io.github.vmware-skills/vmware-storage Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server

The MCP server io.github.vmware-skills/vmware-storage provides VMware vSphere storage management through Model Context Protocol tooling. Its focus covers storage areas including datastores, iSCSI, and vSAN, and it exposes 11 MCP tools to support these operational domains.

🛠️ Key Features

VMware vSphere storage management
Coverage includes datastores, iSCSI, and vSAN
Provides 11 MCP tools

🚀 Use Cases

Managing and working with VMware vSphere datastores
Administering iSCSI-related storage components
Handling vSAN storage management tasks

⚡ Developer Benefits

MCP-compatible interface for VMware vSphere storage workflows
Tool-backed operations aligned to datastores, iSCSI, and vSAN domains
Clear scope: storage management with 11 tools

⚠️ Limitations

Described capabilities are limited to VMware vSphere storage management (datastores, iSCSI, vSAN); no other domains are specified.

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.

English | 中文

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	49	`uv tool install vmware-aiops`
vmware-monitor	Read-only monitoring, alarms, events, VM info	27	`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	33	`uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt`
vmware-nsx-security	DFW microsegmentation, security groups, Traceflow	21	`uv tool install vmware-nsx-security`
vmware-aria	Aria Ops metrics, alerts, capacity planning	28	`uv tool install vmware-aria`

Quick Install

bash

# Via PyPI
uv tool install vmware-storage

# Or pip
pip install vmware-storage

Offline / Air-Gapped Install (from source)

This project uses the modern PEP 517 build system (hatchling), so there is no setup.py by design — that is expected, not a missing file. If you cloned the source and hit ERROR: File "setup.py" or "setup.cfg" not found ... editable mode currently requires a setuptools-based build, your pip is older than 21.3 and cannot do an editable (-e) install with a non-setuptools backend. Editable mode is a developer convenience, not needed to run the tool — do one of:

bash

# From the source tree — a normal (non-editable) install builds a wheel:
pip install .              # NOT  pip install -e .

# ...or upgrade pip first, and editable works too:
pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -e .

For a truly air-gapped host, build the wheels on a connected machine and copy them over — the target then needs no network:

bash

# On a connected machine, collect this package + its dependencies as wheels:
pip wheel . -w dist        # → dist/*.whl   (or: uv build, for just this package)

# Copy dist/ to the air-gapped host, then install offline:
pip install --no-index --find-links dist vmware-storage

Configuration

bash

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

Auto-Remediation Patterns (PoC)

The patterns/ directory hosts L5 auto-remediation candidate patterns from the Enterprise Harness Engineering framework. The first PoC pattern, patterns/iscsi-target-stale-rescan.yaml, describes an iSCSI HBA rescan as a low-risk, reversible, repeatable operation. The pattern schema is documented here only — runtime enforcement is not yet wired up, so this is a reference design, not production auto-remediation.

Common Workflows

Set Up iSCSI Storage on a Host

Enable iSCSI adapter: vmware-storage iscsi enable esxi-01
Add target: vmware-storage iscsi add-target esxi-01 10.0.0.100
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

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

vSAN Health Assessment

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

CLI

bash

# 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

After uv tool install vmware-storage, start the MCP server with one command (v1.5.15+):

bash

# Recommended — single command, no network re-resolve
vmware-storage mcp

# With a custom config path
VMWARE_STORAGE_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml vmware-storage mcp

# Or via Docker
docker compose up -d

Agent Configuration

Add to your AI agent's MCP config:

json

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

Alternative: uvx (no install) or legacy entry point

bash

# Run without installing (requires PyPI access each launch)
uvx --from vmware-storage vmware-storage mcp

# Legacy entry point (still works, kept for backward compatibility)
vmware-storage-mcp

Behind a corporate TLS proxy? uvx may fail with invalid peer certificate: UnknownIssuer. Use the recommended vmware-storage mcp form above (no network needed), or set UV_NATIVE_TLS=true.

Why a Separate Skill?

vmware-aiops has 49 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

Python: 3.10+ (since v1.5.27 — previously 3.11+). Tested on 3.10 / 3.11 / 3.12.

vSphere / VCF	Support	Notes
VCF 9.1 / vSphere 9.1	Full	Released 2026-05-12. pyVmomi+vSAN SDK `<10.0` works via SOAP.
VCF 9.0 / vSphere 9.0	Full	pyVmomi 8.0.3+ with bundled vSAN SDK connects to vSphere 9.
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

Official Broadcom References

SDKs: https://developer.broadcom.com/sdks — VCF Python SDK, vSAN Management SDK (bundled in pyVmomi)
REST APIs: https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis — vSAN Management API, VCF API
CLI Tools: https://developer.broadcom.com/tools — PowerCLI 9.1, ESXCLI

Safety

Feature	Description
Read-heavy	7/11 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.
"Datastore browse did not finish within Ns"	The datastore is very large or busy. Narrow the search with a sub-path and a specific pattern (e.g. `datastore browse ds01 --path templates --pattern "*.ova"`) instead of browsing the root — do not just retry the same broad browse.

License

MIT

io.github.vmware-skills/vmware-storage Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server

🛠️ Key Features

🚀 Use Cases

⚡ Developer Benefits

⚠️ Limitations

Topics

VMware Storage

Companion Skills

Quick Install

Offline / Air-Gapped Install (from source)

Configuration

MCP Tools (11)

Auto-Remediation Patterns (PoC)

Common Workflows

Set Up iSCSI Storage on a Host

Find Deployable Images Across Datastores

vSAN Health Assessment

CLI

MCP Server

Agent Configuration

Why a Separate Skill?

Version Compatibility

Official Broadcom References

Safety

Troubleshooting

License

Install