Vmsvc/power.getstate

vimsh vmsvc/power.getstate

Usage: power.getstate vmid

Retrieves the power state of the specified virtual machine.

You can use vmsvc/getallvms to retrieve the vmid

Example output

For a machine that is powered on:

[/]$ vmsvc/power.getstate 4400
Retrieved runtime info
Powered on

For a non existing machine:

[/]$ vmsvc/power.getstate 123
(vim.fault.NotFound) {
   dynamicType = <unset>,
   msg = "Unable to find a VM corresponding to "123""
}

For a suspended machine:

[/]$ vmsvc/power.getstate 4414
Retrieved runtime info 
Suspended

and powered off:

[/]$ vmsvc/power.getstate 4400
Retrieved runtime info
Powered off