To start a VM from the command line, issue the following command:
vmrun -T server -h 'https://nameofserver.com:8333' -u root -p 'password here' start "[DataStoreNameHere] Debian/Debian_Lenny.vmx"
I had trouble determining the "DataStore" name and found it listed in one of the Vmware files. The default seems to be "standard".