I would suggest one of three options for storing ISO's.
1) Just create a ISO directory on one of your VMFS volumes and store them there.
2) Create a samba mount to a Windows Server and store them there.
3) Create a NFS VMFS volume using a Windows Server and store them there.
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”
How do I create a NFS volume on a Windows Server to use for storing ISO files for my VM’s? – You can do this if you have Windows 2003 Server R2 which has built-in NFS Services
• On the Windows 2003 Server make sure “Microsoft Services for NFS” in installed. If not you need to add it under Add/Remove Programs, Windows Components, Other Network File and Print Services
• Next go to folder you want to share and right-click on it and select Properties
• Click on the NFS Sharing tab and select “Share this Folder”
• Enter a Share Name, check “Anonymous Access” and make sure the UID and GID are both -2
• In VirtualCenter, select your ESX server and click the “Configuration” tab and then select “Storage”
• Click on “Add Storage” and select “Network File System” as the storage type
• Enter the Windows Server name, the folder (share) name and a descriptive Datastore Name
• Once it finishes the configuration you can now map your VM’s CD-ROM devices to this new VMFS volume
