esx 4.0 install product support engineering vmware confidential

ESX 4.0 Install

Product Support Engineering

VMware Confidential

VI4 - Mod 1-2 - Slide 2

Agenda

Module 1 – vSphere Upgrade

Module 2– ESX 4.0 Install

Module 3 – vSphere 4.0 Licensing

Module 4 – vCenter Server 4.0

Module 5 – Remote CLI


Module 1-3 Lessons

Lesson 1 – Overview of ESX

Lesson 2 – Installing ESX 4.0

Lesson 3 – Post Install considerations

Lesson 4 – Download and Install VI Client

Lesson 5 – Remote and Scripted Installs


ESX Hardware Requirements

Hardware and System resources for ESX.

64-bit server

All AMD Opterons support 64-bit.

All Intel Xeon 3000/3200, 3100/3300, 5100/5300, 5200/5400, 7100/7300, 7200/7400 support 64-bit.

All Intel Nehalem (no Xeon brand number assigned yet for UP, DP, or MP processors) support 64-bit.

2GB RAM minimum.

One or more Ethernet controllers. Supported controllers include:

Broadcom NetXtreme 570x gigabit controllers

Intel PRO/1000 adapters


ESX Requirements

For best performance and security, use separate Ethernet controllers for the service console and the virtual machines.

A SCSI adapter, Fibre Channel adapter, or internal RAID controller:

Basic SCSI controllers are Adaptec Ultra-160 and Ultra-320, LSI Logic Fusion-MPT, and most NCR/Symbios SCSI controllers.

Fibre Channel. See the Storage / SAN Compatibility Guide.

RAID adapters supported are HP Smart Array, Dell PercRAID (Adaptec RAID and LSI MegaRAID), and IBM (Adaptec) ServeRAID controllers.


ESX Requirements

A SCSI disk, Fibre Channel LUN, or RAID LUN with unpartitioned space.

In a minimum configuration, this disk or RAID is shared between the service console and the virtual machines.

For hardware iSCSI, a disk attached to an iSCSI controller, such as the Qlogic qla405x.

For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers.

A VGA capable graphics subsystem.


ESX Requirements

ESX supports installing and booting from the following storage systems:

ATA disk drives – Installing ESX on an ATA drive or ATA RAID is supported.

Ensure that your specific drive controller is included in the supported hardware.

Storage of virtual machines is currently not supported on ATA drives or RAIDs.

Virtual machines must be stored on VMFS volumes configured on a SCSI or SATA drive, a SCSI RAID, or a SAN.


ESX Requirements

SATA disk drives - SATA disk drives connected behind supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. Supported SAS controllers include:

mptscsi_pcie - LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)

mptscsi_pcix - LSI1068 (SAS 5)

aacraid_esx30 - IBM serveraid 8k SAS controller

Cciss - Smart Array P400/256 controller

megaraid_sas - Dell PERC 5.0.1 controller

Supported on-board SATA include:

Intel ICH9

Nvidia MPC55

ServerWorks HT1000


ESX Requirements

SCSI disk drives - SCSI disk drives are supported for installing ESX.

Storage area networks (SANs) - Both Fibre Channel and iSCSI, are supported for installing ESX.

Virtual Machines can be stored on VMFS partitions.

NOTE: The minimum supported LUN capacity for VMFS3 is 1200MB.

Before deploying ESX on a SAN, see the latest version of the ESX SAN Compatibility Guide at www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html


Hardware and Software Compatibility

For more information on supported hardware and software, download the ESX Compatibility Guides from www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.

Systems compatibility

Lists the standard operating systems and server platforms against which VMware tests.

I/O compatibility

Lists devices that are accessed directly through device drivers in the ESX host.

Storage compatibility

Lists the combinations of HBAs and storage devices currently tested by VMware and its storage partners.

Backup software compatibility

Describes the backup packages tested by VMware.



Supported Guest Operating Systems

The VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide includes information on supported guest operating systems. You can download this document at:


ESX offers support for a number of 64-bit guest operating systems.

See the Guest Operating System Installation Guide for a complete list.



Supported Guest Operating Systems

There are specific hardware requirements for 64-bit guest operating system support.

For AMD Opteron based systems, the processors must be Opteron Rev E and later.

For Intel Xeon based systems, the processors must include support for Intel Virtualization Technology (VT).

Many servers that include CPUs with VT support might ship with VT disabled by default, and VT must be enabled manually.

If your CPUs support VT but you do not see this option in the BIOS, contact your vendor to request a BIOS version that lets you enable VT support.

To determine whether your server has the necessary support, you can use a CPU Compatibility Tool at http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/drivers_tools.html.

http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/drivers_tools.html


Virtual Machine Requirements

Virtual processor

One, two, four or eight processors per virtual machine

NOTE If you create a two-processor virtual machine, your ESX machine must have at least two physical processors. For a four-processor virtual machine, your ESX machine must have at least four physical processors.

Virtual chip set - Intel 440BX based motherboard with NS338 SIO chip

Virtual BIOS PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6


Prerequisites for Installing ESX

Before you begin the installation procedure, ensure that you have done the following:

Make sure that the server hardware clock is set to UTC. This setting is in the system BIOS.

Make sure the host has a supported NIC.

The ESX installer needs a live network connection to properly detect certain network settings, such as the machine name under DHCP. IPv6 is not supported for ESX installation. You do not need

to be connected if you are doing a CD-ROM/DVD install.

Download the ESX installation ISO and burn the image onto a DVD.


About ESX Partitions

ESX includes physical, virtual, required, and optional partitions.

In ESX 4.0, /boot and vmkcore are physical partitions. The /, swap, and all the optional partitions are stored on a virtual disk called esxconsole.vmdk. The virtual disk is stored in the /vmfs/volumes/<UUID> directory. The default size of esxconsole.vmdk is 8GB.

ESX has the following physical partitions:

/boot – Contains the ESX software and its support files. The disk that you install /boot onto must be the disk the BIOS chooses to boot from.

vmkcore – Required to store core dumps for troubleshooting. VMware does not support ESX host configurations without a vmkcore partition.

/vmfs – Required to store your virtual machines. The /vmfs/volumes/<UUID> partition contains the esxconsole.vmdk, swap, and / - root partitions.


About ESX Partitions

The ESX installation includes separate installable components:

ESX boot disk – Requires 360MB of free space. The /boot and vmkcore partitions are included on the ESX boot disk.

/vmfs/volumes – Requires at least 8GB of free space and includes the service console (VMDK disk) plus space for your other virtual machines.

You can install the ESX boot disk and /vmfs/volumes on a single device or on two separate devices. If you install them on a single device, the device must have at least 10.5GB of free space.


Installing ESX

The following methods are available for installing VMware ESX software:

Graphical interface – This is the recommended installation method.

Text mode – Use this method if your video controller, keyboard, or mouse does not function properly using the graphical installer.

Scripted – An efficient way to deploy multiple hosts.


Installing VMware ESX 4.0

Installed Components

The VMware ESX 4.0 installation includes the following components:

VMware ESX 4.0 – Software to manage and serve virtual machines.

VMware vSphere Client - Software to allow access to the ESX host.

VMware vSphere Web Access – Software to allow a Web browser access to the ESX host.


Installation on SATA Drives

When installing ESX on SATA drives, consider the following situations:

Ensure that your SATA drives are connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers.

Do not use SATA disks to create VMFS datastores shared across multiple ESX hosts.


To install ESX

Download the ISO file for ESX 4.0 from the VMware Web Site

Burn the iso file onto DVD media.

Insert the DVD into the DVD drive of a supported server platform.

Power on the machine with the VMware ESX DVD in the CD/DVD drive.

In the BIOS, set the server to boot from the DVD.

The ESX begins its boot process until the mode selection page appears.


Post install Considerations

Evaluation Period Countdown

The ESX 60-day evaluation period begins to count down immediately after the first time you power on the ESX machine.

Locate the Installation Log

After you install and reboot, log in to the service console to read the installation log at /var/log/weasel.log


Lab – Installing ESX 4.0

Lab 3 Part 1 – ESX 4.0 Installation


Download the vSphere Client

The vSphere Client is a Windows program that you can use to configure the ESX host and to operate its virtual machines.

You can download vSphere Client from any ESX host.

You must obtain the URL of an ESX host. This is the IP address or machine name.

To download the vSphere Client

From a Windows machine, open a Web browser.

Enter the URL for the ESX host.For example, enter http://testserver.vmware.com/The VMware ESX welcome page appears.

Click the Download the VI Client link under Getting Started.A security warning dialog box appears.

Click Yes.

Install the client.


Remote and Scripted Installations

After you install ESX on a system, you can quickly deploy more ESX hosts by using scripted installations.

Scripted installations provide an efficient way to deploy multiple hosts.

The ESX scripted installation method is similar to Red Hat’s kickstart installation method.

The script is a kickstart configuration file, which consists of the choices you want to make during the installation of ESX.

The ESX scripted installation is incompatible with Red Hat’s kickstart installation method or files.


Remote and Scripted Installations

Scripted installations include the following steps:

Create a kickstart file using the commands shown in the ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide

Edit the kickstart configuration file as needed to change settings that are unique for each server.

Run the scripted install locally from the CD-ROM drive of the new system or remotely over a network using installation files that are hosted on a remote ESX.


Sample Kickstart File

# root Password

rootpw --iscrypted $1$MpéRëÈíÌ$n9sgFQJweS1PeSBpqRRu..

# Authconfig

authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5

# BootLoader ( The user has to use grub by default )

bootloader --location=mbr

# Timezone

timezone America/Los_Angeles

# Install

install cdrom

# Network install type

network --device=MAC_address --bootproto=dhcp

# Keyboard

keyboard us

# Reboot after install ?

reboot

# Clear partitions

clearpart --firstdisk

# Partitioning

part /boot --fstype=ext3 --size= --onfirstdisk

part storage1 --fstype=vmfs3 --size=10000 --grow --onfirstdisk

part None --fstype=vmkcore --size=100 --onfirstdisk

# Create the vmdk on the cos vmfs partition.

virtualdisk cos --size=5000 --onvmfs=storage1

# Partition the virtual disk.

part / --fstype=ext3 --size=0 --grow --onvirtualdisk=cos

part swap --fstype=swap --size=256 --onvirtualdisk=cos

#VMware Specific Commands

accepteula

serialnum --esx=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

%post


Run a Scripted Installation from the Kickstart FileType one of the following commands:

esx ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg- Kickstart file is located on the CDROM drive attached to the machine.

esx ks=file://<path>/ks.cfg- Kickstart file is at <path> which resides inside the initial RAM disk image.

esx ks=http://<server>/<path>/ks.cfg- Kickstart file is located at the given URL.

esx ks=nfs://<server>/<path>/ks.cfg- Kickstart file is located at <path> on a given server.

esx ks=usbKickstart file is in the root directory of a USB flash drive

esx ks=UUID:<disk-uuid>:/<path>/ks.cfg Kickstart file is located on the partition with the given UUID and path.

Press Enter to start the scripted installation.


ESX Partitioning

Required PartitionsAn ESX local boot volume requires three specific partitions for operation.

In addition, a local or remote VMFS partition is required to store your virtual machines, and a vmkcore partition is required to provide core dumps for technical support.

For /var/log, VMware recommends a separate partition to prevent unexpected disk space constraints from compromising ESX operations. Increase this partition by 512MB if you perform a remote or scripted installation from the ESX machine.

In ESX 4.0, the /boot, vmkcore, and /vmfs are physical partitions.

The /, swap, and all the optional partitions are stored on a virtual disk

You cannot define the sizes of the /boot, vmkcore, and /vmfs partitions when you use the GUI or text installation methods

You can define these partition sizes when you do a scripted installationAfter installation, the esxconsole-<UUID>.vmdk file is created on the /vmfs partition. The /, swap, and the optional partitions are stored in the esxconsole-<UUID>.vmdk file.


ESX Required Partitions


ESX Optional Partitions

For /tmp and /home, VMware recommends separate partitions to prevent unexpected disk space constraints from compromising ESX operations.


Mini-quiz

You can have VMFS volumes installed on a “ATA” drive? (true/false)

False. You can put / & /boot on ATA everything else must be on a SATA drive.

What 2 new methods of Kickstart installations can be accomplished (cdrom, nfs, file, http, ______, _______)?

USB (vfat), UUID (ext3)


Lesson 1-2 Summary

Learn how to install ESX 4.0

Download and Install VI Client

Methods of Installation


Lab 1 – Installing ESX 4.0

Lab 1 Part 1 – Installing ESX 4.0

esx 4.0 install product support engineering vmware confidential

Documents

supported sas controllers

supported hardware

scsi raid

onboard sata controllers

ata raid

basic scsi controllers

ncrsymbios scsi controllers

requirementsa scsi disk