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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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dhedges
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Just done a vSphere 4 course and saw an older version of this working on it and was really impressed with it so im tryign to get it workign on my laptop so that I can do some practice esx 4 installs.

I have downloaded the zip file and created a new vmx file and pointed it at the existing disk which seemed to go ok but now when I start it up it goes into loop rebooting showing the attached error each time.

Any ideas how to fix this please ?

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davismisbehavis
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I'm intrigued as to why you created a new VMX, are you using this on VM Player?

The whole EDA appliance should be imported as a virtual appliance, i.e. taking care of the entire setup. I'm not sure if this option is available on VM Player though I think it is on VMware Workstation.

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dhedges
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Using workstation.

I created a new vmx file as I never noticed I could import ovf files into workstation.

I have now tried it both ways, ie creating new vmx and running through the import wizard and they both end up with the same error.

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davismisbehavis
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I would try downloading the EDA appliance again, it sounds like it may be corrupted.

Apart from that the only thing I can think of is the hard drive. What HDD are you running in your laptop, IDE or SATA?

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dhedges
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IDE hard drive

Already downloaded it multiple times as I wondered if something was corrupt as well.

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StruikP
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We are trying to set up EDA in our environment so we can easily install ESX servers (we have over a 100). We are using VLAN tagging but with the Dell (1950 and 2950) servers you can give them a Vlan port for PXE boot so that is not a problem. When we boot the server he gets an Ip-adres from the EDA DHCP but after that we get an PXE-E32:TFTP open timeout. We have the correct IP adres fot the Next-server in the DHCP properties so that can't be the problem. For PXE boot we are using one of the 2 onboard Broadcom nics and we disabled the other in the bios. Anyone got a clue what goes wrong?

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davismisbehavis
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That error relates to the download of the boot file.

PXE-E32: TFTP open timeout.

The PXE client was able to get a DHCP address and a boot file name, but timed out when attempting to download the boot file using TFTP or MTFTP

Ensure that the server-next in the dhcp configuration has been configured as this can cause this problem.

You can check the /var/lib/dhcpd and /var/log/daemon.log files on the EDA appliance for further information that may help.

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smudger
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Hi,

Check your dhcp daemon logs as mentioned in the other post although from

my experience the appliance will not function/work when using tagged

vlans. For our server interfaces used for the COS we've had to use

"native vlans" and the appliance works goes like a steam train.

HTH

Neil

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brugh
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either way is possible but there are a few things to keep in mind. first, check out this link: http://virtuall.eu/blog/esx-deployment-appliance-eda-quick-startup-and-troubleshooting-guide

it has some basic troubleshooting steps when it comes to networking and vlans..

next, it's good to know that during pxe boot, the esx host will reinit the networking layer 3 times. best practice is to keep the DCHP scope of the EDA in the same range as the eventual ip addresses you configure in the interface. also, to keep things simple, configure all physical adapters the same way and dont use tags defined in the BIOS of the host. it's not best practice for ESX hosts to do so. the error you're seeing is almost always network/vlan routing related.

if this doesnt help, could you post your ks.cfg and dhcp.config from the appliance here?

btw, thanks davis and neil for replying

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buckmaster
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I'm also getting the fsck and can not find eth0? Version .90. I'm trying to use it as a VM on Workstation 7.1 running on Linux, no ovf import.

Tom Miller
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brugh
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how did you import the machine? if you attached the vmdk to a new machine you most likely have to boot it from a rescue cd, remove some udev configurations and restart. it's easier to import the machine using the workstation ovf import or the vmware converter.

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buckmaster
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I've been using the UDA but having issues when using multiple templates. I travel a lot and would like to utilize the EDA for vSphere installs. Hence I'm trying to build the EDA on Workstation 7.1 running on Opensuse 11.2. Workstation does not have the import ovf option on the linux version. I'll try the P2V way of creating the VM and I'll post my findings.

Tom Miller
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buckmaster
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Well I got it to work after doing a P2V to a workstation VM. However, I was suprised to see the appliance states EDA-0.88 after starting up. I downloaded the latest version from VMware appliance site. I thought it was version 0.90?

Tom Miller
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buckmaster
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By the way the filename is *90.zip

Tom Miller
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niluca
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Hello Brugh, This really is a great solution, Thank you. I have a follow-up question on post 510, Where can I copy ( ) so that the drivers get detected during PXE install ? And which files to include ? In my case there are 2 files, driver-source-vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2x_400.1.52.12.v40.3-1.0 and TRANS.TBL. There is also an offline bundle available, BCM-bnx2x-1.52.12.v40.3-offline_bundle-223054.zip.

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brugh
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yeah, of all the updates i did for 0.90, the only thing i forgot is to upgrade the version number. check http://communities.vmware.com/message/1289787#1289787 to see how to fix it.

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brugh
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the easiest way is to import the machine, not create a new one. the import routine for the ovf file will fix these sort of errors.. (well prevent them anyway). is there a reason you didn't import it?

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brugh
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well, the iso file includes all drivers for all hardware on the HCL of vmware so if things aren't working, the hardware may not be supported.

are you using hp blades with flex10 cards or something? did you try esx4.0u2 yet?

slipstreaming new drivers should be possible. you'd have to unpack the ramdisk image, add the drivers, update some files and pack it up again. there are several scripts out there that do the opposite. actually EDA does the same thing for HBA drivers for esx 3. but i never put the esx4 hba driver remove in because you dont need to strip them anymore. bouke groenescheij at www.jume.nl maintains a removehba script that's set up pretty readable (not like my compact scripting Smiley Wink) which might help you do the reverse thing. or you could wait until the new hardware is supported by vmware Smiley Happy

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niluca
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Yes, Manual install of ESX4.0U2 still requires inserting ISO for Flex-10 blade drivers (provided by VMware). So I wanted to try this to avoid editing the ramdisk image. I already have modified ISO to remove HBA drivers using removesanesx4iso.sh. Now I will try that route since I have to build 32 blades Smiley Happy Thanks for prompt feedback.

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MarkStrong
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Hi,

I'd like to amend the script for UK installation:

timezone --utc Europe/London

keyboard uk

Is it possible to manually amend the script and/or change the default parameters?

May I add second DNS server as well?

Thank you.

VCP5, VCP4 | VCAP4-DCD | MCITP | HP Master ASE | CCNA, Cisco UCS Support Specialist
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