Last week I have been struggling with the installation of a vSphere 4 infrastructure on Dell hardware at a Belgium client site. I have done many many many VMware installations and encountered my fair share of issues but apart from the HP USB sticks the hardware never gave me this much trouble. It all started with a very difficult BIOS/firmware upgrade which, after various downloads and trials, ended with an old-school DOS boot USB and a DOS based BIOS update. Real 1980’s stuff. With this fixed I installed all ESX hosts and left for the hotel, ready to start the configuration the next day. However, when I started with the first ESX host and wanted to configure the network, I noticed that I only had eight NICs when I should have had twelve.
We use Dell PowerEdge R805 servers with two Intel quad port 82576 Gigabit Ethernet Adapters, the first card was already in the server, the second card we added just before the installation. At first I suspected the expansion slot and riser board and tried swapping PCI-e x8 and PCI-e x4 slots but with no success.
But by swapping the NICs we noticed that the original NIC worked but the NIC we added just before the installation did not. Further investigation showed that although the NICs were identical with regards to type, chipset, layout, etc, the revisions where a little different.
Searching the VMware Support website we for the Intel 82575 and 82576 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. Although we designed the virtual infrastructure with ESXi hosts in mind we used standard ESX 4 to check if the driver CD would fix the issue and have the additional four NICs pop up. And they did, YES! But next up, our next and hopefully final challenge. With standard ESX it is very easy to add additional drivers during installation.
Just select ‘Yes’ when the installations asks if you want to add additional drivers, select and add the driver and you’re done. With ESXi you have only two options when installing, 1. Install ESXi, 2.
Boot from harddisk. That’s all, so how do you add additional drivers? The driver CD manual combined with a little help from a colleague (thanks AJ) did the trick. After the installation configure the management network on one of the functioning NICs, connect using the vSphere client and put the host in maintenance mode. After that use the to install the additional driver from the driver CD (inserted in the client containing the vSphere CLI) using the following command: ‘vihostupdate.pl –server IP address –username root –install –bundle CD/DVD: offline-bundle INT-intel-lad-ddk-igb-1.3.19.12.1-offlinebundle-185976.zip‘ Reboot the ESX host and enjoy the four extra NICs! For easy reference follows a step by step How To: Step 1) Download the from the VMware website. Step 2) Install the VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface.
Step 3) Connect to the ESXi server through the VI client you wish to inject the NIC drivers into. Step 4) Put the ESXi host in maintenance mode. This can be done by connecting through the VI client with the ESXi server. Step 5) Inject the NIC drivers using the CLI C: Program Files (x86) VMware VMware vSphere CLI binvihostupdate.pl –server 172.17.101.13 –username root –install –bundle D: offline-bundle INT-intel-lad-ddk-igb-1.3.19.12.1-offlinebundle-185976.zip You will see in the VI Client that the driver is installed.
Step 6) Reboot the host. Step 7) Check the total number of network adapters through the VI client.
Under Configuration Tab Network Adapters under hardware column. Step 8 Install finished successful.
In my I warned that VMware has removed some drivers for officially unsupported NICs (Realtek and Marvell) from ESXi 5.5 (compared to ESXi 5.1 and 5.0 that still included them). These drivers still work with ESXi 5.5, and if you upgrade an ESXi 5.1 host to 5.5 then you can just keep and continue using them. But what if you want to install a new machine from scratch with ESXi 5.5 that needs one of these drivers? Well, the awesome ImageBuilder snap-in for can help. To anyone who is trying to get his SATA AHCI controller to work with ESXi 5.5 - please try the following: 1. Boot the computer from the installation CD 2. When the first menu appears, press Alt-F1 to switch to a console window.
Log in as root without password. Run 'vmkloadmod ahci' to load the ahci driver 4.
Run 'lspci -v more' to list PCI devices and IDs. Note the PCI vendor and device ID (e.g.
Export Vm From Vmware Workstation 12 To Esxi 6
1b21:0612) of your SATA controller! Switch back to the installation screen with Alt-F2 and continue the installation wizard 6a. If your controller and the attached disks are now detected then you are lucky: We just need to add the PCI ID from step #4 to the mapping table of the ahci driver. I can provide a VIB file for that if you let me know the PCI ID.
If your controller is NOT detected by the ahci driver then we cannot get it to work with ESXi 5.5 right now, sorry! If you already successfully installed ESXi 5.5 (on a USB drive or other disk controller) then just run steps #3 and #4 and check if your AHCI controller is detected then. Hi Andreas, Yes, vSphere web client can see the disks attached to the Intel controller. (VM has been upgraded to v.10) Yes, I'm trying to pass the controller through to the VM (it worked with 5.1) All SATA controllers on this machine are in passthrough mode, there is one on-board SCSI controller which never worked in passthrough mode in previous ESXi versions (confirmed by other people's experience as well).
So in my case it's something else. 0000:05:00.0 Serial Attached SCSI controller Mass storage controller: Intel Corporation Patsburg 4-Port SATA Storage Control Unit vmhba2 Class 0107: 8086:1d6b Seems like I have the same problem reported in the first comment by SFSCA: 'The on-board sata pass-through capabilities which worked on ALL versions of ESXi 5.0-5.1 is no longer working with ESXi 5.5.' Anonymous Hi Andreas, my Marvell 9172 appears to register, but all disks on it are not visible. The same disks register fine on the Intel ICH on the same board. On installation, the AHCI does not appear to load correctly despite a vmkloadmod, it does not unload for a reload either, because it claims symbols are already in use. The lspci output for the SATA controllers on my Intel DZ77RE-75k lists the proper Class 0106 entries for SATA once it is done and the controller shows up in vSphere, but a rescan also does not bring up the disks. Anonymous Hi, Thanks for all of your efforts and useful info.
I think I've read almost all of your posts related to ESXi 5 driver compatibility, and have downloaded your tools. What I can't figure out is whether an ESXi 4 driver can be ported to ESXi 5. Cisco anyconnect secure mobility client install error.
I have a HighPoint Rocket RAID 2720SGL I/O controller. It is a SAS / SATA 3 controller with various hardware RAID options. It works fine as a pass through device under ESXi 5.0, but I would like to use it directly within ESXi 5.0 or higher. HighPoint have not released any ESXi 5 drivers, but they did release ESX / ESXi 4 drivers for this card.
Might there be a way to port these ESXi 4 drivers into ESXi 5? Has anyone already done this? Hi Anonymous, you cannot use the ESXi 4 driver in ESXi 5. So you would need to either a) port the ESXi 4 driver to ESXi 5, or b) port a recent Linux driver to ESXi 5 I'm not sure what is easier, and I do not have the skills to do the one or the other. And I do not think that anyone was successful with this or is even working on it. I just checked the forums at vm-help.com and there is no recent conversation about the RocketRAID controller. So, I can only encourage you to try this on your own - a good starting point is my blog post here:.
Okay, here is how to get your ASMedia ASM1062 Controller working in ESXi 5.5: 1. If you have not yet installed ESXi 5.5 then download the following VIB file: and build a custom ISO with it using ESXi-Customizer 2. If you have already installed ESXi 5.5 then open a shell on the host and run the following commands: esxcli software acceptance set -level=CommunitySupported esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient esxcli software vib install -v reboot 3. If you have a different unsupported SATA AHCI Controller then comment here with its name an PCI ID (check with 'lspci -v'). Anonymous Hey Andreas, this is Gianluca. I've been trying to add my old Adaptec Ultra320 series RAID controller for awhile now. The controller will show up on ESXI 5.0 but not 5.5.
I've tried a myriad of things to get it to work on a clean install ISO of 5.5, including adding the.VIBs you've created but to no avail. I did the instructions you suggested within the installation console and here are the results.
Well, at least of the things that seemed like they'd be relevant to the controller (There was a lot of side stuff about the Motherboard North and South bridges). Anyway: 0000:001F.1 IDE Interface Mass Storage Controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB IDE Controller vmhba0 Class 0101: 8886:269e 0000:05:03.0 RAID bus controller Mass storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7902(B) U320 w/HostRAID Class 0104: 9005:889d 0000:05:03.1 SCSI bus controller Mass storage controller: Adaptec AIC-8982 U320 vmhba1 Class 0100: 9005:881d I'd like to mention that I have 4 Fujitsu 300gb hard drives that are set up in a RAID10 at the moment. Phoenix technologies ltd 6.00 pg bios update. Out of curiosity in a Windows 7 install, the drives show up as one 600gb hard drive.
Though, in the ESXI 5.0 install, when they show up, all 4 of them are selectable individually at 300gb a piece rather than the one 600gb it should be considered. Will having the correct VIBs installed fix that issue of them being 4 different drives rather than the one 600gb? Worse comes to worst, could I install ESXI 5.0 (Cause the 4 drives show up) and then upgrade to 5.5 (Where the drives don't show up)?
I feel like the install would detect that there's an ESXI installed somewhere and then ask if I want to update it. That being said, would the rest of the drives work or just a single 300gb after updating?
Is there any disadvantages to updating rather than installing cleanly? Hi Andreas Thanks for the good work, i just got my NIC to work building.ISO with the driver to ASUS H87i-Plus, its then possible to install. Next issue is the onboard RAID controller. I followed your guide, and got stuk with 6a. Boot the computer from the installation CD 2. When the first menu appears, press Alt-F1 to switch to a console window. Log in as root without password.
Download Esxi 6 Iso
Run 'vmkloadmod ahci' to load the ahci driver 4. Run 'lspci -v more' to list PCI devices and IDs.
Note the PCI vendor and device ID (e.g. 1b21:0612) of your SATA controller! Switch back to the installation screen with Alt-F2 and continue the installation wizard 6a. If your controller and the attached disks are now detected then you are lucky: We just need to add the PCI ID from step #4 to the mapping table of the ahci driver.
I can provide a VIB file for that if you let me know the PCI ID. I see the onboard RAID Controller (4.
Run 'lspci -v) RAID bus controller Mass storage controller 6 sata: Class 0104:8086:2822 But when i want to install i se 4 HDDs and not my RAID 5. Do i need to add something (6a) to se the RAID and not each disk? Best Regards Nicolai.
Posted on Updated on ESXi no longer supports Realtek Network drivers. To be able to install ESXi with the Realtek drivers users will have to create a custom ISO. Keep in mind these are unsupported drivers by VMware, so use at your own risk. Normally I would use my trusty program but it is no longer supported for ESXi 6. In replacement they offer a CLI supported program.
However, at this point I’d rather rely on the VMware tools vs. 3 rd party tools as you never know when 3 rd party tools will go away. VMware enables users to create custom ISOs via PowerCLI and in this blog I’ll explain how I used PowerCLI create my ISO. Keep in mind these are the steps that worked for me, your environment may vary. — Required Tools and Files — To get started you will need two files and PowerCLI Installed on a Windows PC. You can s kip these steps if you have the ESXi Offline Bundle, PowerCLI installed, and the RealTek Drivers. File 1: Download VMware 6.0U2 Offline Bundle ZIP 2.
File 2: Download RealTek 8186 Offline bundle 3. If you haven’t yet download and install PowerCLI Tip: If you don’t know PowerCLI try 4. Next Place the files from Step 1 and 2 into c: tmp folder –POWERCLI COMMANDS— Now that you have your files and PowerCLI ready follow these steps. For step below I included a screenshot and the actual command allowing you to copy, paste, and edit into your environment. Open PowerCLI ( Tip: If you don’t know PowerCLI try ). Add ESXi 6.0u2 and RealTek8186 products to the local Software Depot ( Tip: All commands below assume your files are located in the c: tmp folder) Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C: tmp update-from-esxi6.0-6.0update02.zip Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C: tmp net55-r8168-8.039.01-napi-offlinebundle.zip 2. Confirm the products are in the depot Get-EsxSoftwareDepot 3.
List out the ESXi Image Profiles Get-EsxImageProfile 4. Create a Clone Image to be modified – Ensure you are targeting the “ESXi.standard” profile from step 3 New-EsxImageProfile -cloneprofile ESXi-6.0.0-1-standard -Name “RealTek8186a” Forward-Looking Tip: Whatever name you choose it will show up in your boot ISO 5. Set the Acceptance Level to Community Supported – Remember RealTek is unsupported by VMware Set-EsxImageProfile -Name RealTek8186a -AcceptanceLevel CommunitySupported For ImageProfile Enter – RealTek8186a 6. Ensure the RealTek net55-r8186 driver is loaded from the local depot (Screenshot shortened) Get-EsxSoftwarePackage 7. Add the RealTek software package to the profile Add-EsxSoftwarePackage ImageProfile: RealTek8186a SoftwarePackage0: net55-r8168 8.039.01-napi Tip: For the SoftwarePackage you MUST enter the full name, if you just use the short name it will not work 8. Validate the RealTek drivers are now part of the RealTek8186a Profile (Screenshot shortened) (Get-EsxImageProfile “RealTek8186a”).viblist 9.
Export the profile to an ISO Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile “RealTek8186a” -ExportToIso -FilePath c: tmp RealTek8186a.iso And that’s it You should find your new ISO in the c: tmp folder. From here you can burn your ISO to a media of your choice or boot the ISO via ilo, iDRAC, virtual media etc.
Dell Esxi 6.5 Iso
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