Purpose
This article provides steps to register or add a vm to the Inventory in vCenter Server/VirtualCenter or in an ESX/ESXi host.
Resolution
Virtual Machine (VM) can be added to the vSphere Inventory in vCenter Server/ Virtual Center or in an ESX/ESXi from GUI or command line of the ESX/ ESXi host.
To register a virtual machine in vCenter Server:
Log in to vSphere Web Client (Flex/Flash or HTML5).Click on the desired host.Click the Datastores tabClick on the appropriate datastoreClick on the Files tabLocate the correct directory for the VM and double-click it to open the folderLocate the virtual machine.vmx file and click on it to highlight it.Click the "Register VM" button
If using the Flex/Flash client, right-click the VMX file and then select "Register VM"
Continue to follow the wizard to add the virtual machine.
To register a virtual machine from a command line in an ESXi host:
Log in as root to the ESXi host with an SSH client. For more information about enabling SSH on an ESXi host, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x, 6.x and 7.xRun the command: # vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/VM_directory/VM_name.vmx
To Un-register a virtual machine in vCenter Server:
Log in to vSphere Web Client (Flex/Flash or HTML5).Power off the virtual machine.Right click on the virtual machine and select "Remove from inventory".
Related Information
VMware Skyline Health Diagnostics for vSphere - FAQVirtual machines appear as invalid or orphaned in vCenter Server
When registering a virtual machine, remember:
A virtual machine should be registered on one ESX host at a time.If an ESX host is being managed by vCenter Server, perform any virtual machine registration through vCenter Server. Note: Bypassing vCenter Server to register a virtual machine may cause a mismatch between the host and the vCenter Server Inventory and may cause unexpected results. If you have an issue adding the virtual machine to Inventory, verify the virtual machine's file integrity. For more information, see Verifying ESX/ESXi virtual machine file integrity (1003743).
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