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 …
ESXi provides the ability to use raw device mapping (RDM) as a method to provide a VM with direct access to a LUN on a Fibre CHannel or iSCSI storage device. RDMs are useful should you have to share a LUN with a physical server or have SAN utilities running in the VM that will …
ESXi comes in two flavors, embedded and installable. Installable comes on a CD but if you have to do a number of installs or repeat installs, it’s a bit of a pain to always have the CD ready. Plus in my home lab, my newer servers don’t have a CD-ROM so I have to dig …
The devices listed below were listed in ESXi 3.5, but are not in ESXi 4.0. Vender Name PCI IDs Device Type Driver Name Device Name Vender ID Device ID Sub-vender ID Sub-device ID Digital Equipment Corporation 1011 1065 1069 0020 storage DAC960 DAC960P / DAC1164P Hewlett-Packard Company 103c ffff ffff ffff storage cciss Unknown Smart …
The below table lists the devices that ESXi 4.0 will be able to recognize. Also included is the module that ESXi will load to enable the device to work. The inclusion of a device on this list does not guarantee that ESXi will work with the device. There are devices on this list that work and are …
What storage and network devices will ESXi 4.0 recognize? Read More »
With ESX it is sometimes necessary to run the command services vmware-mgmt restart should you not be able to connect with the VI client or if you need the host to re-read the esx.conf configuration file because changes you have made at the console are not visible in VirtualCenter. The services command is not available on ESXi …
By default, if the ESXi install can not find a supported device to install to, then the installer will quit with the error message: “Unable to find a supported device to write the VMware ESXi <version> image to.” If it is the case that the IDE drive in your host is recognized by ESXi, then …
ESXi 40 does ship with the ability to run SSH, but this is disabled by default (and is not supported). If you just need to access the console of ESXi, then you only need to perform steps 1 – 3. 1) At the console of the ESXi host, press ALT-F1 to access the console window.2) …
