ESXi
A VMware ESXi/vCenter management server based on MCP (Model Control Protocol), providing simple REST API interfaces for virtual machine management.
What is ESXi?
ESXi is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to vmware esxi/vcenter management server based on mcp (model control protocol), providing simple rest api interfaces for virtual machine management.
A VMware ESXi/vCenter management server based on MCP (Model Control Protocol), providing simple REST API interfaces for virtual machine management.
This server falls under the Cloud Services category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- A VMware ESXi/vCenter management server based on MCP (Model
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx esxiConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use ESXi
The ESXi MCP Server provides a REST API and MCP interface for managing VMware ESXi and vCenter virtual machine infrastructure through natural language or programmatic commands. It uses the pyVmomi Python library to communicate with vCenter, exposing tools for VM lifecycle management (create, clone, delete, power on/off), performance monitoring (CPU, memory, storage, network), and real-time event streaming via Server-Sent Events. Infrastructure engineers and DevOps teams use it to automate VM provisioning, monitoring, and routine operations without logging into the vSphere web client.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.8 or later installed
- Access to a VMware ESXi host or vCenter Server with network connectivity from the machine running this server
- vCenter administrator credentials (username, password, host address)
- pip packages: pyvmomi, pyyaml, uvicorn, mcp-core
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
Clone the repository
Clone the esxi-mcp-server repository to the machine that has network access to your vCenter or ESXi host.
git clone https://github.com/bright8192/esxi-mcp-server.git
cd esxi-mcp-serverInstall Python dependencies
Install the required packages with pip. pyvmomi is the official VMware Python SDK for vSphere API access.
pip install pyvmomi pyyaml uvicorn mcp-coreCreate the configuration file
Create a config.yaml file in the project root with your vCenter credentials and API key. Set insecure: true if your vCenter uses a self-signed certificate.
vcenter_host: "your-vcenter-ip-or-hostname"
vcenter_user: "[email protected]"
vcenter_password: "your-password"
api_key: "your-chosen-api-key"
insecure: true
log_level: "INFO"Alternatively, configure via environment variables
You can also configure the server entirely through environment variables instead of a config file.
export VCENTER_HOST="your-vcenter-ip"
export VCENTER_USER="[email protected]"
export VCENTER_PASSWORD="your-password"
export MCP_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export VCENTER_INSECURE="true"Start the server
Run the server using the config file. It starts a REST/MCP endpoint that your AI client can connect to.
python server.py -c config.yamlConfigure your MCP client
Add the server to your Claude Desktop or other MCP client configuration. The server listens on localhost by default.
{
"mcpServers": {
"esxi": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["/path/to/esxi-mcp-server/server.py", "-c", "/path/to/esxi-mcp-server/config.yaml"]
}
}
}ESXi Examples
Client configuration
claude_desktop_config.json entry for the ESXi MCP server using a local Python installation and config.yaml.
{
"mcpServers": {
"esxi": {
"command": "python",
"args": [
"/Users/you/esxi-mcp-server/server.py",
"-c",
"/Users/you/esxi-mcp-server/config.yaml"
]
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts for managing VMware infrastructure via the ESXi MCP server.
- "List all virtual machines and their current power state."
- "What is the CPU and memory usage of the vm named 'web-server-01'?"
- "Power on the virtual machine named 'dev-database'."
- "Clone the template 'ubuntu-22-template' to create a new VM called 'test-instance-1'."
- "Show real-time network traffic statistics for all running VMs."
- "Delete the virtual machine 'old-staging-server' after confirming it is powered off."Troubleshooting ESXi
Connection fails with SSL certificate verification error
Set insecure: true in config.yaml (or VCENTER_INSECURE=true as an env variable) if your vCenter uses a self-signed certificate. Never use this in production without understanding the security implications.
Authentication fails with 'incorrect username or password'
Verify the vcenter_user format — vCenter typically requires the domain suffix (e.g., '[email protected]' not just 'administrator'). Check that the account has at least read-only permissions on the datacenter.
Server starts but API requests return 401 Unauthorized
API requests to the REST endpoint require the Authorization header: 'Bearer your-api-key'. Confirm the api_key value in config.yaml matches the key you are sending in requests.
Frequently Asked Questions about ESXi
What is ESXi?
ESXi is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that vmware esxi/vcenter management server based on mcp (model control protocol), providing simple rest api interfaces for virtual machine management. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install ESXi?
Follow the installation instructions on the ESXi GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with ESXi?
ESXi works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is ESXi free to use?
Yes, ESXi is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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