VMware Communities: Message List - vmimages

Re: vmimages

Nigritude Ultramarine — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:27:43 GMT

Ran into this same problem... thanks. I'll try this when I get back to the office.
!st po$t!

Re: vmimages

pdpelsem — Wed, 09 May 2007 08:44:28 GMT

mkdir /isos
mkdir -p /vmimages (does /vmimages exist by default?)

to make the link:
ln -s /isos /vmimages/isos

Re: vmimages

dbennett — Wed, 09 May 2007 00:28:45 GMT

Since I'm a linux ignoramous, could I create a dir under VMFS called ISOS (or something similar) and then create a link of some sort under VMIMAGES so /VMIMAGES/ISOS would go to the ISOS dir under VMFS? If so, how would I do this?

Re: vmimages

Todd Wilkerson — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:31:35 GMT

I renamed the original /vmimages and instead made /vmimages a symbolic link to a shared VMFS volume that contains the iso images.

For one reason, I don't want those with remote console access to be able to install the vmtools anyway. Another reason is with shared storage, you only need to copy one .iso to each storage group instead of storing it locally on each ESX host.

So I did something like:

mv /vmimages /vmimages.oem
ln -s /vmfs/volumes/xxxxxx/iso /vmimages

Re: vmimages

esiebert7625 — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:07:18 GMT

I would suggest one of three options for storing ISO's.

1) Just create a ISO directory on one of your VMFS volumes and store them there.

2) Create a samba mount to a Windows Server and store them there.

3) Create a NFS VMFS volume using a Windows Server and store them there.

How do I create a ISO mount point that points to a Windows Server for storing ISO files for my VMs? You can create a mount point inside /vmimages so your VMs can access ISO files when needed. You could just create a directory on your VMFS volume and copy them there but this takes valuable disk space away from the ESX server. You can also use this technique to create other mount points on the ESX server if you need to copy files from a Windows server to or from it for patches and other things.
First you will have to open the firewall port in ESX by typing in the service console esxcfg-firewall -e smbClient. This opens outbound TCP ports 137 139 and 445.
Next make sure the Local Security Policy on the Windows Server you are going to map to has the following settings under Security options. If you do not do this you may get a Stale NFS Handle or Permission denied error when trying to mount.
o Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (always) DISABLED
o Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) DISABLED
o Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (always) DISABLED
o Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) DISABLED
Next type cd /vmimages and then mkdir ISO
Next type mount -t smbfs -o username=<local windows username> //windows server/share /vmimages/ISO you can also use a windows domain username by typing username=<windows domain username>,workgroup=<windows domain name>
You will be prompted for a password for the user account you are using.
You can type cd /vmimages/ISO and do ls and you should see all your files. You can now map your VMs CD-ROM using the Datastore ISO file device type and select the /vmimages/ISO folder.
If you no longer need this mount point you can un-mount it by typing umount /vmimages/ISO
To automatically have your ESX server mount this when it restarts do the following:
o Edit /etc/fstab using Nano or Vi
o Add the following line to the bottom of the file: //windows server/share /vmimages/ISO smbfs noauto,username=<windows username>,password=<windows username password> 0 0
o Edit /etc/rc.local using Nano or Vi
o Add the following line to the bottom of the file mount a

How do I create a NFS volume on a Windows Server to use for storing ISO files for my VMs? You can do this if you have Windows 2003 Server R2 which has built-in NFS Services
On the Windows 2003 Server make sure Microsoft Services for NFS in installed. If not you need to add it under Add/Remove Programs, Windows Components, Other Network File and Print Services
Next go to folder you want to share and right-click on it and select Properties
Click on the NFS Sharing tab and select Share this Folder
Enter a Share Name, check Anonymous Access and make sure the UID and GID are both -2
In VirtualCenter, select your ESX server and click the Configuration tab and then select Storage
Click on Add Storage and select Network File System as the storage type
Enter the Windows Server name, the folder (share) name and a descriptive Datastore Name
Once it finishes the configuration you can now map your VMs CD-ROM devices to this new VMFS volume

Re: vmimages

BrianG — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:59:39 GMT

/vmimages has a different purpose in VI3.

It is a local directory of the / fs and should only be used for the vmware-tools isos and flp images

The thought is that you will now create a shared LUN (vmfs) on the SAN for isos and templates.

If you want to keep your OS isos local - I suggest you create a new fs and mount point during the install.

If you want to - you can just create /vmimages as a separate fs and mount point during install.

vmimages

RParker — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:54:25 GMT

I want to make this partition (file system) bigger.

I see /vmimages, and its a mount point for ISO images, but I ran into a problem where I tried to copy a large ISO image (for installing a new OS) and vmimages was not big enough to accomodate the file.

So in the future when I get more ESX hosts, I want to make vmimages somewhat larger.

My question is, where is vmimages mounted? So that when I setup the partition, it will have more room and thus a large partition to put more data in vmimages.