VMware newbie

[mechlord]

I was told by a couple of reps that I need the VMware infrastructure to be able to convert a P to V and manage it. this is probably going to be the first of many conversions to come so i want to know if i'm getting off on the right foot. I'm starting to get my feet wet with free version of server on my xp machine and i have the infrastucture client on that vm...(2003 server) when i try to add my xp as a host it gives me an error that it can't add it since i can't cluster...is this my xp that can't cluster ( duh i know it can't ) or my "free" vm that can't cluster? i'm doing all sorts of evals so that i can preset the correct product to my customer. Your help is greatlly appreciated...and be ready for more stupid questions

[JeffDrury]

The free version of server that runs on your XP machine can not be managed by Virtual Infrastructure. You will need to download the free version of ESXi and install on a test server.

[mechlord]

Thanks you so much,is it this one below? I want to make sure i get this download right... once again sorry for the stupid ??

[JeffDrury]

That looks right, you will want to run that with the evaluation version of VI3. Remember ESXi is different from your current VMware Server version running on your XP machine. ESXi is the operating system so you test server will need to be blank. If you can get two test servers you should be able to evaluate VMotion and DRS along with Converter.

[mechlord]

well slap me silly and call me suzy...i though this would run on over windows....i've been out of this loop for some time! I guess thats how they make better use of the hardware for multiple vms. Before you shoot me is their a link that has this info...the vm site is so large it could be weeks before i get this in order and plenty of time for me to generate more ?'s thanks for all your help, sucks being the new kid.

[weinstein5 · Accepted solution]

ESX and ESXi both run under their own opersting system called the vmkernel and it installs directly ontop of the hardware. there are also two components to the vi-3 environment - Virtual Center used to manage the VI-3 environment and the ESX/ESXi hosts which does the virtualization. Do you have virtual center> Is it running in evaluation mode or with a license? If you are not going to need virtual center you can download the free version of ESXi here - http://www.vmware.com/download/esxi/.

This is probably the best place to start - http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pages/vi_pubs_35u2.html with the quick start guide.

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[mechlord]

I'm don't have any of that...but working on gettig it. I have alot of reading to do. thanks for all your help points on the way.

[mechlord]

ok so i got it installed, but now i'm facing a problem that i need a datastore..all i can see is that i can attach to a san or nas...but have neither of the two. can this be configured with a local datastore? If so is it at the time of installing the linux os?

[derekn]

The datastore can be anything. For test purposes I would look into building your own iSCSI, like OpenFiler, its free and easy to setup, depending on if you have hardware to place it on.

ESX hosts attach to datastores, you can use local disc's that are in each esx hosts but it will be difficult to test DRS and vMotion.

[mechlord]

i found my issue....dang the ide drives!