Registering or adding a virtual machine to the inventory on vCenter Server or on an ESX/ESXi host.

This article provides instructions for registering or adding a virtual machine on vCenter Server/VirtualCenter or an ESX/ESXi host.

You can register a virtual machine in vCenter Server/VirtualCenter or from a command line.

To register a virtual machine in vCenter Server:

  1. Open the vSphere/VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client and log in with appropriate credentials.
  2. If connecting to vCenter Server, click on the desired host.
  3. Click the Configuration tab.
  4. Click Storage.
  5. Right-click on the appropriate datastore and click Browse Datastore.
  6. Navigate to the folder named after the virtual machine, and locate the <virtual machine>.vmx file. 
  7. Right-click the .vmx file and click Add to inventory. The Add to Inventory wizard opens. 
  8. Continue to follow the wizard to add the virtual machine.

To register a virtual machine from a command line on an ESX host:

  1. Log in as root to the ESX host with an SSH client.
  2. Run the command:

    # vmware-cmd -s register <full path to virtual machine>\<virtual machine name>.vmx

To register a virtual machine from a command line on an ESXi host:

  1. Log in as root to the ESXi host with an SSH client. For information on using Tech Support mode.
  2. Run the command:
    # vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/VM_directory/VM_name.vmx

When registering a virtual machine, remember:

  • A virtual machine should be registered on one ESX host at a time.
  • If an ESX host is being managed by vCenter Server, perform any virtual machine registration through vCenter Server.

    Note: Bypassing vCenter Server to register a virtual machine may cause a mismatch between the host and the vCenter Server inventory and may cause unexpected results.

  • If you have an issue adding the virtual machine to inventory, verify the virtual machine's file integrity.