How long does it take to install ?

[fredouil]

Hi guys,

i have started to install very causually esx3.5 this morning on a Dell PE2900, i have only 4 disks 137 in raid 1+0.

i am starting to wonder if i have done something wrong (i was badly muktitasking) as after 5 hours, the install is still going on, with disks quite busy and no web remote control.

is it normal ? time to format to vmfs ?

thanks

Fred

[VirtualKenneth]

No this isn't normal, install should normally take max. 20 / 30 minutes assuming you are installing from CD.

Are you installing via the DRAC card with Virtual Media connected? (latest FW on the DRAC?)

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[Gabrie1]

Hi, like vliegenmepper said, it shouldn't take so long. We do scripted installs in less then 5 minutes !!!

Check out my website, you'll find a nice script to install very quickly. Its not gonna help you now, but if you have to install a number of other hosts, it sureley pays of.

[dkfbp]

When did you build your array? If you build your array and start installing ESX immediately afterwards you will experience bad disk performance because it is synchronizing the array. 5 hours is still a long time though.

[azn2kew]

If you're not too far in your process, I would double check and reformat my RAID 5 builds until it completed and then reboot with your ESX disk and it should take about 10-15 minutes depends your machine. If you happen to need bulk ESX deployment, you can use kickstart script and UDA appliance from www.vmware.com and than configure to deploy as many VMs as you need and it only takes less than 10 minutes per host. You can also use free tool V-Ployment from www.xtravirt.com fully automated which is using the same concept but wrote with .NET framework and install on your PC. Give it a try and experience around, but you shouldn't get that long to install ESX.

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