ImageBuilder, OEM ISOs & custom images

[DBofTLP]

Hi all,

   I've got a question about getting vibs into an OEM iso image.  Namely, I've got a Dell OEM ISO image which should contain all the requisite drivers for the systems, but I need to add the Cisco Nexus VEM vibs before I can deploy this for upgrading hosts.  Is there anyway I can import the OEM image and add vibs with ImageBuilder to roll it out?

TIA,

@dboftlp

[LucD]

Isn't the procedure outlined in Add VIBs to an Image Profile working for you ?

[DBofTLP]

Partially, but it assumes I'm starting with the base-esx image from VMware however I want to start with the Dell iso which already contains the system drivers.

[alanrenouf]

No you cant do that unless Dell gives you the ISO as a Software Depot, it might be worth contacting them to see if they can provide this, alternatively you would add the Dell software packages to the latest VMware image which would give you the same thing.

[LucD]

Not really, you can point the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet to the Dell image.

And from there is should be the same: list the profiles in the ZIP, clone the profile you want, add the package and you have your new image

[LucD]

I assumed he was talking about an ISO with a software depot.

Doesn't Dell provide that ?

[DBofTLP]

No, unfortunately they only provide a stand alone ISO image for install.  They still lag behind HP in that regard, i.e. an http depot that provides all the requisite drivers for custom ISOs...

Thanks for the heads up Alan and I'll see if I can't drop Dell a msg requesting the feature become available.

I appreciate you guys taking a look at this and answering my Q?s

Best,

@dboftlp

[peetz]

Hi,

you can use my ESXi-Customizer script to add vib-files to the ISO.

It is not supported by VMware, but does the job.

- Andreas