ESXi Lockdown mode

When you enable Lockdown mode, only the vpxuser has authentication permissions. Other users cannot perform any operations directly on the host. Lockdown mode forces all operations to be performed through vCenter Server. A host in Lockdown mode cannot run vCLI commands from an administration server, from a script, or from the vMA on the host. In addition, external software or management tools might not be able to retrieve or modify information from the ESXi host. 

 You can enable Lockdown mode from the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI).

When you enable DCUI while running in Lockdown mode, you can log in locally to the direct console user interface as the root user and disable Lockdown mode.


command vim-cmd or PowerCLI could be to enable or disable Lockdown mode (http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1008077)