As opposed to the interactive mode, for intermittent issues, you would most often want to target a specific time range and collect the statistics for a deeper introspection. Thus, you would invoke a batch mode or replay mode of data collection that can store snapshots of various metrics at every instance.
Running esxtop in the batch mode
Getting ready
We need access to the ESXi CLI via the console or SSH. You need to plan the duration to be captured and the number of performance snapshots needed. Based on the volume of data, ensure appropriate disk space is available to store the collected data.