ExoVM questions, answered

Put a customer panel in front of vCenter instead of creating vCenter accounts. With ExoVM, you run a small Docker connector next to vCenter, create a user for each customer and assign them specific VMs. Customers sign in to the ExoVM panel and see only those VMs, with a browser console, power on/off, guest reboot and support tickets. They never get a vCenter account, a VPN or vSphere Client.

If your customers mainly need to see and control their own VMs, ExoVM is a lighter alternative to VMware Cloud Director: a web-based customer panel on top of the vCenter you already run, with no tenant platform to deploy. Customers get their assigned VMs, a browser console, power controls and tickets, and vCenter stays private behind an outbound-connecting Docker connector. ExoVM doesn’t build virtual data centres, tenant networks or catalogues. If you need those, Cloud Director or its successor, VCF Automation, is the better fit.

ExoVM is a web-based control panel for VMware vCenter and ESXi that lets operators manage their virtual machines from one browser tab and give their own customers a self-service panel, while vCenter stays on the private network behind a small Docker connector. It has two parts: a web panel hosted by ExoVM and a connector you run next to vCenter.

Hosting providers, managed service providers and enterprise IT teams that run VMware and need to give people access to VMs without handing out vCenter accounts, VPN profiles or vSphere Client.

In ExoVM, customers see only the VMs you assign to them, with CPU, RAM, disk, guest OS, IP and power state. They can open a browser console, power on, power off and guest-reboot their VMs, and open support tickets. They don’t need a vCenter account, a VPN or vSphere Client.

ExoVM admins add connectors and vCenter targets, create customer users, assign specific VMs to specific users and set per-user quotas. They also have snapshots, ISO mount, VM notes, the support ticket inbox, the admin dashboard and the audit log.

ExoVM works with vCenter Server. Run one connector per vCenter, at as many sites as you need, and manage them from one panel. Standalone ESXi hosts without vCenter aren’t supported yet.

ExoVM works with VMware vCenter Server only. Standalone ESXi hosts without vCenter aren’t supported yet, and ExoVM doesn’t manage Proxmox, Hyper-V or other hypervisors.

With an email address and password at app.exovm.com. Each ExoVM user is either an admin, who manages connectors, targets, users and all VMs, or a customer user, who sees only the VMs assigned to them.

No. ExoVM is agentless: it talks to the vSphere APIs of your vCenter Server. As in vSphere, a guest reboot relies on VMware Tools already running in the guest.

Cloud Director is a full cloud-management platform with virtual data centres, tenant networking and catalogues. ExoVM is a lighter control panel for existing VMs: a SaaS panel plus a Docker connector in your network that keeps vCenter private.

ExoVM vs vCloud Director

No. The connector opens outbound connections to the ExoVM cloud and calls vCenter on your internal network. vCenter and ESXi never accept connections from the internet, and browsers never talk to vCenter directly.

Put a panel in front of vCenter instead of a VPN. ExoVM’s Docker connector runs next to vCenter and connects outbound to the ExoVM cloud, so you can power VMs on and off, reboot guests and open consoles from any browser while vCenter accepts no connections from the internet. Browsers that open consoles must be able to reach the connector host on port 443. For cluster, storage and network administration you still use vCenter itself.

The connector needs outbound HTTPS to the ExoVM cloud and access to vCenter and your ESXi hosts on your internal network. For consoles, VM console streams are served over TLS from the connector host on port 443, so browsers that open consoles must be able to reach that host on 443. Nothing needs to reach vCenter from outside.

In the connector’s environment on your own host. They are used locally to call the vSphere APIs and are never stored in the ExoVM cloud.

In ExoVM, each customer user only sees the VMs an admin has assigned to them.

ExoVM’s console is an HTML5 client. Your connector brokers each session with a short-lived, single-use ticket and relays the stream over TLS from the connector host on port 443; the browser never connects to vCenter. Console behaviour depends on your ESXi hosts and guest configuration, so we validate compatibility for your environment during onboarding.

ExoVM’s audit log records power, console, snapshot and ISO requests, VM assignments and role changes, each with the user who did it, the action and the time.

A host inside your network that can run a Docker container; network access from it to vCenter, and to your ESXi hosts on port 443; outbound HTTPS to the ExoVM cloud; a DNS name and TLS certificate so browsers can open consoles on port 443; and a vCenter account for the connector. We go through each of these during onboarding.

No. ExoVM works with the vCenter and ESXi hosts you already run. The connector needs an account with API access for the actions you want to use.

No. The connector needs outbound HTTPS to the ExoVM cloud. vCenter and ESXi don’t need internet access; only the connector host does.

Your VMs keep running: they run on your ESXi hosts, not on ExoVM. While that site’s connector is offline, consoles can’t be opened, and power and other actions wait in the queue until the connector reconnects. You can still use vCenter directly with your usual tools.

ExoVM is onboarding early-access customers now. Pricing is quoted per environment. Request a demo, tell us about your setup, and we’ll send you a quote.

Yes, through early access. Request a demo on our contact page or email contact@exovm.com, and we’ll walk through the panel and your environment together.

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No. VMware, vSphere, vCenter and ESXi are trademarks of Broadcom Inc. ExoVM is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Broadcom.