In part one of Managing ESXi without the VI client, I dealt with some initial setup issues and creating a VM. In this part, I show the process to add a license key, how to enable VM auto-start options and how to unregister a VM. Adding A License File The VMs on the host had been running for …
The purpose of this experiment was to see if ESXi could be managed without the VI client or the vCLI for that matter. Over the next 30 days I’ll setup and manage an ESXi host without any client. The exception will be using a VNC client to connect to the remote console of any VMs …
You can also find an article on common issues for ESXi 3.5 / 40 here. 1) After you install ESXi 4.0 you get the error: Failed to find boot partition It may be the case that your host is trying to boot from the wrong disk. Check the mode of your SATA controller and take …
If you have no operating system installed on the host that you want to use for ESXi but you know the device vender and model, you can use a resource like http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/ or http://www.pcidatabase.com/ to find out what the PCI vender and device ID will be. You can then compare that with this list. If …
How do I find the PCI ID for my storage or network controller? Read More »
This table contains a list of systems, motherboards, storage controllers and network cards that have been tested and found to work with ESX 4.x or ESXi 4.x Installable. Please check out the source column for a system you are considering using as some systems will include special steps to enable ESX / ESXi to run …
Motherboards and unsupported servers that work with ESX 4.x and/or ESXi 4.x Installable Read More »
This pages lists systems and devices that have been found to support VMDirectPath with ESX and ESXi 4.0. To submit a server or device for this list, please post in the VMDirectPath HCL forum. If you’re having a problem with VMDirectPath you can post a question here. Servers / PCs / MBs ESX ESXi Asus …
oem.tgz is a file used by ESXi to customize the installation. With this file you can replace default files that ESXi uses or add additional files to the install. Below are some sample files which enable support for various storage controllers. Please search the forum for other files. See this page for customizing oem.tgz for …
When you configure devices for passthru on ESXi the changes you make are stored in /etc/vmware/esx.conf. This makes it possible to edit your passthru configuration with vifs.pl (supported option) or at the console (unsupported). In the below 2 examples I have a screenshot of the VMDirectPath configuration screen, as well as the output of esx.conf and lspci. …
VMDirectPath is a great new feature with vSphere 4.0, but with new features come new challenges. This page will deal with some common configuration problems that you might encounter. 1) Disable VMDirectPath with a reboot2) Disable VMDirectPath without a reboot3) Remove devices from the VMDirectPath Configuration when you’re unable to do so with the vSphere client4) Dealing with the ESXi boot device that …
A very commonly sought after option for ESX and ESXi is the ability to pass through a locally attached USB device into a VM. While the release of ESX/ESXi 4.0 did provide the ability to add a USB controller to a VM, it is not possible to add a locally attached USB device to a …
