Access console on ESXi?

[Bolgard]

Hi,

I need to access the console for my VMware ESXi installation in order to install the Adaptec Configuration Utility (ACU) and ARCCONF command line utility to manage my RAID controller.

How can I do this? I've heard about a RCLI for VMware, but it seems that can only be used to run VMware commands and not Linux commands in general? It's also stated somewhere that a free license of VMware ESXi does not support writing with RCLI. True?

Thanks in advance!

[Karunakar]

Hi ,

You can indeed login to the console of the ESXi server.

Press Alt + F1 in the console, and type unsupported and press enter, then the option to enter password is displayed.

But the major question i have for you is how will you install the utility in the server, as ESXi does not support rpm installation and does not have any perl modules or will run any install scripts.

Here in the console you can only run the vmware commands, and also you have very limited set of commands to run on the console.

-Karunakar

[Bolgard]

Thank you for your answer.

I thought the "unsupported" console access had more possibilities. What can it do compared to RCLI?

It's strange I can't install it on VMware. In the Adaptec manual it says "Adaptec Storage Manager is not supported in FreeBSD or VMware; storage management must be done through the Adaptec Configuration Utility (ACU) and ARCCONF command line utility. Refer to the User Guides on the two CDs that were provided with your controller.". From what I understand this means that Adaptec Storage Manager is indeed not supported, but that I can install and manage my RAID card using Adaptec Configuration Utility (ACU) and ARCCONF.

Why else would the Adaptec 3405-card be on VMwares I/O compatibility list? It's worthless for me if I can't see the status of the actual hard drives!

[RParker]

Lets clear something up. There is NO console under ESX3i. There may be a COMMAND LINE. RCLI will do the SAME thing, no difference. But you can't run agents, programs, or load anything within that 'command line' under ESX 3i. There is no run environment. So no you can't get to your adaptect drivers and 'see' what they are doing.

It is supported, but they function and it means the drivers are CERTIFIED, but no where is it written (and NONE of the drivers in ESX work this way) you can get full functionality, not even from the console. It's there to give you rudamentary access to the underpinnings of ESX so you can perform simple functions, but ESX IS not and SHOULD not be treated like a Linux installation.

It has 1 and only 1 Purpose VM hosting. It's not a Linux clone that HAPPENS to run VM's along with other drivers, it's a dedicated function, so you should not expect to be able to do things behind the scenes and gain access to real mode drivers. For that you should be running Linux with VM Ware server 2.0.

[Bolgard]

So to conclude: I'm totally screwed, and will have to buy another RAID controller. There's absolutely NO way to get the status of the physical disks.

What you said about the drivers should REALLY be stated on the I/O compatibility list!

Anyone have a tip on a RAID controller that I can actually USE (i.e. SEE the status of the physical disks)? I'm no fond of wasting money, like I obviously did when I bought the Adaptec 3405 RAID controller for ~$300...

EDIT: I'm a bit dissappointed right now, sorry for the "rude" tone. I'm grateful for the answers, thanks for making it clear!

[Romeu_Avancini]

after:

ESXi 3.5 does ship with the ability to run SSH, but this is disabled by default (and is not supported).

1) At the console of the ESXi host, press ALT-F1 to access the console window.

2) Enter unsupported in the console and then press Enter. You will not see the text you type in.

3) If you typed in unsupported correctly, you will see the Tech Support

Mode warning and a password prompt. Enter the password for the root

login.

4) You should then see the prompt of ~ #. Edit the file inetd.conf (enter the command vi /etc/inetd.conf).

5) Find the line that begins with #ssh and remove the #. Then save the

file. If you're new to using vi, then move the cursor down to #ssh line

and then press the Insert key. Move the cursor over one space and then

hit backspace to delete the #. Then press ESC and type in :wq

to save the file and exit vi. If you make a mistake, you can press the

ESC key and then type it :q! to quit vi without saving the file.

6) Restart host or try kill -HUP `ps | grep inetd`

http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/Knorrhane/2008/08/17/enable-ssh-on-esxi-3-35

[Dave_Mishchenko]

You'll want to stick with LSI controllers - http://communities.vmware.com/message/1004988.

[Bolgard]

Thank you for your answers!

I'll be waiting eagerly for the update which included Adaptec CIM providers! Feels a bit... uncertain running this setup in production without knowing when disks fail...