HP ML110 creating a datastore ?

[markroe]

I have installed esx 351 onto a HP ML110, however i cannot get the servers to see the local storage in order to create datastores.(off of the onboard SATA controller) . This is the same disk i used to install the O/S so i am thinking if you can install the o/s then you should be able to create a datastore (surely ?)

What do i need to do in order to create a datastore and then VMs ?

Please see attached screen shot

[markroe]

now that i have created the disk on partition /dev/hda6

how do i format it as vmfs ?

i have tried using the vmkfstools command however no joy yet

[dmaster]

did you try the following:

make sure your newly created partition hda6 has a partition id of fb

you have to figure out first the device hda6 vmhba number

don't know exactly if i guessed the exact vmhba device number you use, the last 6 is the partition number (vmhbaA:T:L:V)

vmkfstools -C vmfs3 -S sata-lun /vmfs/devices/disks/vmhba0:0:0:6

[markroe]

sorry still not quite there as illustrated below error invalid handle

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux

/dev/hda2 14 650 5116702+ 83 Linux

/dev/hda3 651 719 554242+ 82 Linux swap

/dev/hda4 720 30401 238420665 5 Extended

/dev/hda5 720 973 2040223+ 83 Linux

/dev/hda6 974 30401 236380378+ fb Unknown

#

#

# vmkfstools -C vmfs3 -S sata-lun /vmfs/devices/disks/vmhba0:0:0:6

Creating vmfs3 file system on "vmhba0:0:0:6" with blockSize 1048576 and volume label "sata-lun".

Usage: vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/vmhbaW:X:Y:Z

Error: Invalid handle

[dmaster]

Hi Markoe,

First find out what your vmhba numbers are. In my example i used vmhba0:0:0:11. You can check for this on the configuration tab of the VI-client.

The number of the partition you can see with the fdisk command.

Configuration --> Storage Adapters --> Smart Array 6i (in my case).

see screenshot..

because we are using compaq/hp the disks are also called in the following layout. (/dev/cciss/c0d0)

see my exapmle how i get the datastore out of it.

# fdisk /dev/cciss/c0d0

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 8854.

There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,

and could in certain setups cause problems with:

1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)

2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs

(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/cciss/c0d0: 72.8 GB, 72833679360 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 8854 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/cciss/c0d0p1 * 1 33 265041 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p2 34 816 6289447+ 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p3 817 1077 2096482+ 82 Linux swap

/dev/cciss/c0d0p4 1078 8854 62468752+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/cciss/c0d0p5 7537 7797 2096451 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p6 7798 8058 2096451 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p7 8059 8319 2096451 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p8 8320 8580 2096451 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p9 8581 8841 2096451 83 Linux

/dev/cciss/c0d0p10 8842 8854 104391 fc Unknown

/dev/cciss/c0d0p11 1078 7536 51881886 fb Unknown

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help):

# vmkfstools -C vmfs3 -S sata-lun /vmfs/devices/disks/vmhba0:0:0:11

Creating vmfs3 file system on "vmhba0:0:0:11" with blockSize 1048576 and volume label "sata-lun".

Successfully created new volume: 487351ee-9c93ba2f-1647-0013216affcd

now click on refresh in the VI client (Configuration>Storage>Refresh)

now the new datastore will appear.

[markroe]

HOORAY !!! Now sorted

issue layed in the Biso setting for the Native Mode Operations must be set to Serial Ata and not Auto

And when formating in Vi client not using the entire disk !!!

[rpartmann]

Hi,

congratulation & obviously the hint with the BIOS helped.

AHCI == Native SATA

bye

Reinhard.

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

[markroe]

I have no problem giving you points and I would ilike to however when I log in there is no button to say correct answer / allocate points

Any ideas

Mark

[rpartmann]

whoo thanks,

but i never started a thread so ..... i dont know (shame on me).

Hint, when you open the thread is there no button near the posts

where you could click answered/helful or something?

kind regards,

Reinhard.

[markroe]

The issue is that when I created the question I created it as a discussion ie I did not select the question box. DOH.

Having spooken to the moderator there is nothing that can be done now.

I am very sorry the best I can do is give u a virtual point. Hopefully one day I wille able to answer a question of yours

markroe

[KiwiSi]

Hi all,

I'm looking at compiling details on the compatibility and, where necessary, work-arounds for installing ESX on the HP Proliant ML110 and ML115 range of servers. These low cost servers make for a great test ESX lab.

I have put together an article of my experiences building an ESX v3.5 test lab on an ML110 G4 which has proven to be quite popular. This can be found here.

I have received a number of queries off the back of this article on whether the ML110 G5 and ML115 series of servers are also compatible?

This has prompted me to gather as much user experiences with installing ESX on these different generations and models of Ml110/115 servers so as to assist the ESX community then once I have enough details present it via a new informative article.

Click here for more details and please contact me with your experiences.

Thanks,

Simon

[rpartmann]

Hi,

i have two ML115 (amd) in my lab. They work but you must edit the

sata_nv.xm as i described in the thread "SATA clear as mud".

In my case i added it in my kickstart script and this works very good.

I have read your page

(http://www.techhead.co.uk/building-a-low-cost-cheap-vmware-esx-test-server)

and saw the SmartArray e200i.

Own this controller too.

When installing ESX to an array to this controller when the array is

the first disk, the cciss driver scans for partitions and hangs!!

When using the controller in a xw8200 Workstation (intel) it works?

I have no ideas for now....

kind regards,

Reinhard.

[KiwiSi]

Hi Reinhard,

Thanks for the reply. :smileyblush:

What generation of ML115 are you running in your lab - is it the G1 or G5 model?

That does seem a strange behavour with the e200i controller. Are you running any level of RAID on the ESX boot disk(s) when this occurs? I have never tried using it as the primary boot device though may need to give it a go just to see if the same symptoms occur on the ML110 G4's. I usually install ESX to a disk attached to the onboard SATA controller and then use a RAIDED pair of SATA disks off of the e200i for my VMFS partition.

Cheers,

Simon

[rpartmann]

Hi,

it´s the ML115 G1.

installing ESX to the sata attached to the

onboard controller and having VMFS on this AND on

a Raid1/5 on the e200i works here too.

but not booting and insalling to it when first

controller in the system. (it does all well when

e200i in a intel based xeon hp workstation, weird ...)

bye r.

>Reinhard Partmann,

>A new message was posted in the thread "HP ML110 creating a datastore ?":

>http://communities.vmware.com/message/991166

>Author : KiwiSi

>Profile : http://communities.vmware.com/people/KiwiSi

>Message:

[KiwiSi]

Hi there,

Did you ever get to the bottom or why your e200i wasn't working correctly?

Cheers,

Simon