Transfer files to Esxi datastore using kickstart file - vmware

I was trying to place a file on to the esxi host while booting up the system using kickstart process.
I created a.txt file in the iso image, and build the image. When i booted up the system all the files which were present on the iso were visible on the datastore/localdisk except the text file.
Where should I mention so that the file the can also be moved into the host? is there any other way of achiving this thing.
thanks in advance

Related

Google Cloud Single-Node File Server add another disk

I made a fairly standard deployment of the Single-Node File Server on Google Cloud. It works fine as I can mount the file server's disk from other instances.
However, now I want to add another disk to the same file server. The documentation says I should use the following command to add another file system:
zfs create storagepool_name/file_system_name
I tried to run this command on the VM that is acting as the file server, but I get the error that the command zfs is not found.
Now I can probably install zfs myself, but I wonder whether that will somehow collide with whatever the deployment has already set up on the machine.
Is installing and setting up zfs myself a problem? If so, how do I add another disk to the file server?
I figured out what went wrong with my setup of the Single-Node File Server.
First, the default deployment settings seems to choose xfs as the default file system instead of zfs. The file server I had was using xfs, as can be seen in the metadata of the instance itself.
Secondly, as user John Hanley commented in my question, even with zfs selected as the file system, only the root user has its PATH variable set-up properly to be able to directly use the zfs command.

Is there a way to open and modify a python file in a virtual machine of google cloud platform?

I just started to use cloud to do training for my deep learning program. For now every time I modified my local .py file I have to remove the old one in the remote virtual machine of Google Cloud Platform and upload the new one. I am just curious if there is a way that I can actually open the .py file in the remote visual machine through the command line? That would be very high efficiency.
Thank you very much!
To edit a file on a machine you can SSH into there are many potential solutions.
Use scp to copy files. E.g. scp mylocalfile ssh://my-host-address/myfolder
Use ssh mounting solutions: How do you edit files over SSH?
Edit using nano your-file-to-edit (my favorite) https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/42980/the-beginners-guide-to-nano-the-linux-command-line-text-editor/
Edit using vi or vim http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Tutorial

Can't open imported VMDK file

I downloaded a VM instance from the web and launched / modified it using it using VMware Workstation 12 Player
I would now like to transfer this image onto an ESXi host running VMware ESXi Version 5.5.0.
I have tried copying the working directory "C:\Users\xxxx\Downloads\Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64\Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64" to the ESXi datastore and have tried to import it using a couple of methods:
I tried browsing to the Datastore, right clicking the "Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64.vmx" file and selecting "add to inventory"
I tried creating a virtual machine, selecting the option to use and existing disk and pointed it at the VMDK file.
Both methods allow me to create the machine, but fail with the following error when I try to power it up.
Failed to start the virtual machine.
Module DiskEarly power on failed.
Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/4dc219c6-2eb825c6-0119-d8d3855f4a40/Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64/Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
The system cannot find the file specified
VMware ESX cannot find the virtual disk "/vmfs/volumes/4dc219c6-2eb825c6-0119-d8d3855f4a40/Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64/Kali-Linux-2.0.0-vm-amd64.vmdk". Verify the path is valid and try again.
I have checked and I can see the VMDK file on the Datastore.
I don't know if it of any significance, but the files on my desktop are broken down into multiple VMDK files and when I copied it to the Datastore, it turned them into one large VMDK file.
It might be best to use vmware converter to import the vm into your esxi host and/or even try an export to OVF from workstation and then an import (deploy OVF) to ESXi host.
From the error generated it looks like the original VM may still have some snapshots. Try and remove any snapshots, then take note of the disk controller and disk type of the workstation vm and check that it is supported for ESXi vm (for example IDE etc.), ESXi likes SCSI.

Why does vagrant use vmdk disk format as its standard package format?

I have a MacBook Air and space is a premium. I have a vagrant instance which has been growing in size from 2 GB to 8 GB.
I was looking at options for reducing the disk size found a few tutorials for VDI, but the actual file is a .vmdk file. Unfortunately, the tool to manage vmdk files is a commercially licensed tool from VMware.
Why does vagrant use the vmdk format as its default packaging format?
Is there a way to configure the vagrantfile and force it to use vdi instead of vmdk?
Simple answer is no.
VirtualBox only supports exporting images as OVF/OVA.
Vagrant 1.0.x base boxes are basically tar files of the VirtualBox exports. It changed a little bit in 1.1.x and 1.2+.
Anyway, technically you should still be able to convert the VMDK to VDI but you will have to re-attach it to the existing VM or create a new one using it, e.g.: VBoxManage clonehd in.vmdk out.vdi --format VDI
Refer to http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/boxes/format.html
In the past, boxes were just tar files of VirtualBox exports. With Vagrant supporting multiple providers, box files are now tar files where the contents differ for each provider. They are still tar files, but they may now optionally be gzipped as well.
Box files made for Vagrant 1.0.x and VirtualBox continue to work with Vagrant 1.1+ and the VirtualBox provider.

Is a ova file interchangable between Oracle's VirtualBox and VMware's player?

It seems to be easy question but I an new at this. I got a ova from one of my partners. He told me he exported a VM file using Export Appliance in VirtualBox. And my office's laptop is installed with VM player. My guess is that it is the same ova filetype. It supposed to open in both VMs. However, VW play shows this message.
Failed to open virtual machine: Failed to query source for information.
Any thought on this?