Does ESXi actually allow the creation of a guest?

[headgeeek]

i have been using vmware server products for quite a while. i decided to try esxi.

apparently i am not holding my mouth correctly because is will not allow me to boot from the server cd (as will all other virtualization products that i have tried) to install a guest platform. and, before you ask, the cd(s) are good and will boot in other machines of varying vintages and powers. is this vmware's way of forcing an upgrade ala microsoft to their more expensive platform?

i have wasted two days on this issue... searched the web... there are others with the same issues, and the "vmware knowledge base" (yeah, right) is absolutely no help -- in fact in the only post i could find about this, the forum manager asked if anyone had an answer just last week...

so if there is anyone who can save me from having to install MS hypervisor to allow the creation of a virtual environment using ESXi, i would be forever in your debt.

please help! i do not have a lot of hair left...............

oh yeah - this is a one year old dell poweredge 1900 -- 4 cores -- 4 gb -- 3TB hdd............................

[RParker]

You didn't say if you tried editing the vmx file of the VM and change it to load bios. Then while in the bios change the boot order to CD rom first, then reboot and make sure that the connected at boot is checked for the CD.

And yes ESX 3i works fine (free and License versions) we tested both, so not sure why you are having problems.

And the best results are with an ISO image directly loading from the datastore, so you should create an ISO and copy it to the datastore, it's much faster also than using the CD rom drive.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

ESXi has a problem with some hosts that have SATA CD-ROMs. If you have the option, change the CD-ROM mode in the BIOS to IDE and give in another try. You can also copy an ISO image up to the host instead of physical CD. Lastly, did you check the "connect at power on" option for the CD?

[weinstein5]

Another thing to point is ESX does not uspport LUN's larger than 2 TB -

[headgeeek]

to answer both posts, yes -- i set the vm to boot from cd... when i was finally able to catch it as the option to enter bios flew by...

i did set it to connect on power up...

the cd in the physical server is ide.........

tried the iso --still bypasses that and goes to pxe boot.............

i have never had this much difficulty with a vmware product..

ready to pitchit and go back to 2.5.5 -- or just load ms.........

have spent far too much time on this issue.......

as have many others from the look of things.....................................

but thanks for your thoughts -- any other ideas?

[wila]

Hi,

You can have some of my hair if you like... I seem to shed like a dog..

Anyways..

Yet another thing you can do is to use the CDrom drive in the machine that you use to administer your host.

Just use the Virtual Infrastructure Client, select the guest that you want to use, pop in a CD and use "Connect CD/DVD" toolbar button in the toolbar.

As Dave points out, you can also use an iso image and that is the way to go, but for the first couple of machines, there's nothing wrong with using the possiblity to connect the CDrom over the network from your client machine.

--

Wil

edit: if you do use iso files then make sure you selected the "Connect" checkbox, this is not that clear in the user interface

[headgeeek]

one lun is 500 gb -- the other is 1.3 TB........

i can see both data stores and manipulate files on each...........

just cannot load a B***** OS.........

kinda defeats the purpose............

thanks for your thought........

There is no need for Profanity.

Tom Howarth

VMware User Communities Moderator

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Have you tried to recreate the VM or to import an existing one to the host?

[headgeeek]

imports work just fine.....

my issue is trying to create a new one from the distribution media...

i will try the suggestion above monday morning when i hit the office -- it honestly did not occur to me to use the drive on the machine that i was using as a controller...

DOH !!!!!

< major blush >

apparently i missed that nugget of info in the docs..............

[headgeeek]

thanks tom, but i was not being profane......

maybe in your world, but the frustration after spending hours on what should have been a 10 min procedure was getting a bit overwhelming...

my apology for insulting -- none intended..........

[tstroud2008]

Ah Ha! That was the missing link. I was having a heck of a time with ESXi on my new Dell SC440.

Here is what I did and now I am installing Win2k3 while I type this.

1) Create a new VM.

2) Click the VM you want to install into.

3) Click the "Summary" tab.

4)Click "Edit Settings".

5)Under the hardware tab click "CD/DVD Drive1", click "Use Client Device".

6)Then click the "Options" tab, click "Boot Options" and check the box in "Force BIOS Setup".

7) Start the VM and go into the BIOS, set network boot before cdrom boot. This gives you time to click the "Connect cd/dvd" button.

😎 Exit the BIOS and when the VM boots open the console and click the "Connect DC/DVD" button and select your drive. After the PXE boot fails it will boot to the CD/DVD drive.

I just wish I had figured this out before I bought this new SATA DVD burner today. :smileyangry:

[headgeeek]

yeppers!!!!

a mystery solved............

another difference from 2.x

but now we know........

[wila · Accepted solution]

Isn't it annoying when a product is just too performant for you to act upon things like a BIOS edit...

Glad to hear you got it resolved!

--

Wil

[headgeeek]

you are the reason it is solved...

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!

[wila]

and thank you for the points and the thanks, much appreciated

Enjoy your ESXi server, it is really awesome technology.

--

Wil

[clouden]

What worked for me in addition to selecting the host device setting for the cd/dvd and the connect at power on was to go into the bios and manually set the secondary master drive from none to cdrom. Then it worked....

Cheers!

[blautens]

I had a similar problem using vSphere 4.0 in the Install, Configure, Manage course I'm taking this week. I don't have the option of actually putting a CD in the server (since we remote to them), but any new VM created on one of my ESX 4.0 hosts would NOT boot any ISO. It always tried to PXE boot first. Even after I deleted the NIC from the VM (how can you PXE boot without a NIC?). Then I'd get an error that said "if you're reading this screen... something went wrong wit PXE...contact your instructor...etc".

I tried every solution in this thread (delays, change BIOS order, change secondary master IDE from Auto to CD Rom, change CD ROM to connect to client and then back to ISO, tried connecting CD ROM manually at boot from console, tried every ISO in the shared ISO datastore (the ones EVERYONE in the class used - so they were not corrupt) and then some. So did my instructor. No dice -it would never, ever boot from any ISO.

Finally he gave up and moved another ESX host into my vSphere console, and I had complete the course on that (and redo all my labs).

I make VMs from ISOs every day - it's not me. I think some ESX hosts are just fudged. If it's a brand new install (of ESX or ESXi), I'd reinstall (not an option for people that have it built into the firmware, I realize that). I think there's definitely a problem - I see too many people having this issue.