Since my first few posts on this got a bit of attention, I thought I’d add some more to this. In today’s post we’ll cover adding or deleting a route, and setting a default route. I’ve got requests for others that will keep the next few weeks worth of VIX posts busy.

We’ll cover this against both a Windows and a Linux guest, because well… VIX is flexible like that. Remember, if you have any trouble, check that your VMware Tools are running, your command syntax is correct, and that you have the right user & password settings.

On Windows:

Traditionally this would be done by logging into the guest OS, and running one of the following commands:

Adding:
Temporary Route: route add 192.168.100.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.15.1 1
Permanent Route: route add -p 192.168.100.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.15.1 1

Deleting:
route delete 192.168.100.0

Doing this in VIX is as simple as:

Before:

Adding:
vmrun -T esx -h https://esx/sdk -u cody.bunch -p password -gu guest.user -gp guest.password runProgramInGuest "[datastore] vm/vmx.vmx" c:\windows\system32\route.exe add -p 192.168.100.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.15.1

Deleting:
vmrun -T esx -h https://esx/sdk -u cody.bunch -p password -gu guest.user -gp guest.password runProgramInGuest "[datastore] vm/vmx.vmx" c:\windows\system32\route.exe delete 192.168.100.0

Setting the default was accomplished back in our setting the IP address post.

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware VIX>vmrun -T esx -h https://esx.example.com/sdk -u nerv\cody.bunch -p apassword -gu Administrator -gp anotherpassword  runProgramInGuest “[sanstorage1] test/test.vmx” c:\windows\system32\netsh int ip set address “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.15.25 255.255.255.0 192.1

On Linux

On Linux, where my knowledge is quite limited, I’ve come to understand (thanks Google) that it’s as simple as the “route add –net” commands to add and delete routes. I did find however, that for making this route persistent, can vary across distro of choice, and thus I’ve not included it here.

Adding:
route add –net 192.168.100.0/24 gw 192.168.15.1

Deleting:
route del –net 192.168.100.0/24 gw 192.168.15.1

In VIX:

Before:

Adding:
vmrun -T esx -h http://dc01.nerv.local/sdk -u user -p password -gu root -gp rootpassword runProgramInGuest "[Local
Storage] shell.nerv.local/shell.nerv.local.vmx" /sbin/route add -net 192.168.10
0.0/24 gw 192.168.15.1

Deleting:
vmrun -T esx -h http://dc01.nerv.local/sdk -u user -p password -gu root -gp rootpassword runProgramInGuest "[Local
Storage] shell.nerv.local/shell.nerv.local.vmx" /sbin/route add -net 192.168.10
0.0/24 gw 192.168.15.1

See!

I will really have to install this soon to give a few examples as to how it all works. Until then, here are some examples from VMware’s VIX Blog team.

Use case: Restarting a service on Windows.

This one’s really easy so I’ll just show it without explanation.

    Example 3: Restart a service on Windows.
    vmrun -T esx -h https://esx.example.com/sdk -u root -p secretpw -gu user -gp userpw runProgramInGuest "[storage1] Windows/Windows.vmx" c:\windows\system32\net.exe restart dhcp

Note: That example should be all on one line.

From the Guest Install Guide blog @ VMware.

These are the changes or updates made to the Guest Operating System Installation Guide since it was last published:

• Added support for 32-bit NetWare 6.5 Server, Support Pack 8 on ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.0.3, and 3.5 Update 3. See “NetWare 6.5 Server” on page 302.

• Added support for Novell Open Enterprise Server 2, Support Pack 1 with 32-bit and 64-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Service Pack 2 on ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.0.3, and 3.5 Update 3. See “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10” on page 180. Also added support for Novell Open Enterprise Server 2, Support Pack 1 with 32-bit NetWare 6.5 Server, Support Pack 8 on ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.0.3, and 3.5 Update 3. See “NetWare 6.5 Server” on page 302.

PDF: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf

HTML: http://pubs.vmware.com/guestnotes/