ESXi uses SYSLINUX as its boot loader and thus it is possible to add options to customize the initial SYSLINUX boot screen. In the below example we will modify syslinux.cfg to allow for a 200 second boot delay. 1) Boot your ESXi install with a Linux live CD. The SYSLINUX files are on a FAT16 …
As with any system there may arise a situation in which the root login has been misplaced or forgotten. The below process will show you how to reset the password for root back to a blank password. This is not supported by VMware and you might consider running a repair install of ESXi instead of …
The procedure below documents the commands necessary to run a check of the system partitions of ESXi. The below image shows the output of fdisk -l and the partitions which will be checked are circled. The 2 partitions consisting of 49136 blocks are the Hypervisor1 and Hypervisor2 partitions. These are mounted by ESXi as /bootbank and /altbootbank …
ESXi – Run a File System Check on System Partitions Read More »
There are several methods available to patch ESX 3i hosts when the server is deployed without VirtualCenter. First, one can use the VMware Infrastructure Update client to up the host, second, second the host can be updated with the RCLI command vihostupdate.pl and lastly one can install the patch using the remoteInstall utility that comes bundled in …
Once you have imported the RCLI virtual appliance, you may want to set a static IP address for the VM. This can be done via the web interface of the appliance or at the console. To change the IP address via the web interface, access the VM at https://<ip_address:8080/ and login with the network user and the …
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 …
The below table lists the devices that ESXi 3.5 Update 2 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 …
What storage and network devices will ESXi 3.5 recognize? Read More »
As you expand your use of ESXi server, you may find that you need to delegate certain tasks to users who require only limited rights on the host. In the below example, we will grant user1 permissions on the VMs TEST1 and TEST2 and user2 permission on TEST3. When we start, we have the VMs …
ESXi: Assigning Permissions on a Standalone Server Read More »
To improve reliability and reduce security vulnerabilities, VMware removed the service console from ESX 3i. To run commands that one would normally run at the service console, it is necessary to download one of three packages from this location. There are two install packages, one for Windows and one for Linux, and one virtual appliance which …
Install ESXi 3.5 to an IDE drive 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 ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 image to.” If it is the case that the IDE …
