Not accepting 64x OS

[d3l0n]

After I installed ESX 3.5 I tried to create an VM that supports 64x OS, I tried first Linux and then Windows, each time I got this error:

The machine does not support 64x, use 32 bit distribution instead.

I'm missing something, is there a special way to install a 64x system?

Thanks

[lamw · Accepted solution]

You need to make sure your CPUs support either AMD-V or Intel-VT, this can be enabled at the BIOS.

You can check your system if you're running ESX 3.x +

esxcfg-info -w | grep -i vt

esxcfg-info -w | grep -i hv

You should get back:

|----HV Support...............................................2

This mean's its already enabled, anything else, means you don't have it enabled

[d3l0n]

Thank you lamw

Here are the results I got when I ran the commands

#esxcfg-info -w | grep -i vt

1. (Nothing appeared)

#esxcfg-info -w | grep -i hv

|----HV Support...............................................2

It was disabled, I enabled it and booted the box, but now when I press atl-f1 to go to console it does not allow me to login it only displays the boot messages(The messages appear when the system boots up).

[lamw]

Hm .. enabling Intel-VT or AMD-V will not produce less functionality for your system, not sure why you can't console in directly. Can you SSH in? Were there any modules that failed to load during the init process?

Also an FYI to the two commands, I believe they changed during some revision of either the ESX build or CPUs, so back in the day "vt" did show up for Intel, but I think they might have kept it common or hv was for AMD, I forget exactly which was which.

[KyawH]

If you can't login after pressing AltF1, use AltF2 and Alt+F3 instead.

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[oreeh]

Simply rebooting isn't sufficient.

After enabling VT in the BIOS you have to powercycle the system.

[KyawH]

When something is changed in a BIOS, after saving and exiting, BIOS POST (Power On Self Test) procedure runs again and re-load the fresh BIOS settings which is equavilent to turning the computer off and on again. Therefore, powercycle isn't necessary.

[oreeh]

This is, at least in the case of VT, wrong.

VT is locked in the MSR and this lock is only removed when powercycling the CPU - read the Intel or AMD programmers manuals for details.

[KyawH]

I guess I am based on real world experience and you are based on theory and book. Intel's latest shipment of Xeon processors are controlled by BIOS settings on the fly.

[oreeh]

If this was the case ESX, WS, Server or Player could easily change the VT setting "on the fly" and the user wouldn't need to bother about the BIOS settings.

Quote from a VMware developer

The feature control MSR has a "lock" bit, and the MSR cannot be changed once this bit is set.
The bit persists through warm boots. That's why changwes to the BIOS setting for enabling VT don't actually take effect if you simply reboot the machine.
To clear this bit, you must remove power from the CPU. 
Power down your machine, count slowly to 5, and power it back on again. 
Then your changes to the VT setting in the BIOS should actually take effect.

Message was edited by: oreeh

[d3l0n]

I've restarted the box and it worked fine.

I was able to install 64x OSs, complete shutdown was not necessary.

Thank you,

[lamw]

Yea, it should not be the case that you need to shutdown and power off the box. A simle reboot to the BIOs and the affects should take place right away. Glad you got this working, most new hardware has this enabled by default. I know older hardware had it off by default, it doesn't hurt your system by enabling if you don't plan on provisioning 64bit OSes, but it's a must if you need to build some as you've seen.