Unable to detect hard drive during VMware ESXi installation - vmware

I am trying to install VMWare ESXi on a fresh hetzner server machine, I have ordered the machine with 4-port hardware RAID controller and 4 SSDs in total. I created an Array with RAID5 configuration, now if I reboot the server with VMWare-VMvisor Installer (tried with version 5.5 update03 and 6.5 update01), at the end of initializing the setup, it asks for the harddrive, but shows nothing (no option to select).
Can someone please tell me what have I done wrong? I thought its due to the RAID configuration but it doesn't seems like that.

Related

Virtualize ESXi 6.7 under ESXi 6.0

Good day
Is it possible to virtualize ESXi 6.7 in an existing ESXi 6.0?
The reason for this is to do tests before upgrading the main ESXi 6.0.
Main:
hpe-DL380 --- ESXi 6.0 --- vCenter6.0-vm
Want to test:
hpe-DL380 --- ESXi 6.0 --- nested ESXi 6.7
Found these nested ESX packages from here.
https://williamlam.com/nested-virtualization/nested-esxi-virtual-appliance
Thank you.
So, today, i downloaded this file, Nested_ESXi6.7_Appliance_Template_v1.ova and tried to deployed it in the ESXi 6.0.
The result is a failure.
vSphere client complained about the unsupported hardware family, vmx-13.
Looks like the nested ESXi version must be at least the same version as the physical ESXi.
You may be in luck due to using 6.0 but you will need a very specific configuration and this procedure is completely bleeding edge and totally unsupported. Furthermore it's been a few years since I worked at VMware and I don't have access to an ESXi host so the commands may have some minor typos.
get to the ESXi command line (https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.security.doc/GUID-12E27BF3-3769-4665-8769-DA76C2BC9FFE.html) and list the USB drivers manually using "vmkload_mod -l". If you see "usb-storage" you are in luck. If you see "vmkusb" then you're out of luck and can stop here (see below for why).
configure your ESXi 6.0 host to have no requirement for USB storage. For example, if your host boots from an SD card attached to the motherboard via a USB SD card reader then you need to get another host.
backup all your data or migrate the VMs you care about or whatever.
run these 3 commands (typos are possible)
service usb-arbitrator stop
vmkload_mod -u usb-storage
service usb-arbitrator start
You will have to repeat this after every reboot but you can make it permanent with this procedure: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147565.
download a bootable ISO image of ESXi 6.7 from, for example, https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?productId=742&downloadGroup=ESXI670
burn the ISO image to a USB flash drive using, for example, https://miketabor.com/create-bootable-esxi-installer-usb-flash-drive/
attach the USB flash drive to your host and pass it through to your VM when your VM is powered off.
boot your VM from the ISO image on the USB flash drive and install the desired version of ESXi.
With newer versions of ESXi (6.7, 7.0) on the host this is no longer possible because the vmkusb native driver is monolithic so when the storage functionality is unloaded the host controller functionality also goes away.

VMware Workstation 15 export to customers ESXi5.5

I don't have ESXi inhouse, but am building a VM for a customer and they have two environments, an ESXi5.5 deployment and a 6.7.
At the moment I'm only able to export to an OVF/OVA format, which (for my customer) has worked in their 6.7 environment as I've downloaded the (Linux) version of Workstation 15 and am wondering how on earth I get to export the VM for ESX5.5. The VMware forums and online help don't seem to have been updated for Workstation 15 as they refer to a wizard which isn't available in the version of Workstation 15 that I have (only available in the paid version?)
I've also downloaded the VMware vCenter Converter (Windows version, standalone) as I was under the impression that that would be able to do convert anything to anything and therefore do what I needed, but it will only allow me to export to a 5.5 ESXi server within my environment, which I don't have.
What I'm looking at doing is building a VM that can be used in any ESXi environment, so I guess I should ask: what really is the best tool for me to be able to do that, considering that I don't have ESXi deployed here and am using VMWare Workstation and VirtualBox.
I had hoped that OVA/OVF would be a standard, and perhaps that's correct for newer VMWare Type I hypervisors?
My assumption is that you're running into an issue where the VM of a specific hardware version cannot be imported to the 5.5 environment. Each version of vSphere has a compatible hardware version, they're listed here: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-64D4B1C9-CD5D-4C68-8B50-585F6A87EBA0.html
To downgrade an existing VM's hardware, you can manually create a new (custom) VM in Workstation and when asked for the Virtual Disk, point to the existing disks you have already created. Additional information: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1028019

Can you install vmware server 2 on the Windows 8 preview?

Apologies if this has been asked already, searching the web reveals lots and lots of threads about installing the Win8 beta on VMware but not the other way around.
I am trying to install VMware Server 2.0.2 on a Windows 8 Preview machine. It appears to install correctly but I cannot then reach the web based homepage to configure virtual machines, i.e.
https://localhost:8333/ui/
gives the error that the "connection attempt to localhost was rejected. The website may be down or your network may not be properly configured".
Has anyone had any success running VMware Server 2.0.2 on Windows 8 Preview? If so were there any gotchas you needed to avoid?
I don't think it will ever be resolved. VMware Server was declared End Of Availability in January 2010; There will be no support for Windows 8.
Your best try would be trying launching the services in compatibility mode, but why would you do that? Why not use the much more advanced VMware Player or VMware Workstation products?
I've found a way to run it on Windows 8.
On my PC with a x64 version of Windows 8, when I installed VMware Server 2, I found there was a service called VMware Host Agent that cannot be run. When I opened the system Service Manager and clicked to launch this service, it gave me the error.
My solution is to create a service with the same command string and set it to start automatically by using the "sc create" command in cmd.exe. And it worked for me!

create a vm from host os using vmware -aka clone host os to vm guest image

This question must be a repeat since it sounds obvious but I cannot seem to find a solution online. I have win 7 x64 running vmware workstation. I need to create a guest vm which is a clone of my host os. (win 7 x64). Can this be done ? If yes please post the link or getting started solution or steps. Do not confuse with the clone feature in vm. That merely clones an existing guest vm so you can take it to another machine. thanks
The VMware Converter does what you want. I tested that sometime ago and it worked pretty good. But I think you need a second Windows license for that.

Unable to determine guest operating system: Vmware error

Ok, here's a very short and to the point question. When trying to import a virtual PC 2004 Windows 2003 Server VM in VM Workstation 6.0.2 I'm getting an error 'unable to determine guest operating system'. Soo how to fix?
From here:
Make sure that that the VM is not currently running in VMware Server.
Make sure that VMware Server does not have a lock on the VM’s files. You have have to stop all VMware Server Services and/or reboot the (VMWare) server.
Make sure you have appropriate permissions to the VM’s files.
This is a fairly generic error from VMware Converter so I would try the following:
Step 1. Make sure you are running the latest version of VMware Converter. Updates seem to come pretty often for this tool.
Step 2. Check the VMware Converter log file. More often than not you will find the source of your problem here.