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brugh
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ESX deployment appliance v1.05

https://solutionexchange.vmware.com/store/products/esx-deployment-appliance-eda

ESX Deployment Appliance (EDA) is a small and easy to use appliance

that makes deploying ESX servers a breeze. It has a very intuitive

web-interface that can configure and deploy dozens of ESX servers in

minutes. It has a script-builder that will allow any admin to create

%post-scripts that will do most anything one needs to get the ESX hosts

up and running! Even if deploying with RDP/Altiris or the UDA, this

script-builder can help setting those up very quickly.

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phillitm
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Brugh,

I am unable to get the cd to mount. I have tried ISO's and ESX CD's. I am running EDA v0.81 on VMWorkstation 6.x and trying to deploy ESX 3.5 update1. I am in the testing phase but have to deploy to 100 blades soon. Then another 100 shortly afterwards.

Config: CD connected as SCSI device, Mounted CDRom in Ubuntu, and connected with VMWorkstation. I also, mounted an iso locally (stored in subfolder of /media). I am able to ping from workstation to EDA. I am unable to download PXE files (obviously)

Ideas?

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phillitm
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Brugh,

One more thing, I have found that I cannot ping from appliance to host or other VM (all same subnet). The appliance is able to ping itself.

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brugh
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did you create a new VM or used the one in the zipfile? what do you mean with mounted locally? in workstation, all you have to do is connect the .iso to the VM and it'll automount it, no manual mounting needed.

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brugh
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does the appliance show an IP address behind the http:// part? you should always at least be able to ping the host if the appliance has an eth0 device, or else your VM's NICs are not properly connected. dont use NAT but connect it to a bridged network or it wont be able to offer dhcp numbers to esx hosts.

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phillitm
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I got all the network communication between my host (laptop) and the appliance working. The problem is the iso does not automount. I put a cd with an esx3.5 update 1 iso in the host device and connected it to the appliance. No automount.

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phillitm
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Also, to answer your question, I created a new VM then imported the appliance that I had downloaded.

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brugh
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can you try removing the /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules and reboot? although both should work, the appliance is configured by default to use IDE cdroms. if that doesn't work, try removing the scsi and adding an IDE cdrom.

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phillitm
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That worked after reboot. Thanks. One more question. Can I create a couple of VM's in VMWorkstation and deploy ESX to them? If so, what version of linux should I choose?

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brugh
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esx 3.0 runs in workstation 6.0 but if you want to run 3.5 in workstation you need the 6.5 beta. i run both the regular and 3i (which eda 0.85 is able to install also Smiley Wink i'll release that soon) in workstation 6.5. have a look at http://knowledge.xtravirt.com. they have a good pdf that shows you how to setup your VM. it needs some special settings to make it work.

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phillitm
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During install, there is some problem w/ ks file. It stops at asking me for language.

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dmaster
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This means that it could not find your kickstart file.. can be network issue but i guess it's caused by the following

i had the same problem.. because i still used the initial approach how to install vmware esx server in vmware workstation from the xtravirt white paper.

i discovered that with ESX 3.5 this document eas not sufficient anymore..

happily the released a new version of that specific white paper..

you can find it here :

VI3.5 in a box - ESX3.5 on Workstation 6.5 BETA (build 99530)

or here

Now my esx 3.5 u2 is running again like a charm on VMware workstation 6.5

good luck Smiley Wink

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phillitm
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It appears that the KS file is now being called but I am getting an exception error. It is somewhere after the call for usr/bin/anaconda

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brugh
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can you press alt-F3 and F4 and make screenshots? this is not much to go on.

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phillitm
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I will do that first thing tomorrow morning. It seems all the communication is working. Am I right that this is probably a compatibility/configuration issue between Laptop/VMWare Workstation/ESX 3.5 U1? I also may go and try to deploy physical ESX servers to see if the problem clears. Will let you know.

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phillitm
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I've attached two screen shots of errors I get when trying to deploy ESX 3.5 U1 on Workstation 6.5.

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phillitm
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I attached two screen shots in a word doc on a separate post

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phillitm
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Here are the alt-F3 and F4 shots

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brugh
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ah, well, your ESX server reports a sda disk and your ks file wants to use a cciss/c0d0. change the cciss in the eda to sda and it should work.

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SixShooterz
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I'm having some problems with the appliance and the post install script. I have everything input correctly but when the script is generate it puts substitutes some of the characters with symbols (squares). I've attached the text that I put in the script builder and also the resulting text. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS--I did remove the password, but that's not part of the problem. The resulting KS file was saved as RTF to preserve the symbols the builder is putting in.

Thanks

EDIT: Please disregard, it was a result of copying and pasting into the script builder. Note to self and ALL, do not copy and paste, type any additional text you need into the script(above and beyond what is already provided, which of course is a huge help!). Smiley Happy

Message was edited by: SixShooterz

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dscarson
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Is there any way to select which ethernet interface is configured as vmnic0 when using the appliance?

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