Shutting Down or restart the ESXi Server

VMWare vSphere

Shutting Down or restart the ESXi Server
 
Perform the following steps to shut down or restart the ESXi server from the VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client or the ESXi console.
 
IMPORTANT: Do not use the ESXi server shutdown or restart instructions to prepare an ESXi server for patching. Instead, follow the instructions in the Readme file on MOTOPATCH for VMware media.
 
Prerequisites: Shut down all virtual machines gracefully. Disable the application first if it is a Linux box and then shutdown.
Perform one of the following actions:
If you can access the VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client, perform the following actions:

1. Log on to the VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client.
2. In the Navigator pane, right-click Host and select Enter maintenance mode.
3. In the confirmation dialog that opens, click Yes.
4. Right-click Host and select Shut down or Restart
5. In the confirmation dialog that opens, confirm it

If you cannot access the VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client, perform the following actions:

1. On the keyboard connected to the ESXi host, press any key
2. When the console opens, press F12
3. If prompted, log on as root.
4. Shutdown  the server by pressing F2 or Reboot the server by pressing F11

Note: If virtual machines are set up in the Startup/Shutdown list in VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client, turning off or restarting the ESXi server console automatically turns off the virtual machines before turning off the ESXi server. This setup prevents the operating systems in the virtual machines from corrupting.