Serial Console Support

[chjohnst]

Is there serial console support for building ESX3 servers? It seems no matter what settings I use to build the off of a pxe boot the serial console is disabled once the build process starts (yes I have everything setup correctly as its identical to all the 5000 other hosts ive built here for my company).

Right now the only process I can use is the iLO on an HP system or to sick a KVM to the box.

Thx

Chris

[chjohnst]

so everyone uses a kvm? Considering the cos is linux I dont see why this wouldnt be supported as preference in our datacenters and standards we set forth are to use serials.

[Michelle_Laveri]

As I understand it PXE is only supported for unattended, not interactive installations...

if you want to use PXE boot to do interactive installs your only option I think is ILO...

Beware of ILO's you can have problems with graphics and mouse... and sometime ILO's and Virtual Media and the ESX ISO can cause a hang at the very end of the installation... it varies from one ILO to another regardless of firmware updates - I think its do with cpusets and so on...

This said for the most part - ILO is fine...

Regards

Mike

[chjohnst]

whats unclear to me is serial console support is native in linux.. was this removed from the COS kernel for some reason?

[Michelle_Laveri]

so you mean connecting with serial cable/null modem cable for a truely headless system...?

a couple of reasons (im guessing) with advent of ILO's - i think many people kind of regards serial console support a bit jurassic...

secondly, vmware have a habit (a good one) of modifying the base red hat linux install to remove or disable or make difficult to enable stuff that might cause a problem - such as X-Windows... although anyone worth their salt here on the forums could set it up...

But to be perfectly honest I have no idea why it isn't built into the Service Console...

Regards

Mike

[chjohnst]

Jurrassic? Considering its a standard port for communicating to almost any appliance and/or server whether it be x86 or sun support the support is there for it. We try to cut down our hardware costs considering we buy over one thousand or more a year. The license fees for getting the advanced pack on an iLO can be costly and is not required even if we were to use the iLO. (Who installs xwindows on a production trading system?)

I at first thought it was a bug, but after talking to my VMware rep he mentioned serial console support has been stripped.

The reason I dont find it to be jurrassic is because if there is a network outage of any sort getting to a host over a hardwire always works. Let alone driving down the cost of having to buy the licenses or setup pricey KVMs. Sounds a bit "Windows-esque" to me.

[Paul_Lalonde]

A lot of x86 server vendors incorporate serial port screen redirection (ie. Intel, Dell, etc.). Any text-based OS install will be redirected out one of the serial ports. This may be an option for you.

There are also iLo-style PCI cards that provide similar KVM-over-IP features. Check out:

http://www.startech.com/Product/ItemDetail.aspx?productid=SV1110IPPCI&c=US

Regards,

Paul

[chjohnst]

Serial Console redirection works fine.. its once the kernel loads and the initrd is about to start its load the serial console is dropped by vmware. I have 6000 linux hosts with serial console configurations that I have standardized on. Using those same configs in vmware \_do not_ work. Considering the base OS is RHEL3 I would expect the support to be there. However it looks as if serial console support was removed.

Unless there is something vmware is doing different then RHEL3.

[Michelle_Laveri]

Well, if you know what your doing - why not put it back into the service console - i would be interested to see your findings...

Regards

Mike

[Michelle_Laveri]

A lot of x86 server vendors incorporate serial port

screen redirection (ie. Intel, Dell, etc.). Any

text-based OS install will be redirected out one of

the serial ports. This may be an option for you.

There are also iLo-style PCI cards that provide

similar KVM-over-IP features. Check out:

http://www.startech.com/Product/ItemDetail.aspx?produc

tid=SV1110IPPCI&c=US

Regards,

Paul

When I click this link it say - product doesn't exist?

Regards

Mike

[Michelle_Laveri]

Jurrassic? Considering its a standard port for

communicating to almost any appliance and/or server

whether it be x86 or sun support the support is there

for it. We try to cut down our hardware costs

considering we buy over one thousand or more a year.

The license fees for getting the advanced pack on an

iLO can be costly and is not required even if we

were to use the iLO. (Who installs xwindows on a

production trading system?)

I at first thought it was a bug, but after talking to

my VMware rep he mentioned serial console support has

been stripped.

The reason I dont find it to be jurrassic is because

if there is a network outage of any sort getting to a

host over a hardwire always works. Let alone driving

down the cost of having to buy the licenses or setup

pricey KVMs. Sounds a bit "Windows-esque" to me.

Jurrasic... I was speculating the reason why, it doesn't reflect my personal opinon on serial console support...

I guess it does sound a bit window-esque... I'm not a Windows person personally...

Though I have to admit last I heard of serial console mode was back in my dim and dark Unix days about 7-8 years ago... but I've not kept up with unix practises since then. I guess in IT 7-8 years ago is Jurrasic!

Last thing to mention. I know the COS is Linux based[/i] but its function in ESX is totally different to the use of Linux in other production environments. So there is element of expectations/assumptions based on a use of Linux in another context.

In the context of ESX - the cos/vmnix/service console (whatever name we give it) is merely boot loader and VMware management tools interface - so it maybe in accurate to expect the same RPM's will be installed to it - as in vanilla, non-modified distribution - whereas COS a "lightly" modified distribution. This might explain why support for it had been removed...

I like to see the COS not as Redhat Linux, but as VMware Linux... It has features, functions, and purposes that are specific to ESX

Regards

Mike

[chjohnst]

agreed but serial console for some firms is extremely critical.. not a showstopper of course.. we will have to pay licensing for the ilo to get the advanced pack.

[jhanekom]

iLO without the advanced pack works just fine for installing ESX. At least, I've done it successfully back in 2.x...

The advanced pack adds Virtual Media and support for graphical installs amongst other things, but if memory serves neither's an absolute requirement for an ESX installation.

[Paul_Lalonde]

Mike,

Do you teach "word wrap" in your courses?

Paul

[Paul_Lalonde]

If you use the 'esx text nofb' command at the CD installation boot prompt, you will get a pure text-only interface (with no frame buffer) that will work through iLo standard.

Paul

[chjohnst]

Interesting. I tried those options if I remember, but was unsuccessful. I will try them again though as saving some money on licensing is a big win for me on the project.

[Michelle_Laveri]

Mike,

Do you teach "word wrap" in your courses? <smile>

Paul

Sorry, I don't follow that???

Regards

Mike

[Michelle_Laveri]

If you use the 'esx text nofb' command at the CD

installation boot prompt, you will get a pure

text-only interface (with no frame buffer) that will

work through iLo standard.

Paul

What does the nofb part me?

Oh, i see what you mean about the word wrap... seriously though your original link seems to go to an invalid page?

Regards

Mike

[Paul_Lalonde]

Hi Mike,

If you search for the part SV1110IPPCI on StarTech, you should find it.

As for 'nofb' this disables Linux framebuffer support, which is the "graphical" text mode (where you get the nice screen border and high quality text font). Framebuffer mode is seen as a graphics mode and will confuse the iLO standard product.

I was just ribbin' you with the word wrap joke, Mike. Keep up the great work. We all appreciate it.

Paul

[Michelle_Laveri]

inline...

Hi Mike,

If you search for the part SV1110IPPCI on StarTech,

you should find it.

cheers. I have some old servers which i use for dev (dells) but I would struggle to find a DRAC board for them. They will be going into a deep dark basement in the new house - and want aviod having to go down to power them on/off at night or do installs. Do this sort of device support virtual power?

As for 'nofb' this disables Linux framebuffer

support, which is the "graphical" text mode (where

you get the nice screen border and high quality text

font). Framebuffer mode is seen as a graphics mode

and will confuse the iLO standard product.

I've had problems with ilos with the graphic installer... sluggish mouse or no mouse at all... and sometime problem with proliant ILO's and virtual media. Either doesn't work at all (on some HPBL25p's) or is incrediably slow... text mode on the other hand I've never had a problem with them, apart form the virtual media issue...

I was just ribbin' you with the word wrap joke, Mike.

Keep up the great work. We all appreciate it.

Smiles.. Yeah, sorry - I just couldn't figure out the word-wrap reference until later when I read my previous post...

Regards

Mike