I need to set up an ESXi 5.1 box to run some pre-made VMs that will not run well under VMware Workstation. I have started testing this, but cannot figure out where the @#$% the control comes from other than vSphere Client, which runs only on Windows. I get strong hints that, at least under earlier versions of ESXi, you could do most of the necessary things (start and stop VMs, add files to the datastore, configure new VMs, and so on) from a command line. However, VMware's site is now so littered with related products, it is impossible to find whether this low-end scenario is supported.
I would imagine that a lot of serverfaulters would rather not have some of their critical infrastucture running on Windows. Let us set up a hypervisor box, and we'll control it from SSH. If there is a guide for how to do this for ESXi 5.1, I'm not finding it. Clues appreciated.
Yes, you can run a single ESXi system from the command line and avoid the vSphere client. I don't think it's worth the effort, though...
Professional engineers use the right tool(s) for the job. If that means Windows is the primary interface for VMware and VMware is the platform I need, then it is what it is.
If you step up to the paid version (~$500), you'll gain access to the vCenter appliance. This is Linux-based and can provide you access to the vSphere web-accessible management interface. This is the direction VMware is going with the vSphere line, so Windows isn't a firm requirement.
It can certainly all be done the command line, but as to if it's "well" is up to you.