VMware vSphere Management Assistant is a Linux-based virtual appliance that comes pre-installed with a command-line interface (CLI), VMware Tools, vSphere SDK for Perl and CLI, a logging component, and vi-fastpass authentication. You can also use Active Directory for authentication.

The vSphere Management Assistant appliance stores ESXi host and vCenter Server management scripts and programs and allows you to access them from any SSH client. This appliance is often deployed in a management cluster to facilitate centralized and auditable command-line management of ESXi hosts and vCenter Servers.