Customizing your ESXi install with oem.tgz
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 ESXi 3.5.
| Description | Source | Last Update |
|---|---|---|
| Enable SSH, FTP, enhanced wget and rync (change log) | birnenschnitzel / rsync from Greg Lim | 2009/04/16 |
| Adds support for 3Ware 9650 / 9690 RAID controllers | 1 2 3 | 2009/06/10 |
| Adds support for LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i | 1 | 2009/10/13 |
| Adds support for nVidia MCP78 SATA controller (10de:0ad0) | xelnaha | 2009/05/26 |
| Adds support for nVidia MCP78 SATA controller (10de:0ad4) | premysl | 2009/06/17 |
| Adds support for nVidia MCP67 SATA controller (10de:0554) | daedelus82 | 2009/06/14 |
| Adds support for nVidia MCP61 NIC (10de:03ef) | ricdanger | 2009/05/23 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8168 / 8111 NICs | snocrash | 2009/08/10 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8168 / 8111 NICs and the Intel P55 SATA (8086: 3b22) controller | geppi | 2009/10/13 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8168 (v8.015.00) NICs | mirth71 | 2009/11/30 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8169 NICs | guybrush | 2009/11/03 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8169, Marvell Yukon, enhanced AHCI, Marvel PATA (88SE61xx) | danisoto | 2009/11/17 |
| Adds support for JMicron PATA (179b:2361) | danisoto | 2009/12/10 |
| Adds support for the Adaptec 2940 (aic7xxx) | curmudgeon | 2009/12/10 |
| Adds support for VIA (VT6130/VT6122) NIC | daoyama | 2009/12/27 |
| Adds support for Realtek 8211 NIC | rguyler | 2010/01/04 |
| Adds Amazon s3cmd support | lamw | 2010/01/09 |
| Adds support for the Atheros/Attansic atl1e NIC (1969:1026) | sergep | 2010/01/20 |
| Adds Realtek 8168 NIC support (source used is version 8.016) | rockster70 | 2010/02/02 |
| Adds 3Ware 9690SA and 9650SE support | iocc | 2010/02/15 |
| Adds Intel Pro/100 S support | slavik | 2010/02/16 |
| Adds Broadcom 5761 support (14e4:1681) | atlas01 | 2010/03/09 |
| Adds sata_sil24 support (3124, 3131, 3132, 3531 and OEM rebadges) | bphinz | 2010/03/14 |
| Adds QLE220 HBA support | pmouat | 2010/04/07 |
| Adds Sil3132-based Rosewill PCI-e 1x 2-port support | neuralspark | 2010/04/15 |
| Adds support for various Silicon Image based products (3124, 3131, 3132, 3531 including the Adaptec 1220A). Also includes a sata_mv driver for 7 Marvell PCI-X/PCIe SATA I & II chipsets (88sx5040 (11AB:5040), 88sx5041 (11AB:5041),88sx5080 (11AB:5040) - HighPoint RocketRAID 182x, 88sx5081 (11AB:5081),88sx6040 (11AB:6040),88sx6041 (11AB:6041), 88sx6042 (11AB:6042), 88sx6080 (11AB:6080), 88sx6081 (11AB:6081) - HighPoint RocketRAID 2220, 88sx7062 (1103:2310) - HighPoint RocketRAID 2310 PCIe) | neuralspark | 2010/04/19 |
| Adds support for a native NUTS (Network UPS Tools) client. | rene | 2010/04/26 |
| Adds 3Ware 9550sx support | islandigital | 2010/05/20 |
| Adds Realtek R8168 support | IRJustman | 2010/06/01 |
| Adds support for the Intel 82578DC NIC (8086:10f0) | hardworker | 2010/06/07 |
| Adds support for an Atheros L1 NIC (1969:1048) | djgkp | 2010/06/12 |
| Adds Areca 1.20.00.15_100202 driver - 1 - 2 | xivm gagga | 2010/06/25 |
| Adds Intel Matrix (dmraid) support | tbdombrosky | 2010/07/11 |
Modifying oem.tgz when using the install CD
If you're using the installable CD image to install ESXi, you will have to modify oem.tgz in two places. First you will find oem.tgz in the root of the install CD. ESXi 4.0 no longer user oem.tgz at the root of the CD as ESXi 3.5 did so the file won't be there by default. You can add the file and also update isolinux.cfg to include oem.tgz in the boot sequence. This copy of the file will then be used when ESXi boots from the CD to perform the installation to CD. Should you want to add additional drivers or modify simple.map/pci.ids to recognize additional hardware, then you would first need to modify this file. Otherwise the install process will not be able to recognize the hardware you wish to add support for. The second copy in on a disk dump image within the file image.tgz. For ESX 4.0 that file can be found at this path within the install.tgz file - image.tgz/image.tgz.temptar/usr/lib/vmware/installer/VMware-VMvisor-big-164009-x86_64.dd.bz2/VMware-VMvisor-big-164009-x86_64.dd. This copy of oem.tgz would be used when ESXi boots after the install. You would need to modify this copy for ESXi to boot using it after the installation has been completed.
While it is possible to modify oem.tgz in the dd image, you may find it easier to change the file after it has been installed to your system. This would make your install process look like this should you need to add hardware support:
1) Modify oem.tgz on the install CD
2) Boot the CD and install ESXi
3) After the install is complete, reboot the host with a bootable Linux CD
4) Modify oem.tgz on the Hypervisor1 partition
5) Reboot your host and ESXi will boot using the modified oem.tgz file
Update: if you're running Linux and want to automate the above process, check out the scripts here provided by Varazir. He has provided scripts for embedding oem.tgz into an install CD as well as to create a bootable flash drive with oem.tgz added. If you don't want to deal with buring a CD you can also install ESXi from a USB flash drive.
Modifyng oem.tgz when booting from a USB flash drive
When you boot ESXi from a USB flash drive you will have copied the install dd image from image.tgz and you only have to modify oem.tgz on the Hypervisor1 (/bootbank) partition. You can either do this prior to booting ESXi or after. In the below example, ESXi will have been booted and you will then access the console. If you plan to modify oem.tgz to add hardware support, you'll have had to gathered the PCI ids for the hardware.
Instructions to modify oem.tgz if you're booting from a USB flash drive to add support for an unrecognized device.
This example assumes that you have deterimed the PCI ids for the hardware you want to add to the ESXi PCI database files and that you have been able to access the console of ESXi.
1) cd /tmp/
2) mkdir -p oem/etc/vmware
3) cd oem/etc/vmware
4) cp /etc/vmware/simple.map simple.map
5) vi simple.map
--- add the necessary PCI data for your devices
6) close vi - press ESC and enter :wq
7) cp /etc/vmware/pci.ids pci.ids
8) vi pci.ids
-- add the necessary description for your devices (this will be displayed in the console and VI Client)
9) close vi - press ESC and enter :wq
10) cd /tmp/oem
11) tar -cvzf oem.tgz etc
12) cp oem.tgz /bootbank/oem.tgz
13) reboot
If you have an existing oem.tgz file that you want to edit, you can follow these steps.
1) cd tmp
2) mkdir oem
3) cd oem
4) cp /bootbank/oem.tgz oem.tgz
5) gzip -d oem.tgz
6) tar -xvf oem.tar
7) rm oem.tar
Make your changes
8) tar -cvzf oem.tgz < file / folder list > - e.g. tar -cvzf oem.tgz etc sbin
9) cp oem.tgz /bootbank/oem.tgz
10 reboot
Copyright © 2009 - Dave Mishchenko