VMware-AIops

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.vmware-skills/vmware-aiops -->

VMware AIops

Author: Wei Zhou, VMware by Broadcom — wei-wz.zhou@broadcom.com This is a community-driven project by a VMware engineer, not an official VMware product. For official VMware developer tools see developer.broadcom.com.

English | 中文

AI-powered VMware vCenter/ESXi VM lifecycle and deployment tool — 60 tools.

Companion skills handle everything else: | Skill | Scope | Install | |-------|-------|---------| | vmware-monitor | Read-only: inventory, health, alarms, events, metrics | uv tool install vmware-monitor | | vmware-storage | Datastores, iSCSI, vSAN management | uv tool install vmware-storage | | vmware-vks | Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle | uv tool install vmware-vks | Need read-only monitoring only? Use VMware-Monitor — zero destructive code in the codebase.

   

⚡ Quick Investigation Reports (read-only)

Triage → investigate → act, all in one conversation. Five opinionated read-only reports aggregate and correlate server-side and hand back a high-signal result (never raw inventory), so you can decide where to look before changing anything. Each renders a self-contained offline HTML snapshot with --html (no external assets; drill-down detail collapses in native <details>, zero JavaScript). All delegate to the vmware-monitor library using AIops's own vCenter connection.

| Question | Command | What it correlates | |----------|---------|--------------------| | "What needs attention now?" across all vCenters | vmware-aiops attention | Every vCenter merged into one globally-ranked issue list; unreachable targets degrade gracefully | | "Is anything on fire?" across all clusters | vmware-aiops summary | Every cluster's hosts + VM power + live CPU/mem + alarms → ranked top-N issues + per-cluster status | | "What's happening around this VM?" | vmware-aiops investigate vm <name> | VM state + host + cluster + backing datastores + snapshots + alarms + performance + a merged event timeline | | "What's happening around this host?" | vmware-aiops investigate host <name> | Host state + cluster + the VMs it runs + mounted datastores + alarms + performance + correlated timeline | | "What's happening around this datastore?" | vmware-aiops investigate datastore <name> | Capacity/free + mounting hosts + VMs it backs + alarms + correlated timeline |

vmware-aiops attention                            # what needs attention now, all vCenters
vmware-aiops investigate vm web-01 --hours 72     # everything around a VM, then act on it
vmware-aiops investigate vm web-01 --html         # → offline snapshot in ~/vmware-health/

Via MCP these are the tools cluster_health_summary, cross_vcenter_attention, vm_investigation_bundle, host_investigation_bundle, datastore_investigation_bundle. (Requires vmware-monitor installed.)

Quick Install (Recommended)

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

# Via Skills.sh
npx skills add vmware-skills/VMware-AIops

# Via ClawHub
clawhub install vmware-aiops

PyPI Install (No GitHub Access Required)

# Install via uv (recommended)
uv tool install vmware-aiops

# Or via pip
pip install vmware-aiops

# China mainland mirror (faster)
pip install vmware-aiops -i https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple

Offline / Air-Gapped Install (from source)

This project uses the modern PEP 517 build system (hatchling), so there is no setup.py by design — that is expected, not a missing file. If you cloned the source and hit ERROR: File "setup.py" or "setup.cfg" not found ... editable mode currently requires a setuptools-based build, your pip is older than 21.3 and cannot do an editable (-e) install with a non-setuptools backend. Editable mode is a developer convenience, not needed to run the tool — do one of:

# From the source tree — a normal (non-editable) install builds a wheel:
pip install .              # NOT  pip install -e .

# ...or upgrade pip first, and editable works too:
pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -e .

For a truly air-gapped host, build the wheels on a connected machine and copy them over — the target then needs no network:

# On a connected machine, collect this package + its dependencies as wheels:
pip wheel . -w dist        # → dist/*.whl   (or: uv build, for just this package)

# Copy dist/ to the air-gapped host, then install offline:
pip install --no-index --find-links dist vmware-aiops

---

Why this over other VMware MCP servers

Most open-source VMware MCP servers (e.g. bright8192/esxi-mcp-server, giuliolibrando/vmware-vsphere-mcp-server) are single-vCenter VM wrappers: list/power/snapshot a VM, basic monitoring, a confirm=True flag. They explicitly do not cover networking, storage, Kubernetes, ops analytics, load balancing, or compliance — and "logging is documented" is not an audit trail.

This is one skill in an 11-package family that covers the whole estate and runs every tool through a governed harness:

| | Other VMware MCP servers | This family | |---|:---:|:---:| | VM lifecycle + monitoring | ✅ | ✅ | | NSX networking (segments/gateways/NAT/routing/IPAM) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-nsx | | NSX security (DFW/groups/IDS-IPS/traceflow) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-nsx-security | | Storage (datastore/iSCSI/vSAN) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-storage | | Tanzu Kubernetes (Supervisor/Namespace/TKC) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-vks | | Aria Operations (metrics/alerts/capacity) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-aria | | AVI / NSX ALB load balancing + AKO | ❌ | ✅ vmware-avi | | Compliance baselines + drift (CIS/SCG/等保/PCI) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-harden | | Governed harness (unified audit, policy engine, token budget + runaway breaker, graduated risk tiers, undo-token, prompt-injection sanitize) | ❌ | ✅ vmware-policy on every tool |

If you only ever power-cycle VMs in one vCenter, a single-file server is fine. If you run a real (regulated, NSX-segmented, multi-domain) VMware estate and need an AI operator an auditor can sign off on, that's what this family is for — see docs/compliance-ready.md.

Capabilities Overview

What This Skill Does

| Category | Tools | Count | |----------|-------|:-----:| | VM Lifecycle | power on/off, TTL auto-delete, clean slate | 6 | | Deployment | OVA, template, linked clone, batch clone/deploy | 8 | | Guest Ops | exec commands, upload/download files, provision | 5 | | Plan/Apply | multi-step planning with rollback | 4 | | Cluster | create, delete, HA/DRS config, add/remove hosts | 6 | | Datastore | browse files, scan for images | 2 | | Network | dvSwitch portgroup list/create, host VMkernel list/add/remove, DF-bit MTU-path ping | 6 |

CLI vs MCP: Which Mode to Use

| Scenario | Recommended | Why | |----------|:-----------:|-----| | Local/small models (Ollama, Qwen <32B) | CLI | ~2K tokens context vs ~10K for MCP; small models struggle with many tool schemas | | Token-sensitive workflows | CLI | SKILL.md + Bash tool = minimal overhead | | Cloud models (Claude, GPT-4o) | Either | Both work; MCP gives structured JSON I/O | | Automated pipelines / Agent chaining | MCP | Type-safe parameters, structured output, no shell parsing | | Monitoring / storage / K8s | Companion skills | See vmware-monitor, vmware-storage, vmware-vks |

Rule of thumb: Use CLI for cost efficiency and small models. Use MCP for structured automation with large models.

Architecture

User (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

Version Compatibility

| vSphere / VCF Version | Support | Notes | |----------------|---------|-------| | VCF 9.1 / vSphere 9.1 | ✅ Full | Released 2026-05-12. pyVmomi <10.0 resolves and connects via SOAP; new REST-only features (PATCH /deployment/size, IPv6-only GOSC) not yet wrapped — see VCF Python SDK for those. | | VCF 9.0 / vSphere 9.0 | ✅ Full | pyVmomi 8.0.3+ connects against vSphere 9 SOAP API. From VCF 9, pyVmomi is also bundled inside the unified VCF Python SDK. | | 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 7.0 / 8.0 / 9.0 / 9.1 environments seamlessly.

Official Broadcom References

• SDKs: <https://developer.broadcom.com/sdks> — VCF Python SDK (recommended for VCF 9+, bundles pyVmomi + vSAN SDK), vSphere Automation SDK for Python (REST APIs)
• REST APIs: <https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis> — vSphere Automation API, VCF API, SDDC Manager API
• CLI Tools: <https://developer.broadcom.com/tools> — PowerCLI 9.1, ESXCLI, OVF Tool

---

Common Workflows

Deploy a Lab Environment

1. Browse datastore for OVA images → vmware-aiops datastore browse <ds> --pattern "*.ova"
2. Deploy VM from OVA → vmware-aiops deploy ova ./image.ova --name lab-vm --datastore ds1
3. Install software inside VM → vmware-aiops vm guest-exec lab-vm --cmd /bin/bash --args "-c 'apt-get install -y nginx'" --user root
4. Create baseline snapshot → vmware-aiops vm snapshot-create lab-vm --name baseline
5. Set TTL for auto-cleanup → vmware-aiops vm set-ttl lab-vm --minutes 480

Batch Clone for Testing

1. Create plan: vm_create_plan with multiple clone + reconfigure steps
2. Review plan with user (shows affected VMs, irreversible warnings)
3. Apply: vm_apply_plan executes sequentially, stops on failure
4. If failed: vm_rollback_plan reverses executed steps
5. Set TTL on all clones for auto-cleanup

Migrate VM to Another Host

1. Check VM info via vmware-monitor → verify power state and current host
2. Migrate: vmware-aiops vm migrate my-vm --to-host esxi-02
3. Verify migration completed

---

VM Lifecycle

| 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> | — | ✅ | ✅ | | 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> [--no-wait] | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Task Status | vm task-status <task-id> | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Clone VM | vm clone <name> --new-name <new> | — | ✅ | ✅ | | vMotion | vm migrate <name> --to-host <host> | — | ✅ | ❌ | | Set TTL | vm set-ttl <name> --minutes <n> | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Cancel TTL | vm cancel-ttl <name> | — | ✅ | ✅ | | List TTLs | vm list-ttl | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Clean Slate | vm clean-slate <name> [--snapshot baseline] | Double | ✅ | ✅ | | Guest Exec | vm guest-exec <name> --cmd /bin/bash --args "..." | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Guest Exec (with output) | vm guest-exec-output <name> --cmd "df -h" | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Guest Upload | vm guest-upload <name> --local f.sh --guest /tmp/f.sh | — | ✅ | ✅ | | Guest Download | vm guest-download <name> --guest /var/log/syslog --local ./syslog | — | ✅ | ✅ |

Guest Operations require VMware Tools running inside the guest OS. guest-exec-output auto-detects Linux/Windows shell and captures stdout/stderr.

Plan → Apply (Multi-step Operations)

For complex operations involving 2+ steps or 2+ VMs, use the plan/apply workflow instead of executing individually:

| Step | What Happens | |------|-------------| | 1. Create Plan | AI calls vm_create_plan — validates actions, checks targets in vSphere, generates plan with rollback info | | 2. Review | AI shows plan to user: steps, affected VMs, irreversible warnings | | 3. Apply | vm_apply_plan executes sequentially; stops on failure | | 4. Rollback (if failed) | Asks user whether to rollback, then vm_rollback_plan reverses executed steps (irreversible steps skipped) |

Plans stored in ~/.vmware-aiops/plans/, auto-deleted on success, auto-cleaned after 24h.

VM Deployment & Provisioning

| Operation | Command | Speed | vCenter | ESXi | |-----------|---------|:-----:|:-------:|:----:| | Deploy from OVA | deploy ova <path> --name <vm> | Minutes | ✅ | ✅ | | Deploy from Template | deploy template <tmpl> --name <vm> | Minutes | ✅ | ✅ | | Linked Clone | deploy linked-clone --source <vm> --snapshot <snap> --name <new> | Seconds | ✅ | ✅ | | Attach ISO | deploy iso <vm> --iso "[ds] path/to.iso" | Instant | ✅ | ✅ | | Convert to Template | deploy mark-template <vm> | Instant | ✅ | ✅ | | Batch Clone | deploy batch-clone --source <vm> --count <n> | Minutes | ✅ | ✅ | | Batch Deploy (YAML) | deploy batch spec.yaml | Auto | ✅ | ✅ |

Cluster Management

| Operation | Command | Confirmation | vCenter | ESXi | |-----------|---------|:------------:|:-------:|:----:| | Cluster Info | cluster info <name> | — | ✅ | ❌ | | Create Cluster | cluster create <name> [--ha] [--drs] | — | ✅ | ❌ | | Delete Cluster | cluster delete <name> | Double | ✅ | ❌ | | Add Host | cluster add-host <cluster> --host <host> | Double | ✅ | ❌ | | Remove Host | cluster remove-host <cluster> --host <host> | Double | ✅ | ❌ | | Configure HA/DRS | cluster configure <name> [--ha/--no-ha] [--drs/--no-drs] | Double | ✅ | ❌ |

remove-host requires the host to be in maintenance mode first; the host is moved out of the cluster into the datacenter's host folder as a standalone host.

Alarm Management

| Operation | Command | Confirmation | vCenter | ESXi | |-----------|---------|:------------:|:-------:|:----:| | List Triggered Alarms | alarm list [--target <t>] | — | ✅ | ❌ | | Acknowledge Alarm | alarm acknowledge <entity> <alarm> | — | ✅ | ❌ | | Clear (Reset) Alarms | alarm reset <entity> <alarm> | Double | ✅ | ❌ |

Blast radius: vSphere has no per-alarm clear API. alarm reset uses AlarmManager.ClearTriggeredAlarms, which clears all triggered alarms matching the named alarm's entity type (host/VM/all) and current status (red/yellow) — not just the named one. The named alarm is looked up first (typos fail fast), and the output's scope field reports exactly what was cleared. Cleared alarms re-trigger automatically if their underlying condition persists.

Datastore Browser

| Feature | vCenter | ESXi | Details | |---------|:-------:|:----:|---------| | Browse Files | ✅ | ✅ | List files/folders in any datastore path | | Scan Images | ✅ | ✅ | Discover ISO, OVA, OVF, VMDK across all datastores |

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, 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 |

Safety Features

| 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 — only for ESXi with self-signed certs in isolated labs; production should use CA-signed certificates | | Prompt Injection Protection | vSphere event messages and host logs are truncated, stripped of control characters, and wrapped in boundary markers before output | | Webhook Data Scope | Sends notifications to user-configured URLs only — no third-party services by default | | Task Waiting | All async operations wait for completion and report result | | State Validation | Pre-operation checks (VM exists, power state correct) |

vCenter vs ESXi Comparison

| Capability | vCenter | ESXi Standalone | |------------|:-------:|:----:| | vMotion migration | ✅ | ❌ | | Cross-host clone | ✅ | ❌ | | Cluster management | ✅ | ❌ | | All VM lifecycle ops | ✅ | ✅ | | OVA/Template/Linked Clone deploy | ✅ | ✅ | | Datastore browsing & image scan | ✅ | ✅ | | Snapshots | ✅ | ✅ | | Guest operations | ✅ | ✅ |

Inventory, alarms, events, sensors, host services, and scanning are now in vmware-monitor.

---

Troubleshooting

"VM not found" error

VM names are case-sensitive in vSphere. Use exact name from vmware-monitor inventory vms.

Guest exec returns empty output

Use vm_guest_exec_output instead of vm_guest_exec — it auto-captures stdout/stderr. Basic vm_guest_exec only returns exit code.

Deploy OVA times out

Large OVA files (>10GB) may exceed the default 120s timeout. The upload happens via HTTP NFC lease — ensure network between the machine running vmware-aiops and ESXi is stable.

Plan apply fails mid-way

Run vmware-aiops plan list to see failed plan status. Ask user if they want to rollback with vm_rollback_plan. Irreversible steps (delete_vm) are skipped during rollback.

Connection refused / SSL error

1. Verify target is reachable: vmware-aiops doctor
2. For self-signed certs: set disableSslCertValidation: true in config.yaml (lab environments only)

---

Supported AI Platforms

| Platform | Status | Config File | AI Model | |----------|--------|-------------|----------| | Claude Code | ✅ Native Skill | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Anthropic Claude | | Gemini CLI | ✅ Context file + MCP | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Google Gemini | | OpenAI Codex CLI | ✅ Skill + AGENTS.md | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | OpenAI GPT | | Aider | ✅ Conventions | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Any (cloud + local) | | Continue CLI | ✅ Rules | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Any (cloud + local) | | Trae IDE | ✅ Rules | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Claude/DeepSeek/GPT-4o/Doubao | | Kimi Code CLI | ✅ Skill | skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md | Moonshot Kimi | | MCP Server | ✅ MCP Protocol | vmware_aiops/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 | Context file | SKILL.md | — | Rules | Rules | SKILL.md | | MCP support | Native | Native | Via Skills | Third-party | Native | — | — | | Free tier | — | 60 req/min | — | Self-hosted | Self-hosted | — | — |

MCP Server Integrations

The vmware-aiops MCP server works with any MCP-compatible agent or tool. Ready-to-use configuration templates are in examples/mcp-configs/.

| Agent / Tool | Local Model Support | Config Template | Integration Guide | |-------------|:-------------------:|-----------------|-------------------| | Xiaoguai (小怪) | ✅ Self-hosted, any LLM | MCP setup | Guide | | Goose | ✅ Ollama, LM Studio | goose.json | Guide | | LocalCowork | ✅ Fully offline | localcowork.json | Guide | | mcp-agent | ✅ Ollama, vLLM | mcp-agent.yaml | Guide | | VS Code Copilot | — | vscode-copilot.json | Guide | | Cursor | — | cursor.json | Guide | | Continue | ✅ Ollama | continue.yaml | Guide | | Claude Code | — | claude-code.json | — |

Xiaoguai (小怪) — a self-hostable, audit-first agent platform (Rust, single binary + embedded SQLite) from the same maintainer. It runs the vmware-aiops MCP server as one of its toolboxes; being both an MCP consumer and an MCP server, its HMAC-chained audit log and human-on-the-loop approval gates line up with this skill's own audit + confirm design. See its MCP integration guide.

Fully local operation (no cloud API required):

# Aider + Ollama + vmware-aiops (via SKILL.md)
aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b

# Any MCP agent + local model + vmware-aiops MCP server
# See examples/mcp-configs/ for your agent's config format

---

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

All platforms share the same Python backend.

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

Step 2: Configure

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

Set passwords via .env file (recommended): ```bash

Use the template

cp .env.example ~/.vmware-aiops/.env

Edit and fill in your passwords, then lock permissions

chmod 600 ~/.vmware-aiops/.env ```

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

### Security Best Practices

- **NEVER** hardcode passwords in scripts or config files
- **NEVER** pass passwords as command-line arguments (visible in `ps`)
- **ALWAYS** use `~/.vmware-aiops/.env` with `chmod 600`
- **ALWAYS** configure connections via `config.yaml` — credentials are loaded from `.env` automatically
- **Config File Contents**: `config.yaml` stores target hostnames, ports, and a reference to the `.env` file. It does **not** contain passwords or tokens. All secrets are stored exclusively in `.env`
- **TLS**: Enabled by default. Disable only for ESXi hosts with self-signed certificates in isolated lab environments
- **Webhook**: Disabled by default. When enabled, sends monitoring summaries to your own configured URL only — payloads contain no credentials, IPs, or PII, only aggregated alert metadata. No data sent to third-party services
- **Least Privilege**: Use a dedicated vCenter service account with minimal permissions. For monitoring-only use cases, prefer the read-only [VMware-Monitor](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor)
- **Prompt Injection Protection**: All vSphere-sourced content is truncated, stripped of control characters, and wrapped in boundary markers before output
- **Code Review**: We recommend reviewing the [source code](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops) and commit history before deploying in production
- **Production Safety**: For production environments, use the read-only [VMware-Monitor](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor) instead. AI agents can misinterpret context and execute unintended destructive operations — real-world incidents have shown that AI-driven infrastructure tools without proper isolation can delete production databases and entire environments. VMware-Monitor eliminates this risk at the code level: no destructive functions exist in its codebase

### Step 3: Connect Your AI Tool

Choose one (or more) of the following:

---

#### Option A: Claude Code

**Method 1: Skills.sh or ClawHub (recommended)**

Either installer places the skill in Claude Code's skills directory for you:

npx skills add vmware-skills/VMware-AIops

or

clawhub install vmware-aiops ```

Method 2: Manual skill install

git clone https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops.git
cd VMware-AIops

# Copy the skill into Claude Code's personal skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/vmware-aiops
cp -r skills/vmware-aiops/. ~/.claude/skills/vmware-aiops/

For tool access (not just skill context), also register the MCP server:

claude mcp add vmware-aiops -- vmware-aiops mcp

Restart Claude Code, then: `` > Show me all VMs on esxi-lab.example.com ``

Submit to Official Marketplace

This plugin can also be submitted to the Anthropic official plugin directory for public discovery.

---

Option B: Gemini CLI

# Install Gemini CLI
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

# Load the skill as project context (Gemini CLI reads GEMINI.md on startup)
cp skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ./GEMINI.md

For tool access (not just context), register the MCP server in ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-aiops": {
      "command": "vmware-aiops",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": { "VMWARE_AIOPS_CONFIG": "~/.vmware-aiops/config.yaml" }
    }
  }
}

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-aiops
cp skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ~/.codex/skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md

# Copy AGENTS.md to project root
cp skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ./AGENTS.md

Then start Codex CLI: ``bash 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 skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md

# Or with local model via Ollama
aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.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 skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md .continue/rules/vmware-aiops.md

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

• name: local-coder

provider: ollama model: qwen2.5-coder:32b ```

Then: ``bash 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 skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.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-aiops
cp skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ~/.kimi/skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md

---

Option H: MCP Server (Glama / Claude Desktop)

The MCP server exposes VMware operations as tools via the Model Context Protocol. Works with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.).

After uv tool install vmware-aiops, start the MCP server with one command (v1.5.15+):

# Recommended — single command, no network re-resolve
vmware-aiops mcp

# With a custom config path
VMWARE_AIOPS_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml vmware-aiops mcp

Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json): ``json { "mcpServers": { "vmware-aiops": { "command": "vmware-aiops", "args": ["mcp"], "env": { "VMWARE_AIOPS_CONFIG": "/path/to/config.yaml" } } } } ``

<details> <summary>Alternative: uvx (no install) or legacy entry point</summary>

# Run without installing (requires PyPI access each launch)
uvx --from vmware-aiops vmware-aiops mcp

# Legacy entry point (still works, kept for backward compatibility)
vmware-aiops-mcp

Behind a corporate TLS proxy? uvx may fail with invalid peer certificate: UnknownIssuer. Use the recommended vmware-aiops mcp form above (no network needed), or set UV_NATIVE_TLS=true.

</details>

---

Option I: Standalone CLI (no AI)

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

vmware-aiops vm power-on my-vm --target home-esxi
vmware-aiops deploy ova ./ubuntu.ova --name my-vm --target home-esxi
vmware-aiops datastore browse datastore1 --target home-esxi

---

Update / Upgrade

Already installed? Re-run the install command for your channel to get the latest version:

| Install Channel | Update Command | |----------------|----------------| | ClawHub | clawhub install vmware-aiops | | Skills.sh | npx skills add vmware-skills/VMware-AIops | | Git clone | cd VMware-AIops && git pull origin main && uv pip install -e . | | uv | uv tool install vmware-aiops --force |

Check your current version: vmware-aiops --version

---

Chinese Cloud Models

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

DeepSeek

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 skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model deepseek/deepseek-coder

Persistent config ~/.aider.conf.yml: ``yaml model: deepseek/deepseek-coder conventions: skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ``

Qwen (Alibaba Cloud)

Alibaba 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 skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model qwen/qwen-coder-plus

Or via OpenAI-compatible endpoint: ```bash export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1" export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-dashscope-key"

aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \ --model qwen-coder-plus-latest ```

Doubao (ByteDance)

export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/v3"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-ark-key"

aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model your-doubao-endpoint-id

With Continue CLI

Configure ~/.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-latest

---

Local Models (Aider + Ollama)

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

Aider + Ollama + local Qwen/DeepSeek is ideal for air-gapped environments.

Step 1: Install Ollama

# macOS
brew install ollama

# Linux — download from https://ollama.com/download and install manually
# See https://github.com/ollama/ollama for platform-specific instructions

Step 2: Pull a model

| 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.

Step 3: Run with Aider

pip install aider-chat
ollama serve

# Aider + local Qwen (recommended)
aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b

# Aider + local DeepSeek
aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model ollama/deepseek-coder-v2

# Low-memory option
aider --conventions skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md \
  --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:7b

Persistent config ~/.aider.conf.yml: ``yaml model: ollama/qwen2.5-coder:32b conventions: skills/vmware-aiops/SKILL.md ``

Local Architecture

User → 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.

---

CLI Reference

# Diagnostics
vmware-aiops doctor                   # Check environment, config, connectivity
vmware-aiops doctor --skip-auth       # Skip vSphere auth check (faster)

# MCP Config Generator
vmware-aiops mcp-config generate --agent goose        # Generate config for Goose
vmware-aiops mcp-config generate --agent claude-code  # Generate config for Claude Code
vmware-aiops mcp-config list                          # List all supported agents

# VM operations
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 (waits ≤30 min for consolidation)
vmware-aiops vm snapshot-delete my-vm --name "old-big" --no-wait  # Fire async, return a task id
vmware-aiops vm task-status task-1234                          # Poll an async task by id
vmware-aiops vm clone my-vm --new-name my-vm-clone             # Clone VM
vmware-aiops vm migrate my-vm --to-host esxi-02                # vMotion
vmware-aiops vm set-ttl my-vm --minutes 60                     # Auto-delete in 60 min
vmware-aiops vm cancel-ttl my-vm                               # Cancel TTL
vmware-aiops vm list-ttl                                       # Show all TTLs
vmware-aiops vm clean-slate my-vm --snapshot baseline          # Revert to baseline (2x confirm)

# Guest Operations (requires VMware Tools in guest)
vmware-aiops vm guest-exec my-vm --cmd /bin/bash --args "-c 'whoami'" --user root
vmware-aiops vm guest-upload my-vm --local ./script.sh --guest /tmp/script.sh --user root
vmware-aiops vm guest-download my-vm --guest /var/log/syslog --local ./syslog.txt --user root

# Plan → Apply (multi-step operations)
vmware-aiops plan list                                        # List pending/failed plans

# Deploy
vmware-aiops deploy ova ./ubuntu.ova --name my-vm --datastore ds1      # Deploy from OVA
vmware-aiops deploy template golden-ubuntu --name new-vm               # Deploy from template
vmware-aiops deploy linked-clone --source base-vm --snapshot clean --name test-vm  # Linked clone (seconds)
vmware-aiops deploy iso my-vm --iso "[datastore1] iso/ubuntu-22.04.iso"  # Attach ISO
vmware-aiops deploy mark-template golden-vm                            # Convert VM to template
vmware-aiops deploy batch-clone --source base-vm --count 5 --prefix lab  # Batch clone
vmware-aiops deploy batch deploy.yaml                                  # Batch deploy from YAML spec

# Cluster
vmware-aiops cluster info my-cluster                                   # Cluster details (HA/DRS status)
vmware-aiops cluster create my-cluster --ha --drs                      # Create cluster with HA+DRS
vmware-aiops cluster delete my-cluster                                 # Delete cluster (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops cluster add-host my-cluster --host esxi-03                # Add host to cluster (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops cluster remove-host my-cluster --host esxi-03             # Remove host (2x confirm)
vmware-aiops cluster configure my-cluster --ha --drs                   # Configure HA/DRS (2x confirm)

# Alarm management
vmware-aiops alarm list                                                # List triggered alarms
vmware-aiops alarm acknowledge esxi-01 "Host memory usage"             # Acknowledge alarm
vmware-aiops alarm reset esxi-01 "Host memory usage"                   # Clear alarms (2x confirm; clears ALL matching entity type + status)

# Datastore (browse and scan only — iSCSI/vSAN moved to vmware-storage)
vmware-aiops datastore browse datastore1 --path "iso/"                 # Browse datastore
vmware-aiops datastore scan-images --target home-esxi                  # Scan all datastores for images

# 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

# Companion skills for other operations:
#   vmware-monitor: inventory, alarms, events, sensors
#   vmware-storage: datastores, iSCSI, vSAN
#   vmware-vks:     Tanzu/TKC cluster lifecycle

---

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 | | 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.) |

---

Project Structure

VMware-AIops/
├── skills/                        # Skills index (npx skills add)
│   └── vmware-aiops/
│       ├── SKILL.md               # Slimmed-down skill (progressive disclosure)
│       └── references/            # Detailed docs loaded on-demand
│           ├── capabilities.md    # Full capabilities tables
│           ├── cli-reference.md   # Complete CLI reference
│           └── setup-guide.md     # Install, security, AI platforms
├── vmware_aiops/                  # Python backend
│   ├── config.py                  # YAML + .env config
│   ├── connection.py              # Multi-target pyVmomi
│   ├── cli/                       # 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
│   │   ├── vm_deploy.py           # OVA, template, linked clone, batch deploy
│   │   └── datastore_browser.py   # Datastore browsing, image discovery
│   ├── scanner/                   # Log scanning daemon
│   ├── notify/                    # Notifications (JSONL + webhook)
│   └── mcp_server/                # MCP server wrapper
│       ├── server.py              # FastMCP server with tools
│       └── __main__.py
├── examples/mcp-configs/          # MCP client config templates
├── tests/                         # Test suite
├── smithery.yaml                  # Smithery marketplace config
├── RELEASE_NOTES.md
├── config.example.yaml
└── pyproject.toml

API Coverage

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.host.DatastoreBrowser | File browsing, image discovery (ISO/OVA/VMDK) | | vim.OvfManager | OVA import and deployment | | vim.ClusterComputeResource | Cluster, DRS, HA | | vim.Network | Network listing | | vim.alarm.AlarmManager | Active alarm monitoring | | vim.event.EventManager | Event/log queries |

Related Projects

| Skill | Scope | Tools | Install | |-------|-------|:-----:|---------| | vmware-aiops | VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops, cluster, datastore browse, triage | 49 | uv tool install vmware-aiops | | vmware-monitor | Read-only monitoring, alarms, events, investigation bundles | 27 | uv tool install vmware-monitor | | vmware-storage | Datastores, iSCSI, vSAN | 11 | uv tool install vmware-storage | | vmware-vks | Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle | 20 | uv tool install vmware-vks | | vmware-nsx | NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT, routing, IPAM | 33 | uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt | | vmware-nsx-security | DFW policies/rules, security groups, Traceflow, IDS/IPS | 21 | uv tool install vmware-nsx-security | | vmware-aria | Aria Operations metrics, alerts, capacity, anomalies | 28 | uv tool install vmware-aria | | vmware-avi | AVI (NSX ALB) load balancing, AKO Kubernetes ops | 28 | uv tool install vmware-avi | | vmware-harden | Compliance baselines (CIS / vSphere SCG / 等保 / PCI-DSS), drift detection | 6 | uv tool install vmware-harden |

---

Troubleshooting & Contributing

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!

License

MIT