esxi

This ESXi MCP Server provides a REST API interface with real-time SSE updates to manage VMware vCenter/ESXi environments. It supports creating, cloning, deleting, and powering virtual machines, along with performance monitoring for CPU, memory, storage, and network. Authentication is enforced via API keys, and the server can stream live events to clients. To get started, configure the YAML file with connection details to your vCenter/ESXi host, HTTP API key, and optional parameters (datacenter, cluster, datastore, network). Run the server and access the REST endpoints to manage VMs and retrieve running metrics. The server uses SSE for real-time updates and exposes JSON-RPC-like operations for VM lifecycle management, as well as a dedicated VM stats interface.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.7+
• pip (Python package manager)
• Access to a VMware vCenter/ESXi host

Installation steps:

1. Create a virtual environment (optional but recommended): python -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate # On Windows use: venv\Scripts\activate

2. Install required Python packages: pip install pyvmomi pyyaml uvicorn mcp-core

3. Prepare configuration file (config.yaml) with vCenter/ESXi connection details and runtime options (see README for fields).

4. Run the server: python server.py -c config.yaml

5. Verify startup logs and access the API endpoints to manage VMs and monitor performance.

Notes and tips:

• The server supports SSL verification skipping via the insecure flag in the config (default false). When running in production, enable proper SSL certificates.
• You can override configuration via environment variables (VCENTER_HOST, VCENTER_USER, VCENTER_PASSWORD, MCP_API_KEY, etc.).
• Ensure that the API key used for authentication has the required permissions for VM lifecycle operations and metrics access.
• Logs can be directed to a file by setting log_file in config.yaml or via MCP_LOG_FILE env var; adjust log_level for debugging (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR).
• The REST API offers create, clone, delete, and power operations, plus a VM stats endpoint (vmstats://{vm_name}) for performance data. Use SSE (via /sse/messages) to receive real-time updates.
• If you encounter SSL certificate issues with vCenter, either supply a valid certificate bundle or enable insecure mode during testing (not recommended for production).