ESXi 4.1 U1 - scratch partition on SD/USB card??

[rocker77]

Hello,

I am testing ESXi 4.1 U1 on SD card installation. The question is about scratch partition i.e. logs, vm-support dumps etc. I have read a lot of discussion and blogs, watch VMworld ESXi session, but I am not sure that I fully understand creation of scratch partition on USB/SD cards.

I started on this post http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/Installing-ESXi-41-on-flash-drives-despite-new-restrictions from Eric Siebert where he mention that for ESXi 4.1 I need min 5GB space i.e. 8GB SD. He arguments that it's due to scratch partition which takes 4GB. I think that it's not true becouse I can't create scratch partition on USB/SD card. This state confirms VMware's KB http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=103369... where they wrote that scratch partition can't be created on USB/SD card due to limited count of writes.

I test ESXi 4.1 installation on 4GB SD and 8GB SD. The scratch partition has not been configured on 4GB nor 8GB and only the one possibility was create scratch partition on VMFS datastore.

Where is the right? Is there only one possibility of creation scratch partition for SD/USB installation on VMFS datastore or I can create it directly on SD/USB card?

The second question is why VMware demands 5GB spare for installation when installation on 4GB SD completes successfully and 4GB is the largest supported SD/USB card for HP servers?!

Thanks for your experiences!

[DSTAVERT]

For ESXi installable (install to hard drive) the installer will create the partitions for the ESXi install which consume about 1GB and a 4GB scratch partition. For ESXi embedded (install to USB or SD) the installer will only use 1GB. It will not create a scratch partition. Normal running of ESXi does not require a scratch partition. The main use for a scratch partition is for the support logs created with the vm-support command. For a normal ESXi embedded installation you would create a folder on a datastore and point scratch to that folder from within the vSphere client. Long and short, it isn't possibe to create the scratch partition on SD or USB.

[rocker77]

But I can use ESXi Installable for USB/SD installation too. This mention Eric in his post and I think that he was'n right when he wrote that you need at least 8 GB flash drive becouse this is only in case that installer will create scratch partition locally. And installer will not do it on USB/SD card and I can't do it via VI client.

Am I right that I don't need reserve LUN for each ESXi host and I can use one LUN for all ESXi hosts and separate scratch partitions only via directories on the LUN?

[DSTAVERT · Accepted solution]

Installable or embedded only describe the destination media not a difference in the actual installed product. There is only one install. If it is installed to HD it is installable. If it is installed to USB or SD it is embedded. You can't use the SD card or USB drive for scratch. It isn't a big deal anyway. Again the scratch partition isn't necessary for normal running. You can use a single datastore to create the destination scratch locations. Since they aren't partitions that take up space just folders for something that you may never use they should essentionally be empty.

[rocker77]

Thanks for your answers. Now it's clear for me.

[DSTAVERT]

I will add that I didn't mean to diminish the need to create a scratch location. I use embedded and it is one of my first configuration tasks.While normal running isn't a problem, you do have isses with upgrades without one.

[rocker77]

I have to agree with you. Scratch partition is important for me too and this is the reason why I am looking for correct informations. Unfortunately I can't use vMA for log archiving becouse of vMA can't take AAM logs which are important for me too. I will solve it by moving logs to VMFS datastore where I create directory for every ESXi host.