ESXi 4.0 – Connect to you virtual machine console with VNC

This is just a quick instruction on how to connect to you virtual machine with vnc:

First we have the console version:

Before we start make sure you can connect to your ESXi 4.0 machine with SSH.

• Logon to you ESXi 4.0 with ssh.
• Change your directory to where the vmx file is located for the virtual machine that you want to connect to.
• Type the command “vi computename.vmx” (change the computername to your machine)
• Go to the bottom of the file and append the following lines:

RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = “4444″
RemoteDisplay.vnc.enabled = “True”
RemoteDisplay.vnc.password = “password”

• Now start the machine and connect to it on the port you specified and your ESXi ipaddress.

Now the above steps can be done without the console:

• Goto configuration | storage and right click on the storage where your machine is located. Browse to your machines vmx file and rightclick | download

• Now edit the file with you favorit browser and add the following line:

RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = “4444″
RemoteDisplay.vnc.enabled = “True”
RemoteDisplay.vnc.password = “password”

• Upload the file to your datastore again, and start the machine.

You should now be able to connect to you machine with vnc, use your ESXi ipaddress (or dns) and the port you specified in the vmx file.)

Here are two screenshots from my sessions: