I have some old drives (XP O/S) that I would now like to use for ESX. What is the best way to do a comprehensive format in ESX such that the old data has been erased?
Thanks.
There is no concept of a 'full' format for VMFS.
If you REALLY wanted to, from the system console (not the GUI), you could do something like:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
to wipe the whole disk sdX before you reformat it, but its 100% unnecessary and a waste of time. Will not improve performance or anything else.
--M
AFAIK creating an ESX Datastore erases the existing partitions.
-Arnim van Lieshout
-
Blogging: http://www.van-lieshout.com
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Ya, if you want to create vmfs volume or ESX ,you need to format.
-@m!t
Sure, this erases the partitions but I was looking for something more complete. Something more akin to what Windows server offers during installation (NTFS full format).
No such thing is required or possible during install.
--Matt
VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek
If you really want to nuke the disk prior to install, check out http://www.dban.org/.
We use this to wipe any disks before they leave our datacenter.
Charles Killmer, VCP
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What about after install from the VIC console?
There is no concept of a 'full' format for VMFS.
If you REALLY wanted to, from the system console (not the GUI), you could do something like:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
to wipe the whole disk sdX before you reformat it, but its 100% unnecessary and a waste of time. Will not improve performance or anything else.
--M