Good 'how to guide' for Beginners?

[MayorOfStruggle]

Hi Guys,

We currently have 2 VMs installed on an older DL380 G6, we're transferring to a G9, brand new, apparently this can be done using the VMware vCentre Converter. See my previous post for more details regarding the new/old hardware:

Transferring VMs from between servers with differing hardware

We have all the hardware plugged in and set up, RAID configured as desired. We put an enterprise grade microSD card to run the hypervisor off, but that is as far as we got. I am more of a hardware guy, experienced in user computers rather than servers etc.

I was wondering if there was a good how to for setting up the hypervisor on a machine? I can work out boot orders and booting from a USB etc. I can probably work my way through it but was wondering if there was a good guide with DOs and DONTs etc.

Also, the current server has VMware ESXi, 6.0.0, 3380124, should I try to install 6.5.0? Or do you have to keep the same version of the hypervisor when transferring?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[vijayrana968 · Accepted solution]

Since you are installing on new hardware, you can try with latest version of ESXI 6.5. Make Sure you downloaded HPE customized image which have drivers specifically for HP servers.

A step by step guide to install ESXI 6.5 : https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/28863/HOW-TO-Install-and-Configure-VMware-vSphere-Hypervis...

Download HPE Custom Image for ESXi 6.5 Install CD : Download VMware vSphere

Before installing this, read the information you are looking for : Installing ESXi on a supported USB flash drive or SD flash card (2004784) | VMware KB

[Sreejesh_D]

MayorOfStruggleTown​ please find my answers in line.

We have all the hardware plugged in and set up, RAID configured as desired. We put an enterprise grade microSD card to run the hypervisor off, but that is as far as we got. I am more of a hardware guy, experienced in user computers rather than servers etc.

>> we had this config before, ie ESXi installation on microSD card. Later we moved to the model where ESXi is installation on 2x140GB disk (RAID1). with this we can avoid single point of failure.

In esxi installation on microSD the SD card failure will bring down the host.

I was wondering if there was a good how to for setting up the hypervisor on a machine? I can work out boot orders and booting from a USB etc. I can probably work my way through it but was wondering if there was a good guide with DOs and DONTs etc.

>> as vijay mentioned go with the custom Image from HP. And the installation is default. go through the ESXi install and config guide.

Also, the current server has VMware ESXi, 6.0.0, 3380124, should I try to install 6.5.0? Or do you have to keep the same version of the hypervisor when transferring?

>> I highly recommend to go with 6.5, since its a major release which has many bug fixes and features added compare to 6. Also it will save time of an upgrade later.

If you have vCenter I would recommend to upgrade it first to 6.5 then add the new 6.5 host to it and vmotion the VMs to the new host.

If you dont have vCenter you can go for offline migration with converter or network copy.