VMware ESXi basic command reference

To find ESX software version and build:
# vmware -v
  VMware ESXi 4.1.0 build-348481
# vmware -l
  VMware ESXi 4.1.0 Update 1


To know the Hostname and IP Addess:
# hostname -s
   vmesxi-ht1
# hostname -i
  171.12.13.14


To find list of VMs running:
# vm-support -x
VMware ESX Support Script 1.33
Available worlds to debug:
wid=6342 hostlx03
wid=608998 cactty01


# vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
Vmid Name File Guest OS Version Annotation
144 cactty01 [datastore1] cacllm01-d2_template/cacllm01-d2_template.vmx rhel5_64Guest vmx-07 Linux host with RHEL 5.6 64bit OS with JDK 1.6
48 hostlx03 [datastore1] htblsb03/htblsb03.vmx rhel5Guest vmx-07
#


To see the running processes
# esxtop


To get the list of services:
# chkconfig --list
DCUI on
TSM-SSH on
TSM on
.
[ Output truncated]
#


To check NIC properties:
# esxcfg-nics -l
Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex MAC Address MTU Description
vmnic0 0000:10:00.00 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 5c:f3:fc:21:b5:e4 1500 Broadcom Corporation Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5709 1000Base-SX
vmnic1 0000:10:00.01 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 5c:f3:fc:21:b5:e6 1500 Broadcom Corporation Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5709 1000Base-SX
vusb0 Pseudo cdc_ether Up 0Mbps Half 5e:f3:fc:23:b5:e7 1500 Unknown Unknown
#
# esxcfg-vmknic -l
Interface Port Group/DVPort IP Family IP Address Netmask Broadcast MAC Address MTU TSO MSS Enabled Type
vmk0 Management Network IPv4 10.20.21.160 255.255.255.0 10.20.21.255 5c:f3:fc:21:b5:e4 1500 65535 true STATIC


# esxcfg-vswitch -l
Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks
vSwitch0 128 5 128 1500 vmnic0
PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
VM Network 4095 2 vmnic0
Management Network 0 1 vmnic0
Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks
vSwitch2 128 3 128 1500 vmnic1
PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
VM Network 3 0 1 vmnic1
#


# vsish -e get net/pNics/vmnic0/properties
properties {
Driver Name:bnx2
Driver Version:2.0.7d-3vmw
Driver Firmware Version:5.2.3 NCSI 2.0.10
System Device Name:vmnic0
Module Interface Used By The Driver:vmklinux26
Device Hardware Cap Supported:: 0x3c032b -> VMNET_CAP_SG Device Software Cap Activated:: 0x800000 -> VMNET_CAP_RDONLY_INETHDRS
Interrupt Vector:0xff
Link Up:1
Speed (Mb/s):1000
Full Duplex:1
Uplink Port ID:0x01000002
.
[ Output truncated ]
 #
PS: As there are already several well-written article on this subject, I don't wanna put more effort on it. So here am recommending couple of links which am impressed with:
http://b2v.co.uk/b2vguide2vmware3.htm
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/vcli41/doc/reference/index.html