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How do I kill a virtual machine process?

Author

Michael Henderson

Published Mar 09, 2026

How do I kill a virtual machine process?

Solution:

  1. SSH into the host where the virtual machine is running.
  2. Run “esxcli vm process list” to get the WorldID of the machine you want to shutdown. Note the WorldID as you will need it for the next step.
  3. Run “esxcli vm process kill –type=[soft,hard,force] –world-id=WorldNumber.

How do I kill a VM in VMware?

Press k. At the World to kill prompt, type in the Leader World ID from step 7, and press Enter. Wait 30 seconds and validate that the process is no longer listed.

How do you force stop a virtual machine?

Press and hold down the Option (Alt) key. The menu option for Shut Down changes to Force Shut Down/Power Off.

How do I kill a task in VMware?

Power off the virtual machine from the list by running this command: esxcli vm process kill –type= [soft,hard,force] –world-id= WorldNumber….Click OK.

  1. Run ps command.
  2. Kill the parent process by running the command kill id_parent.
  3. The hang task should be canceled now.

How do I stop a process in VMware?

Kill PID process

  1. Stopping the virtual machine by issuing the command vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes///.vmx stop.
  2. If this does not work, one can issue the following command: vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes///.vmx stop hard.
  3. A final solution is to kill the PID (process ID).

What is the CMD command to shutdown?

From an open command prompt window: type shutdown, followed by the option you wish to execute. To shut down your computer, type shutdown /s. To restart your computer, type shutdown /r. To log off your computer type shutdown /l.

Can’t power on VM?

This issue typically indicates that the virtual machine’s VMX file is corrupted and must be recreated. If you can, right click the Virtual Machine and click Edit Settings… to see the current configuration for the Virtual Machine for reference.

How will you turn start/stop a VM through command prompt?

To power on a virtual machine from the command line:

  1. List the inventory ID of the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms |grep
  2. Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate
  3. Power-on the virtual machine with the command:

How do I shutdown a VirtualBox virtual machine?

When you are done using a VirtualBox virtual machine, you should shut it down properly using the “Close” command.

  1. Click on the “Close” button in the upper-right corner of the window of the virtual machine you want to shut down.
  2. Select the radio button labeled “Power off the machine.”

How do I kill a snapshot process in VMware?

How to cancel VMware snapshot process?

  1. Find the ESX hostname on which the virtual machine resides.
  2. Establish a SSH session to the ESX host.
  3. Execute the command to see all the process. ps | grep vmx.
  4. Locate the Parent Process ID (the second column) for the hung VM.
  5. Execute the command to kill the task.

How do I cancel a VM migration task?

Go to Parallels Virtual Automation > Management > Task Log, select the migration task and click Cancel.

How do I Kill a virtual machine?

17 If you are using Windows, the virtual machine should have it’s own process that is visible in task manager. Use sysinternals Process Explorerto find the right one and then kill it from there. Share Improve this answer

How do I Kill a VMX process in Linux?

Hard – Immediately kills the VMX process similar to a kill -9 or kill -SIGKILL command. Force – Stops the VMX process when either the Soft or Hard options fail. Vim-cmd is another command line utility, very similar to esxcli, but bearing a somewhat different syntax.

Will you ever have to resort to using stop-VM to kill a VM?

Hopefully you will never have to resort to this act of desperation. Let start off with the easy one. Stop-VM is the cmdlet used to kill a VM. It’s actually used to power off a VM but adding the kill parameter will terminate the VM’s corresponding processes on ESXi effectively killing it.

How do I Kill a VM in PowerCLI?

The PowerCLI Way. Stop-VM is the cmdlet used to kill a VM. It’s actually used to power off a VM but adding the kill parameter will terminate the VM’s corresponding processes on ESXi effectively killing it.