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Blackhawk1
Contributor
Contributor

ESX 4.0.0.208167 server Problem booting from the DVD...

<!StartFragment>On our ESX 4.0.0.208167 server (is this still the latest version?), I created a new VM. I put a bootable DVD in the host machine. I configured the VM to have a CD/DVD drive that is connected to the Host Device /dev/scd0 (the only item in the dropdown). However, when I try to boot the VM, it never tries to boot off of the DVD. Is there something special I need to do to be able to boot a blank VM off of the DVD to install the O/S? In this case, I’m trying to install WIndows 7 32-bit.

Here are the steps that I took: 1. Put the Windows 7 (32-bit) commercial DVD in the vSphere server DVD drive. 2. Created a new VM in vSphere Client 3. Chose the default settings for Windows 7 (32-bit) and Finished the wizard. 4. Verified that the BIOS boot settings of the VM included Removable Devices and CD-ROM. 5. Edited the settings of the VM, clicked on CD/DVD Drive 1, changed it to Host Device (/dev/scd0).

6. Clicked Ok 7. Powered on the VM. I get the message Operating System not found.

NOTE: I was able to get this to work by choosing Client Device instead of Host Device and put the DVD in my desktop PC running vSphere Client. Therefore, I don’t need you to spend time trying to reproduce the issue. However, I’m curious if you have any quick ideas if there something I need to do to tell vSphere server to mount the DVD in the host drive.

Thanks.

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4 Replies
MattG
Expert
Expert

Any reason why you are not just using ISOs on a shared VMFS datastore (or local VMFS datastore if no shared storage)?

Much easier than having to place DVDs in a physical drive.

-MattG

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DSTAVERT
Immortal
Immortal

The settings for the VM CD/DVD needs to have "connect at power on" selected. Assuming here that the ESXi host device is a DVD drive???

-- David -- VMware Communities Moderator
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Troy_Clavell
Immortal
Immortal

...and I would force the VM to boot into the BIOS and ensure the CD/DVD drive is set first in the boot order.

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a2alpha
Expert
Expert

Hi,

The latest version is ESX 4.0 Update 2 and was released on the 10/06/2010. Build number 261974. More information is here:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vsphere_4/4

I agree with the others, convert the installation DVD to an ISO and then load it up into the datastore, once its up there the installation is so much faster than a CD drive either host or client device.

Force the VM to go into the BIOS and change the boot order (will save a lot of time trying to hit ESC at the right time).

If you really want the host drive installation, is it definately a DVD drive?

Hope this helps,

Dan

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