ESXi 6.5: change the automatic startup/shutdown of guest VMs
Posted by jpluimers on 2019/03/14
One more article about differences between the old C# Windows vSphere Client and “new” vSphere HTML5 Web Client in ESXi 6.5 and up.
This time about changing the startup/shutdown sequence so automatically power on and power off virtual machines.
In the old C# Windows vSphere Client, this was at the host level in the configuration tab under Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown. There you click on Properties, then adjust the order by moving them up and down (screenshots and more detailed instructions are at ESX(i) AutoStart virtual machines: how to change the VM startup/shutdown settings (via: VMware Communities)).
In the vSphere HTML5 Web Client, there are two bits for this:
On the server you need to enable AutoStart:
From:
to:
For each VM you have to enable AutoStart, then determine the order
- In the left, select the VM
- In the right, choose
Actions, thenAutostart, thenEnable:
- Enable the columns in the VM overview:
- Order 1 means highest; adjust accordingly for each VM:
If after boot you get a “Failed – The operation is not allowed in the current state.“, then your machine still is in maintenance mode.
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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