-Monitor
/plugin install vmware-monitor

Then use:

/vmware-monitor:vmware-monitor
> Show me all VMs on esxi-lab.example.com

Method 2: Local install

# Clone and symlink
git clone https://github.com/zw008/VMware-Monitor.git
ln -sf $(pwd)/VMware-Monitor ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/vmware-monitor

# 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-monitor'] = {
    'source': {'source': 'github', 'repo': 'zw008/VMware-Monitor'},
    'installLocation': str(pathlib.Path.home() / '.claude/plugins/marketplaces/vmware-monitor')
}
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-monitor@vmware-monitor'] = True
f.write_text(json.dumps(d, indent=2))
"

Restart Claude Code, then:

/vmware-monitor:vmware-monitor

Option B: Gemini CLI

# 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-Monitor

Then start Gemini CLI:

gemini
> Show me all VMs on my ESXi host

Option C: OpenAI Codex CLI

# 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-monitor
cp codex-skill/SKILL.md ~/.codex/skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md

# Copy AGENTS.md to project root
cp codex-skill/AGENTS.md ./AGENTS.md

Then start Codex CLI:

codex --enable skills
> List all VMs on my ESXi

Option D: Aider (supports local models)

# 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

Option E: Continue CLI (supports local models)

# Install Continue CLI
npm i -g @continuedev/cli

# Copy rules file
mkdir -p .continue/rules
cp codex-skill/AGENTS.md .continue/rules/vmware-monitor.md

Configure ~/.continue/config.yaml for local model:

models:
  - name: local-coder
    provider: ollama
    model: qwen2.5-coder:32b

Then:

cn
> Check ESXi health and alarms

Option F: Trae IDE

Copy the rules file to your project's .trae/rules/ directory:

mkdir -p .trae/rules
cp trae-rules/project_rules.md .trae/rules/project_rules.md

Trae 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.

Option G: Kimi Code CLI

# Copy skill file to Kimi skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.kimi/skills/vmware-monitor
cp kimi-skill/SKILL.md ~/.kimi/skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md

Option H: MCP Server (Smithery / Glama / Claude Desktop)

The MCP server exposes VMware read-only monitoring 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-monitor-mcp

# With a custom config path
VMWARE_MONITOR_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml python -m mcp_server

Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-monitor": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "VMWARE_MONITOR_CONFIG": "/path/to/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

Install via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @zw008/VMware-Monitor --client claude

Option I: Standalone CLI (no AI)

# Already installed in Step 1
source .venv/bin/activate

vmware-monitor inventory vms --target home-esxi
vmware-monitor health alarms --target home-esxi
vmware-monitor vm info my-vm --target home-esxi

Chinese Cloud Models

For users in China who prefer domestic cloud APIs or have limited access to overseas services.

DeepSeek

export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="your-key"
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
  --model deepseek/deepseek-coder

Qwen (Alibaba Cloud)

export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="your-key"
aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
  --model qwen/qwen-coder-plus

Local Models (Aider + Ollama)

For fully offline operation — no cloud API, no internet, full privacy.

brew install ollama
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:32b
ollama serve

aider --conventions codex-skill/AGENTS.md \
  --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b

CLI Reference

# Inventory
vmware-monitor inventory vms [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor inventory hosts [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor inventory datastores [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor inventory clusters [--target <name>]

# Health
vmware-monitor health alarms [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor health events [--hours 24] [--severity warning]

# VM Info (read-only)
vmware-monitor vm info <vm-name>
vmware-monitor vm snapshot-list <vm-name>

# Scanning & Daemon
vmware-monitor scan now [--target <name>]
vmware-monitor daemon start
vmware-monitor daemon stop
vmware-monitor daemon status

Configuration

See 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
notify	log_file	~/.vmware-monitor/scan.log	JSONL log output
notify	webhook_url	—	Webhook endpoint (Slack, Discord, etc.)

Project Structure

VMware-Monitor/
├── .claude-plugin/                # Claude Code marketplace manifest
│   └── marketplace.json
├── plugins/                       # Claude Code plugin
│   └── vmware-monitor/
│       ├── .claude-plugin/
│       │   └── plugin.json
│       └── skills/
│           └── vmware-monitor/
│               └── SKILL.md       # Read-only monitoring skill
├── skills/                        # Skills index (npx skills add)
│   └── vmware-monitor/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── vmware_monitor/                # Python backend (read-only only)
│   ├── config.py                  # YAML + .env config
│   ├── connection.py              # Multi-target pyVmomi
│   ├── cli.py                     # Typer CLI (read-only commands only)
│   ├── ops/
│   │   ├── inventory.py           # VMs, hosts, datastores, clusters
│   │   ├── health.py              # Alarms, events, sensors
│   │   └── vm_info.py             # VM info, snapshot list (read-only)
│   ├── 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 (read-only tools only)
│   └── server.py
├── .agents/skills/                # Agent orchestration
│   └── vmware-monitor/
│       └── AGENTS.md
├── smithery.yaml                  # Smithery marketplace config
├── RELEASE_NOTES.md
├── config.example.yaml
└── pyproject.toml

Related Projects

Repository	Description	Install
VMware-Monitor (this repo)	Read-only monitoring — code-level safety	`npx skills add zw008/VMware-Monitor`
VMware-AIops	Full operations — monitoring + VM lifecycle	`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).

Troubleshooting & Contributing

If you encounter any errors or issues, please send the error message, logs, or screenshots to zhouwei008@gmail.com. Contributions are welcome!

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 6 Commits
.agents/skills/vmware-monitor		.agents/skills/vmware-monitor
.claude-plugin		.claude-plugin
.github		.github
codex-skill		codex-skill
gemini-extension		gemini-extension
kimi-skill		kimi-skill
mcp_server		mcp_server
plugins/vmware-monitor		plugins/vmware-monitor
skills/vmware-monitor		skills/vmware-monitor
tests		tests
trae-rules		trae-rules
vmware_monitor		vmware_monitor
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README-CN.md		README-CN.md
README.md		README.md
RELEASE_NOTES.md		RELEASE_NOTES.md
config.example.yaml		config.example.yaml
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
smithery.yaml		smithery.yaml

License

zw008/VMware-Monitor

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VMware Monitor

Quick Install (Recommended)

Claude Code Plugin Install

Capabilities (Read-Only)

Architecture

Version Compatibility

1. Inventory

2. Health & Monitoring

3. VM Info & Snapshot List (Read-Only)

4. Scheduled Scanning & Notifications

5. Safety Features

What's NOT Included (By Design)

Supported AI Platforms

Platform Comparison

Installation

Step 0: Prerequisites

Step 1: Clone & Install Python Backend

Step 2: Configure

Step 3: Connect Your AI Tool

Option A: Claude Code (Marketplace)

Option B: Gemini CLI

Option C: OpenAI Codex CLI

Option D: Aider (supports local models)

Option E: Continue CLI (supports local models)

Option F: Trae IDE

Option G: Kimi Code CLI

Option H: MCP Server (Smithery / Glama / Claude Desktop)

Option I: Standalone CLI (no AI)

Chinese Cloud Models

DeepSeek

Qwen (Alibaba Cloud)

Local Models (Aider + Ollama)

CLI Reference

Configuration

Project Structure

Related Projects

Troubleshooting & Contributing

License

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