# Is AOM available in BigIP VE (Running in ESX)?

**URL:** <https://community.f5.com/t/is-aom-available-in-bigip-ve-running-in-esx/45874>\
**Category:** Technical Forums\
**Tags:** big-ip, big-ip-ve, application-delivery, aom\
**Created:** [April 6, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://community.f5.com/t/is-aom-available-in-bigip-ve-running-in-esx/45874 "2018-04-06T11:58:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Torsten\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@Torsten\_1](https://community.f5.com/u/Torsten_1)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://community.f5.com/t/is-aom-available-in-bigip-ve-running-in-esx/45874/1 "2018-04-06T11:58:58Z")

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Hi there, I am setting up my first pair of virtual edition (VE) BigIPs currently and struggle to get AOM network access running.

When using physical BigIPs ESC-( does the trick, but when trying to enter this via the ESX console, as soon as I type ESC I get ^[ so I won’t be able to access the AOM menu.

Looking at [K14594: Accessing the AOM Command Menu](https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K14594) I am not seing VEs listed anywhere. So am I right that VEs generally do not offer any AOM at all and the idea is to do all the maintenance/troubleshooting via the ESX console?

If not - how do you configure network access to the AOM for VEs?

Cheers, Torsten

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**Author:** ![youssef1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed655f/32.png) [@youssef1](https://community.f5.com/u/youssef1)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://community.f5.com/t/is-aom-available-in-bigip-ve-running-in-esx/45874/2 "2018-04-06T12:10:22Z")

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Hello, except error on my part AOM is available only on F5 hardware platform: The F5’s AOM (Always On Management) interface module is one of the fundamental administrative features offered by BIGIP appliances.

> **[myF5](https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K9476)**

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**Author:** ![stan\_piron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@stan\_piron](https://community.f5.com/u/stan_piron)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://community.f5.com/t/is-aom-available-in-bigip-ve-running-in-esx/45874/3 "2018-04-06T16:40:10Z")

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Hi, AOM is only available on Hardware platforms.

AOM is a dedicated system running on appliance not sharing the same CPU, RAM and disk.

In ESXi, you can do the same with:

- Halt / restart system : VSphere client
- remote access to console : VSphere client or Network virtual serial port.