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bhavin78
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESX Server 3.0 on a PC with SATA drive

I tried to install ESX server 3.0 from a boot Cd on a PC with SATA drive and it is not able to find Hard Drive on the PC. How can I make this work?

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larstr
Champion
Champion

ESX don't support SATA, so you might not be able to install it on this PC.

Some SATA controllers do however use the same driver as SCSI controllers (of the same brand) and then ESX will think it's talking to a SCSI drive, even though it's SATA.

Embedded SATA controllers typically wont work.

Lars

devzero
Expert
Expert

>ESX will think it's talking to a SCSI drive, even though it's SATA.

there`s even one more limitation:

the raid controller needs to hide the sata drive from ESX - i.e. you need to have your sata drivers configured as a raid array or as a logical drive.

if you directly attach a sata drive, you maybe able to install esx (including vmfs) - but creating a vmfs partition manually will fail because vmkfstools will try to issue a scsi reservation command to the sata drive - which typically will fail, and so will vmkfstools.

bhavin78
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

so I will not be able to install ESX server 3.0 on a PC with SATA drive (no Raid configured).

I tried to install on IDE and it worked but now when I restart I am at the command prompt with the # sign. How do I use it from here?

This is first time I am trying ESX server so, please guide me.

Thanks

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rsa911
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

for test purposes, you may want to use ESX under vmware W/S 6.0 ... it will work fine with your ide disks if your host cpu is fast enough and VT enabled

there's a complete guide written by a board member here : http://www.xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=75&func=fileinfo&id=11

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bhavin78
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Goal was to install ESX 3.0 on a server with IDE or SATA for training, but from what I am reading it's not possible.

I was able to install it on IDE but now question is how can I login at the prompt #?

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rsa911
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

for training, install it under W/S 6.0 , you loose your time trying to get to anything in your current config, it simply won't work !

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bhavin78
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

do I need to have license server for esx 3.0 on if I install uder vmware w/s 6.0

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larstr
Champion
Champion

Yes, unless you're using a host license.

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rsa911
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

>do I need to have license server for esx 3.0 on if I install uder vmware w/s 6.0

it depends if you want to test the "advanced" features such as vmotion, virtual center etc...

don't need to worry about the license server, its install is straightforward and the guide from xtravirt describes the licensing server install part also..

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esautimberlake2
Contributor
Contributor

HI all

I am very new to ESX, but I am a bit more familiar with W/S. I want to try ESX in W/S 6.5, but I am not able to create the vm of that. I have the installation cd, but when I try to create "New virtual Machine", all i find is windows, linux and sun solaris. How do I go about esx vm?

Thanks a lot

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RDPetruska
Leadership
Leadership

Thread moved to VI:ESX 3.0 forum.

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