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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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SixShooterz
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Is there a way to copy the ISO to the local disk inside the VM and mount that instead of mounting it through settings in VMware Workstation? Reason I ask is I'm trying to create a Pocket Ace app using the deployment appliance and Ace will not package the ISO with it. Any points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

PS-- I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty using the command-line. Smiley Happy

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brugh
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this configuration stuff is stored in /etc/vmware/esx.conf. a couple of search/replace actions for vmnicX to vmnicY should do the trick. i'd recommend installing all esx hosts exactly alike and if you change hardware on one, just do a reinstall. using EDA that only takes a minute or 2.

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brugh
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i think the easiest way to do that is to add a new harddisk of about 650gb and mount it on /opt/disk2 or something. then disable autofs with 'update-rc.d -f autofs remove' and edit /etc/fstab to mount the iso on the second disk on /var/www/eda/esx using the 'loop' option.

but what's the problem with the iso. the appliance is setup to just grab any cd it's fed so if you deploy it as an ace package, a user could feed it a local iso image or a physical cdrom drive and it would automount it.

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SixShooterz
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It's not so much a problem with feeding it as I'm just trying to make it as even easier to use. I've written the post install script and plan to distribute via flash drive to our DR sites, if the CD is already in the VM then all they have to do is turn on the appliance, turn on the physical servers and give it a configuration file, no discs to mess with, etc.

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SixShooterz
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That worked like a champ. I couldn't figure out how to disable the autofs and didn't think about rc.d. I'd tried mounting it via fstab but because autofs was running.

Thank you for your help!

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dmaster
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Hi brugh,

How can you change the password for the root account which you are using to logon to the eda web interface ?

I noticed this is a different root account then the one you logon through the console.

thnx.

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brugh
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if you change the root password through the appliance configuration page, it will change the console password and the web interface password together. if you do it on the commandline, you can change the web password with 'htpasswd /etc/apache2/htpasswd root'.

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virtualizeme215
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Brugh,

Can you help me with the incorporation of the Dell OpenManage Agent into the EDA appliance. I need to run the install with the -b -w -r -s switches.

Exactly what do I need to do. I guess I am asking for a "How To"..... Smiley Happy

BTW, I love your appliance. It has really helped with the 40 Hosts we just purchased.

Thanks

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cmors
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Is there any way of having differentiated ksdevices? I have a couple of different hardware layout and they dont all map ksdevice to the same eth. On one set of hosts it is eth8 on the other it is eth4.. Any suggestions?

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brugh2
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hey, i never got notice you put a message up here..

anyway, to install agents, the easiest way is to use the scriptbuilder to get the file from the appliance. it will default to putting it in /tmp. you can put a line like "/tmp/delagent-install.sh -b -w -r -s" at the bottom of the script to install it.

the only thing you need to do after that is to put the file up. simply go to \ \ appliance \ dl$ and copy the files on there. the script bit of getting the file should match filenames (ofcourse) but defaults to the correct directories and that's basically it.

glad you like the appliance Smiley Happy it's why i do this (besides cutting down our installation time down to 2 days total Smiley Wink regardless of the # of hosts and including setting up the appliance and virtualcenter/vcb and the lot)

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brugh2
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i've heard people use 'bootif' as boot device. it should use the NIC that booted first but I never got that working myself. you could just connect both (or all) NICs that it wants to use. i use a generic setup myself where all ports are connected to trunk ports so it doesn't really matter what NIC it uses. it works on all of them.

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virtualizeme215
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Thanks Brugh,

I created an SMB share on the machine i was hosting the EDA appliance and in the script i added a section to download the file, extract it, and install it. Works like a charm.

Thanks again for all your hard work. Can't wait to see the next version.

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racerzer0
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I've just set up the EDA appliance.. have everything set... but when I try to boot my server, i get a TFTP Open timeout after my server aquires an IP address. Both the appliance and the server are on a private VLAN. Does this error have anything to do with the pxe vlan tag issues mentioned ealier?

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racerzer0
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BUMP on TFTP timeout issue.

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brugh
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you sure they're on the same subnet? a dhcp request is broadcast traffic that obviously gets through but once it has an ip address, it's direct tcp traffic. sounds like they're not in the same subnet. either that or you didn't set your next-server in the dchp scope correctly. check your /var/lib/dhcpd and /var/log/daemon.log logfiles.

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Hemijimi
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Hello Brugh,

I am wanting to increase the console memory during the ESX installation and I have that all configured and tested, but the change requires an additional reboot of the host to apply the change. Any ideas on how to do that?

Thanks

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racerzer0
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Yes.. positive I am the appliance and the ESX host are on the same subnet. The host is getting an IP successfully... daemon.log files show:

Nov 13 22:20:49 deployer dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 172.23.221.110 from 00:15:c5:89:68:82 (BMC dhcp)

via eth0

Nov 13 22:20:49 deployer dhcpd: DHCPACK on 172.23.221.110 to 00:15:c5:89:68:82 (BMC dhcp) via eth0

I did not change next-server in the dhcp scope... its still the 192.168 address. This is the only dhcp server in that VLAN.. so I didnt think it necessary. And, again, my host is getting correct IP addresses.

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mcurole
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Has anyone looked at using EDA with Windows Deployment Server (WDS)? We use WDS for deploying Windows Servers and XP clients and would need to use EDA on the same network.

Thanks

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racerzer0
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Adding the server-next config fixed my problem. Man.. this tool is wicked fast... i can install/config an ESX host in 10min!

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racerzer0
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Is there a way to incorporate a reboot after the POST install scripts have finished?

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