Accepted Solutions
So do you meant to say after the initiation of module named k.z the s.z rewrites the k.z module?
Not exactly like that. Lets say k.z contains the files /folder1/file1 and /folder2/file2, and s.z contains /folder1/file1 and /folder1/file3. When k.z is extracted you end up with the following in the ram disk
/folder1/file1
/folder2/file2
When s.z is extracted, it contains another version of file1 so that overwrites the existing on in the ram disk so you end up with
/folder1/file1 <-- from s.z
/folder1/file3
/folder2/file2
With the system modules there isn't much overlap in files so you don't get many overwritten. But state.tgz (or local.tgz) contains the "configuration" files for your host so there are a lot of files from there that overwrite the system default files. One such example will be /etc/vmware/esx.conf. When you install ESXi your system has no configuration until you boot it for the first time after the install. So the file first comes from one of the system modules. As soon as that file is changed, it ends up in state.tgz and when ESXi subsequently boots the copy of esx.conf that it uses comes from state.tgz.
When you mentioned "they were shortened to" did you mean they gave the names like a variable/link "x" in a expression
?
With ESXi 3.5 and 4.0 the filenames in boot.cfg are a bit more understandable. The below is from ESXi 4.0 -
kernel=vmkboot.gz
kernelopt=
modules=vmk.gz --- sys.vgz --- cim.vgz --- oem.tgz --- license.tgz --- mod.tgz --- state.tgz --- vpxa.vgz --- aam.vgz
I see that all these files are available in bootbank. Does these files under go a de-compression before initialization?
Yes. When you hear people talk about ESXi being 32 MB in size (it's larger these days) they're talking about the compressed size of the firmware image in the bootbank.
All ESXi versions boot the same way. ESX has the Linux service console so it's a bit different.
Run level scripts - /etc/vmware/init/init.d
Keep in mind that ESXi is not Linux based so there are some similarities, but the heart of ESXi isn't Linux.
Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator
Forum Upgrade Notice - the VMware Communities forums will be upgraded the weekend of December 12th. The forum will be in read-only mode from Friday, December 10th 6 PM PST until Sunday, December 12th 2 AM PST.
Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and Security
Also available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL.
So do you meant to say after the initiation of module named k.z the s.z rewrites the k.z module?
Not exactly like that. Lets say k.z contains the files /folder1/file1 and /folder2/file2, and s.z contains /folder1/file1 and /folder1/file3. When k.z is extracted you end up with the following in the ram disk
/folder1/file1
/folder2/file2
When s.z is extracted, it contains another version of file1 so that overwrites the existing on in the ram disk so you end up with
/folder1/file1 <-- from s.z
/folder1/file3
/folder2/file2
With the system modules there isn't much overlap in files so you don't get many overwritten. But state.tgz (or local.tgz) contains the "configuration" files for your host so there are a lot of files from there that overwrite the system default files. One such example will be /etc/vmware/esx.conf. When you install ESXi your system has no configuration until you boot it for the first time after the install. So the file first comes from one of the system modules. As soon as that file is changed, it ends up in state.tgz and when ESXi subsequently boots the copy of esx.conf that it uses comes from state.tgz.
When you mentioned "they were shortened to" did you mean they gave the names like a variable/link "x" in a expression
With ESXi 3.5 and 4.0 the filenames in boot.cfg are a bit more understandable. The below is from ESXi 4.0 -
kernel=vmkboot.gz
kernelopt=
modules=vmk.gz --- sys.vgz --- cim.vgz --- oem.tgz --- license.tgz --- mod.tgz --- state.tgz --- vpxa.vgz --- aam.vgz
I see that all these files are available in bootbank. Does these files under go a de-compression before initialization?
Yes. When you hear people talk about ESXi being 32 MB in size (it's larger these days) they're talking about the compressed size of the firmware image in the bootbank.
All ESXi versions boot the same way. ESX has the Linux service console so it's a bit different.
Run level scripts - /etc/vmware/init/init.d
Keep in mind that ESXi is not Linux based so there are some similarities, but the heart of ESXi isn't Linux.
Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator
Forum Upgrade Notice - the VMware Communities forums will be upgraded the weekend of December 12th. The forum will be in read-only mode from Friday, December 10th 6 PM PST until Sunday, December 12th 2 AM PST.
Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and Security
Also available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL.