Dell M620 and M820 ESXi 5.1 installation

[vmproteau]

I'm relatively new to VMware on Dell hardware. The closest thing I find to a customized image is the "VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 1 Recovery Image"  (http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails?driverid=RD5JN). I assumed it to be ESXi 5.1 Update 1 with the preferred Dell specifc driver packages. I planned to use this for new installs feeling it would include the latest drivers for my Dell M620 and M820s and would be preferrable to the base VMware image.

1. Is this the preferred media for installing to these blades?
2. The description says "This ISO image should be used only to recover/reinstall VMware ESXi image to SD Card/USB Key on Dell Supported Platforms."
   • I'm confused by the specification of "only" recover/reinstall and not install.
   • Also confused by the mention of only SD Card and USB Key to the apparent exclusion of standard hard drives.

I've installed with it as a test and it seems fine but I'm uncomfortable with the description.I'd appreciate any additional information or insight from those supporting ESXi in Dell shops.

[GreenGoblin · Accepted solution]

Hi vmproteau,

Here are my answers to your question based on my experience. I do not have experience with the M620 or M820 but I manage about 240 M610's, 60 R710's, 10 R720's so I am familiar with Dells servers running ESXi 5.1 update 1.

1) Yes I would recommend using the Dell provided ISO if you are not familiar with creating your own package with the needed drivers and software packages.

2) This ISO will include all drivers for Dell supported servers and certain Dell customizations and can be used for new installs no matter the storage option (SD, USB Key or Local HD). The main issue I would to look out for is to make sure you update the firmware on all of your blades with the latest available by Dell as ESXi is very picky with the Driver and Firmware Mismatch also Dell CMC with through some errors on occasion.

Regards,

CROD

[Cyberfed27]

I used this ISO to build some M820's a few days ago. I had originally used the VMware ISO to build them but I noticed my 10GBe cards were not showing up.

The Dell ISO worked great. I then used VMware Update Manager to apply any pending updates to the host.

[vmproteau]

Thanks for the replies. I did validate with Dell support that this can and should be used for new installs on any supported media. Still not sure why the summary is written so confusingly. Just waiting on Dell to release a Customized Image Profile for VMware Auto Deploy. Although I could use Image Builder, I'm not entirely comfortable creating and using one if the vendor hasn't bothewred to yet.