Mounting File systems in ESX

[Ritmo2k]

vmfs is proprietary, so I guess I couldn't mount that outside of ESX to copy data. What file systems can esx mount from the console? I would since it doesn't need it normally, mounting an ntfs drive ro is ou t of the question, how about fat32?

I have a ton of vmdk's to copy into the store and for some reason I can access the iscsi target fast enough, but when copying from my wkst using winscp its through /vmfs/... its WAY to slow!

Thanks!

[admin · Accepted solution]

It can mount NTFS over the network - all you need to do is share the drive from the Windows box and it can then be mounted using SMB in the service console.

Opent he firewall ports for SMB:

esxcfg-firewall -e smbClient[/code]

Make a mount point:

mkdir /mnt/myntfsvol[/code]

Mount the volume:

mount -t smbfs -o username=name,password=password //machinename/sharename /mnt/myntfsvol[/code]

You also need to disable dthe following policies ont he Windows box int eh local secuirty policy/default domain policy if you're running Windows 2003.

Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (always) – DISABLED

Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) – DISABLED

Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (always) – DISABLED

Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) – DISABLED

[esiebert7625]

Also try FastSCP instead of WinSCP...

FastSCP (file transfer) - http://www.veeam.com/veeam_fast_scp.asp

Here's a doc I created on how to mount to a Windows share...

How do I create a ISO mount point that points to a Windows Server for storing ISO files for my VM’s? – You can create a mount point inside /vmimages so your VM’s can access ISO files when needed. You could just create a directory on your VMFS volume and copy them there but this takes valuable disk space away from the ESX server. You can also use this technique to create other mount points on the ESX server if you need to copy files from a Windows server to or from it for patches and other things.

• First you will have to open the firewall port in ESX by typing in the service console “esxcfg-firewall -e smbClient”. This opens outbound TCP ports 137 – 139 and 445.

• Next make sure the Local Security Policy on the Windows Server you are going to map to has the following settings under Security options. If you do not do this you may get a “Stale NFS Handle” or “Permission denied” error when trying to mount.

o Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (always) – DISABLED

o Microsoft network client - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) – DISABLED

o Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (always) – DISABLED

o Microsoft network server - digitally sign communications (if server agrees) – DISABLED

• Next type “cd /vmimages” and then “mkdir ISO”

• Next type “mount -t smbfs -o username= 0 0”

o Edit /etc/rc.local using Nano or Vi

o Add the following line to the bottom of the file “mount –a”

[Ritmo2k]

Thanks guys. I hoped to mount it locally

This will work!

Ill look into the other scp program. What makes it better, or faster?

Thanks!

[Jae_Ellers]

You would have to configure a samba server or export it via NFS and use and nfsclient on Windows (services for Unix should do this). It's pretty simple to use the smbclient and open the ports and then import from your workstation. Make sure you unmount after connection to avoid hung mounts and nasty logging down the road if/when your password changes.

If you dig around you'll find some posts on changing the default encrytion used by WinSCP to something a little less secure. This will speed up your transfers.