Hi all,
I'm trying to port an ESX 4.0 kickstart script to install ESXi 4.1 U1 and I'm running into issues unloading the qla2xxx module. We run HP blades which report the local SAS disk as remote disk during installation (as described here http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=102781... ) This can far too easily result in undesired LUN reformatting, if the HBA is not disabled correctly, so the module unload is a second line of defence.
Our current script works fine on ESX 4.0 but given the differences in ESXi I have updated the HBA module unload function in the %pre section of the kickstart as below:
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# !/bin/sh
remove_qla(){
for i in $(vmkload_mod -l | grep qla | awk '{ print $1 }'); do
echo Will unload: $i
esxcfg-module -u $i
vmkload_mod -u $i
sleep 1
done
}
remove_qla
----------------------------------------------------
And to partition we use:
clearpart --firstdisk --overwritevmfs
autopart --firstdisk --overwritevmfs
This added to the ESXi 4.1 U1 kickstart did not work and the 1st LUN was formatted (DEV Lab only so no harm done!).
When the above function is run from a shell script I get:
/tmp # ./unload.sh
Will unload: qla2xxx
Unable to load module qla2xxx: Busy
vmkload_mod: Can not remove module qla2xxx: module symbols in use
I've spent a few days looking at my options and I'm reasonably convinced that qla2xxx module cannot be unloaded, but can't find any doco to prove it.
Can anyone confirm/deny this?
PS My current workaround is to run a different function to check the HBA has been disabled in BIOS and abort the installation by way of reboot if it hasn’t… which isn’t what I consider a good solution but it does the job!
----------------------------------------------------
# If qla module is present abort installation and reboot
check_qla(){
for i in $(vmkload_mod -l | grep qla | awk '{ print $1 }'); do
if [ -n $i ]; then
reboot
fi
done
}
check_qla
----------------------------------------------------
Any other options for my kickstart script?
Cheers.
