How to change configuration settings for Hostd service in vSphere ESXi 7.0 Update 2 and later

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to change the configuration setting for Hostd service in vSphere ESXi 7.0 Update 2 and later.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.X

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.X

Resolution

For previous releases, there are KB articles to change some settings of the ESXi hostd service by directly editing its configuration file at /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml.

Since 7.0 U2 the service configuration settings are not stored in /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml but in a special config store database.

The settings in the database are accessible by using /bin/configstorecli.

To configure the settings:

1. Create a temporary JSON file:

$ /bin/configstorecli config current get -c esx -g services -k hostd -outfile tmp.json

2.  Edit the file:

$ vi tmp.json

3. Apply the file to the database:

$ /bin/configstorecli config current set -c esx -g services -k hostd -infile tmp.json

4. Restart hostd service:

$ /etc/init.d/hostd restart
 

Note: 

• To see all possible hostd configuration properties:

$ configstorecli schema get -c esx -g services -k hostd

• Update only a single property by supplying a JSON diff file:

$ configstorecli config current update -c esx -g services -k hostd -infile tmp.json

Where tmp.json contains only the properties that need to be modified.
Ex:
$ vi tmp.json
{
   "some_sub_object": {
      "some_property": "some_value"
   }
}

• View the default hostd configuration in the config store default database:

$ /bin/configstorecli config default get -c esx -g services -k hostd