This is an updated post covering VMware Workstation 11 instead of Workstation 9, it’s been updated to cover installing using the formatwithmbr switch during the initial boot process as well as highlighting an issue with creating multiple USB keys from the same VM template.
This is still the the quickest and easiest method for me to install ESXi on to a host with no local CD\DVD drive.
Continue to read after the break for the updated build \ preparation process.
During a rebuild of my home lab recently I stumbled on to problem which means I need to update the VMware Workstation \ Fusion ESXi build instructions I have previously issued. Due to me having to rebuild the hosts one at a time to ensure that the USB drives use the mbr partition instead of GPT I followed my previous instructions of using a VM in VMware Workstation to rebuild all three USB drives, all was good with the first host running but as soon as I added hosts 2 and 3 I started experiencing issues with the hosts not working well with each other. Each host was able to ping components outside of themselves but were unable to ping the other hosts, making things even stranger still was that I couldn’t add the hosts to vCenter either, having done the obvious and made sure I hadn’t made any mistakes with networking (all using the correct IP addressing, subnet masks and DNS servers etc) I put a post out to Twitter asking for some advice, this wasn’t a new build having had been used previously to build out the Shuttle servers so I knew that the ISO image was fine so then someone asked what happened with a single server being on line, powering down two of the hosts I found myself able to ping the remaining host without issue, however as soon as I powered up another host I encountered dropped pings all over the place.
Thinking perhaps that I had a faulty NIC card (it happens and is the reason I have a spare one sitting around) I started playing with all three hosts to see which one of the three could be causing the issue, as it turns out none of them and all of them. Individually each host performs as expected, it’s 100% pingable, able to join vCenter and works as expected but adding any other host to the environment would cause the entire environment to break down and become un-responsive.
I recently came across an issue with my home lab that indicated I had an issue with my Cruzer Fit going to a Write Protect mode, doing a search online showed that a number of people were also exhibiting the same kinds of issues but this wasn’t being restricted to SanDisk Fit drives.
I have been a fan of the Cruzer Fit for a while now, it’s sleek size meant that prying little fingers (I have a two year old who loves to investigate) can’t pull it out and lose it and it looks great on the front of my Shuttle SH63H3 cases so I was a bit alarmed to realise that I may have to replace these with another brand of drive that may not offer me the same flush fit as the Cruzer Fit.
One thing I have to mention is that my usual method of installing ESXi in to my lab environment usually involves using VMware Workstation to create a VM, attaching a USB drive to the laptop and then attaching that to the VM, hey presto you have a readily available way of installing ESXi on to a system that doesn’t have a CD\DVD drive fitted. The reason I mention this will become clearer later on in the article.
Now I should mention that the original lab build was done on VMware ESXi 5.1 and I blogged about how to upgrade from 5.1 to 5.5 here, during that time I haven’t really had much need to make changes to my ESXi environment and didn’t take note as to if\when the SanDisk Cruzer Fit drives I was using in my environment went to read-only but I know it has to have been after the 5.5 upgrade.
Now how did I know that the drives had gone to a write protect mode? well carry on after the break to find out.
VMware have just released a slew of desktop virtualisation products in the last 24 hours, they have released VMware Workstation 10, VMware Fusion 6, VMware Fusion 6 Pro, VMware Player and VMware Player 6 Plus.
Key new features include:
Pricing and availability
All are now available to purchase in full or as an upgrade.
Please click on the images above to go to the Product, Full product and Upgrade Product pages.
I recently had to install ESXi onto a server without a cdrom drive fitted, the quickest and easiest method for me to do this was installing ESXi using VMware Player or Workstation and installing it directly onto the USB key.
Well I wasn’t too far out, in the last week I posted a question asking if we would see VMware Workstation launched at VMworld this coming weekend, I was out by a couple of days because VMware launched it today 🙂
What’s New in Workstation 9?
I recently downloaded a trial of VMware Workstation 8 from the VMware website and discovered that VMware may well have jumped the gun a little.
So either it really is just a typo or we can expect Workstation 9 to be released in the not too distant future, knowing previous VMworld announcements it really wouldn’t surprise me to see this getting announced the week after next.
VMware have just released the public technology preview for VMware Workstation 2012.
The VMware Workstation Team is providing public access to the VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2012 to gather real-world feedback from our users.
This VMware Workstation Technology Preview does not contain major new features, but it does include significant changes to our core virtualization technology. We would appreciate your feedback in the following areas :-