We have discussed about ESXi in one of the previous article.
In this post we will discuss about what DCUI is and what you can do with it. The Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) is a low-level configuration and management interface, accessible through the console of the server, used primarily for initial basic configuration. It is similar to the BIOS of a computer, with a keyboard-only UI.
Here is how it looks like -
You need to press F2 to start customizing system settings.
You can use the DCUI to configure below settings for ESXi hosts.
- Configure Hostname - Configure Root password - Configure Lockdown mode - Modify Network Adapters - Configure Management network - Restart Management Network - Test or disable Management - Configure Keyboard - View System Logs - Enable the ESXi Shell for troubleshooting, including, - Remote access (ssh-based) - Shutdown or Reboot the ESXi Server - Reset all configurations to factory defaults You can use these below combination of ALT + Function keys to access the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) of an ESXi host: - ALT+F1 = Switches to the console. - ALT+F2 = Switches to the DCUI. - ALT+F11 = Returns to the banner screen. - ALT+F12 = Displays the VMkernel log on the console.
The administrative user name for the ESXi host is root. By default, the administrative password is not set. If you do not set a root password, the root user is allowed to log in to the ESXi host. A Configuration Issues message however will appear on the ESXi host Summary tab, with a reminder that the default password for the root user was not changed.
Lockdown mode disables all access except for direct root access to ESXi hosts. This mode forces all operations to take place through the vCenter Server system. However, users with the special DCUI access privileges can log in to the UI.
Configure Management Network option allows you to configure Network adapters,IP/DNS Configuration and VLAN settings. Once the network is configured you would need to restart the management network on the ESXi host for the changes to take effect.
Restart Management Network will restart all the management services on the ESXi host.
Test Management Network allows you to test the connectivity to the configured gateway, primary and secondary DNS and resolve the hostname.
Network Restore Options will allow you to restore the entire network configuration in case of any issues with the existing network configuration or if you want to change the entire network configuration of ESXi.
Configure keyboard lets you select a appropriate keyboard layout according to your requirement.
Troubleshooting Options facilitates you to enable or disable ESXi Shell and SSH. In addition to that you can also configure the timeouts for Shell, SSH and ESXi DCUI.
You can view syslogs, vmkernel, hostd and other logs using View system logs option.
You can get a brief overview of serial number of hardware, ESXi License, SSL Thumbprint and other support details under View Support Information.
If you would like to reset the entire host configuration to the software defaults, you can use the option Reset System Configuration. This will also reset the root password for the ESXi host. And you would need to restart the ESXi host for the changes to take effect. It is highly recommended to shutdown the ESXi host completely before performing this operation to avoid any outages for the VM's running on the ESXi host.
DCUI serves as a valuable tool for managing and configuring ESXi hosts in VMware vSphere environments. By providing direct access to essential management functions, it ensures that administrators can effectively manage their virtualization infrastructure even in scenarios where remote management interfaces are not available. While more advanced management tasks are typically performed through vCenter Server or remote interfaces, DCUI remains a critical component for initial configuration, troubleshooting, and maintenance activities.
I hope you will get a basic understanding of what DCUI is and what it's capable of after reading this article.
Thank you for reading!
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