Automating the process of starting and stopping virtual machines on Vcenter/ESXi

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article explains how to configure the virtual machines to start and stop automatically when powering an ESXi host on and off. These settings are set on a per host basis. If you vMotion the virtual machine off the host, the settings are not retained.

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.x

VMware vSphere 7.x

VMware vSphere 8.x

Resolution

Important Note:

• Automatic Startup and Shutdown settings for virtual machines are only used when the ESXi host is actually being shutdown or started.
• The feature does not trigger for maintenance mode.
• When you attempt to set an ESXi host into maintenance mode, you will need to manually shutdown the VMs for the task to be finished.
• Likewise, after the host has left maintenance mode, you need to manually startup the virtual machines, as they won't be automatically started.
• The Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown (automatic startup) feature is disabled for all virtual machines residing on hosts that are in (or moved into) a VMware HA enabled cluster.
• Automatic startup is not supported when the virtual machine is vSphere HA enabled. 

• Log into your vSphere client and select the ESXi host you want to configure. 
• Go to the Configure Tab.
• Select "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown" under Virtual Machines.
• Click "Edit" on the right hand side.
• Select Automatically start and stop the virtual machines with the system
• Configure the default shutdown behavior

Set options (optional):

1. Start Delay: Define a delay before the VM starts after the ESXi host boots up. 
2. Stop Action: Choose how to shut down the VM (e.g., "Guest Shutdown", "Power Off"). 
3. Wait for Heartbeat: Option to wait for a signal from the guest operating system before shutting down. 

• Save the settings.
• You have option to select all VMs under Manual startup & Move to Automatic Startup.