VMware Storage

Author: Wei Zhou, VMware by Broadcom — wei-wz.zhou@broadcom.com This is a community-driven project by a VMware engineer, not an official VMware product. For official VMware developer tools see developer.broadcom.com.

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VMware vSphere storage management: datastores, iSCSI, vSAN — 11 MCP tools, domain-focused and lightweight.

Split from vmware-aiops for lighter context and local model compatibility.

Companion Skills

Skill	Scope	Tools	Install
vmware-aiops ⭐ entry point	VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops, clusters	31	uv tool install vmware-aiops
vmware-monitor	Read-only monitoring, alarms, events, VM info	8	uv tool install vmware-monitor
vmware-vks	Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle	20	uv tool install vmware-vks
vmware-nsx	NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT, IPAM	31	uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt
vmware-nsx-security	DFW microsegmentation, security groups, Traceflow	20	uv tool install vmware-nsx-security
vmware-aria	Aria Ops metrics, alerts, capacity planning	18	uv tool install vmware-aria

Quick Install

# Via PyPI
uv tool install vmware-storage

# Or pip
pip install vmware-storage

Configuration

mkdir -p ~/.vmware-storage
cp config.example.yaml ~/.vmware-storage/config.yaml
# Edit with your vCenter/ESXi credentials

echo "VMWARE_MY_VCENTER_PASSWORD=your_password" > ~/.vmware-storage/.env
chmod 600 ~/.vmware-storage/.env

# Verify
vmware-storage doctor

MCP Tools (11)

Category	Tools	Type
Datastore	list_all_datastores, browse_datastore, scan_datastore_images, list_cached_images	Read
iSCSI	storage_iscsi_enable, storage_iscsi_status, storage_iscsi_add_target, storage_iscsi_remove_target, storage_rescan	Read/Write
vSAN	vsan_health, vsan_capacity	Read

Common Workflows

Set Up iSCSI Storage on a Host

1. Enable iSCSI adapter: vmware-storage iscsi enable esxi-01
2. Add target: vmware-storage iscsi add-target esxi-01 10.0.0.100
3. Verify: vmware-storage iscsi status esxi-01

The add-target command automatically rescans storage. Use --dry-run to preview any write command first.

Find Deployable Images Across Datastores

1. List all datastores: vmware-storage datastore list
2. Scan for images: vmware-storage datastore scan-images datastore01
3. Browse with a pattern: vmware-storage datastore browse datastore01 --pattern "*.iso"

vSAN Health Assessment

1. Check health: vmware-storage vsan health Cluster-Prod
2. Check capacity: vmware-storage vsan capacity Cluster-Prod
3. If issues found, investigate with vmware-monitor for alarms and events

CLI

# Datastore
vmware-storage datastore list
vmware-storage datastore browse datastore01
vmware-storage datastore scan-images datastore01

# iSCSI
vmware-storage iscsi status esxi-01
vmware-storage iscsi enable esxi-01
vmware-storage iscsi add-target esxi-01 192.168.1.100
vmware-storage iscsi remove-target esxi-01 192.168.1.100
vmware-storage iscsi rescan esxi-01

# vSAN
vmware-storage vsan health Cluster-Prod
vmware-storage vsan capacity Cluster-Prod

# Diagnostics
vmware-storage doctor

MCP Server

# Run directly
uvx --from vmware-storage vmware-storage-mcp

# Or via Docker
docker compose up -d

Agent Configuration

Add to your AI agent's MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-storage": {
      "command": "vmware-storage-mcp",
      "env": {
        "VMWARE_STORAGE_CONFIG": "~/.vmware-storage/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

Why a Separate Skill?

vmware-aiops has 33 MCP tools — too heavy for local LLMs (7B-14B). By splitting storage into its own skill:

• 11 tools — fits comfortably in small model context windows
• Domain-focused — storage admins get only what they need
• Composable — use alongside vmware-monitor or vmware-aiops as needed

Version Compatibility

vSphere	Support	Notes
8.0	Full	vSAN SDK built into pyVmomi 8.0.3+
7.0	Full	All storage APIs work
6.7	Compatible	iSCSI + datastore features work; vSAN limited

Safety

Feature	Description
Read-heavy	6/11 tools are read-only
Input validation	IP addresses and ports validated before iSCSI operations
Audit logging	All operations logged to ~/.vmware-storage/audit.log
No VM operations	Cannot create, delete, or modify VMs
Credential safety	Passwords only from environment variables, never config files

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause & Fix
iSCSI enable fails with "already enabled"	Not an error — adapter is already active. Run iscsi status to see configured targets.
"Datastore not found" when browsing	Datastore names are case-sensitive. Run datastore list to get the exact name.
vSAN health shows "unknown"	vSAN health requires a vCenter connection, not standalone ESXi.
Rescan doesn't discover new LUNs	Wait 15-30 seconds after adding targets, then rescan again. Verify target IP is reachable from ESXi.
"Password not found" error	Variable names follow VMWARE_<TARGET_UPPER>_PASSWORD (hyphens → underscores). Check ~/.vmware-storage/.env.
Connection timeout to vCenter	Use vmware-storage doctor --skip-auth to bypass auth checks on high-latency networks.

License

MIT