Partition layout in ESX 3.0.2

[soccio]

We recently installed 2 ESX 3.0.2 servers and accepted the default disk layout. On a 73G RAID1, we have 5G for root, 100M for /boot, and 2G for /var/log. Since there should be over 65G left after swap, I want to make use of some of this space to store iso images. My partition table looks like this:

Disk /dev/sdf: 72.9 GB, 72999763968 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 8875 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/sdf1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux

/dev/sdf2 14 650 5116702+ 83 Linux

/dev/sdf3 651 8539 63368392+ fb Unknown

/dev/sdf4 8540 8875 2698920 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/sdf5 8540 8608 554211 82 Linux swap

/dev/sdf6 8609 8862 2040223+ 83 Linux

/dev/sdf7 8863 8875 104391 fc Unknown

Where sdf1 is boot, sdf2 is root, and sdf6 is /var/log. My question is - What is sdf3? I do not see fb listed as a partition type, so is this just unused free space, or does vmware use that partition? Am I free to carve it up and mount it under /vmimages to store iso's?

Thanks - Matt

[petedr]

fb is your local vmfs partition where you would put your virtual machines

[jkgraham]

Check this thread http://communities.vmware.com/thread/74386?tstart=0

[EGRAdmin]

/dev/sdf3 651 8539 63368392+ fb Unknown

That is your VMFS3 partition.

fb is the hex code for the VMFS3 partition in fdisk it comes up as unknown.

If you type: fdisk /dev/device and then press t you'll see the list of devices.

It's unknown and not on the list but that's your data drive.

your SAN LUNS or shared storage will also be formatted as fb unknown VMFS3 volumes.

[Texiwill]

Hello,

I recommend:

Default Layout

Increase /var/log to 4GB (logfiles get large)

Increase swap to 2GB (supports Increasing SC to 800MBs of memory)

Add 4GB /var (Corefiles get put here)

Add 4GB /home (User files)

Add 4GB /tmp (Patch files)

Increase /vmimages to 10GB or rest of disk.

/vmimages is available to the remote console for sharing ISO images to VMs.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky, author of the forthcoming 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', publishing January 2008, (c) 2008 Pearson Education

Message was edited by: Texiwill

[soccio]

Ok, thanks for the help. Another set of questions - If I am using vmfs space on my SAN to store my virtual machines, can I reclaim some of this local partition? Is the local vmfs partition used if we are putting everything on the SAN? Is it possible to shrink a vmfs formatted fs, or should I just destroy it, take what I need and reformat the remainder as vmfs?

Thanks again - Matt

[EGRAdmin · Accepted solution]

If I am using vmfs space on my SAN to store my virtual machines, can I reclaim some of this local partition?

Yes you could. My local storage is completely free. I save it incase I want to store a template or a clone. Or if someone needs a system online for a week or so of testing. I'll put it here and not eat up my SAN space.

Is the local vmfs partition used if we are putting everything on the SAN?

I don't think that specific local storage directory is used beyond what you choose to store in it. I keep everything on the SAN and that local space is static.

Is it possible to shrink a vmfs formatted fs, or should I just destroy it, take what I need and reformat the remainder as vmfs?

I don't have to much experience in VMFS3 restructuring beyond SAN and partition table corrections. So I don't really know what will happen if you try and shrink or destroy your local storage. I would image you could carve it up however you want since it's not dedicated to your host ESX OS.

[jkgraham]

If you are looking for a cheap way to store ISO images get an old

workstation. Install CentOS on it. Setup NFS on it a configure both of

your ESX boxes to point to it as shared storage. This what I do. The I

only have to rip ISO images once and they are accessable from all VMs.

use the command "dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/whateverpathyouwant/cdrom.iso" to create ISO images

I do not really even worry about the VMFS that is created locally. I only use it to temporarily store things.

[kcollo]

We use centralized storage for the VM datastore (EMC), but this is how I have been partitioning the ESX servers

Below is how I am partitioning ESX servers during the local installs from now on

Mount Point Size(m) Partition type

/boot 250 Primary

/ 10240 Primary

swap 1600 Primary *max

/var 6142 Extended

/var/core 15360 Extended

/opt 2048 Extended

/home 2048 Extended

/tmp 1024 Extended

vmkcore 109 *max

I broke out the /var/core into its own filesystem due to issues we were having with core dumps. Can find more here:

http://blog.colovirt.com/2008/10/31/vmware-esx-server-partitioning/

Kevin