Should I use the original or the ESXi based OEM Custom ISO?

[cjs1976]

Hi!

I have a HP ProLiant DL380 G5. It runs with an original vSphere Hypervisor 5.0 (the first version). Now I have time, and I want to start the upgrade procedure to version 5.1, and I saw, that there are special ISOs for HP servers (https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/5_1#driv...). Should I use them, or should I stay with the original VMware ISO?

I want to make the upgrade over the boot cd.

Thanks,

Christian.

[a_nut_in]

Hey Christian,

OEM CD's/ISO's usually have embedded drivers etc that are pre injected in the media. So if your hardware requires custom NIC or say controller drivers for the upgrade to go through, the OEM media should help.

But then as long as your hardware is listed in the HCL (http://www.vmware.com/go/hcl) even the VMware ISO should work fine (provided there are no known issues with the hardware/drivers)

Regards

a

[cjs1976]

Hi a,

thanks for the information. In this case I will stay at the original VMware ISOs, becuase they worked perfect.

Greetings,

Christian.

[nive1103]

It is best to use HP's ISO in your case. They contain drivers which allows ESXi to communicate with the hardware and vice-versa.

Best practice is to use VMware's ESXi, if vendor-specific image is not available.

[cjs1976]

Hello nive1103!

Thank you for the information. Is ist possible to upgrade via boot-cd my vmware original 5.0 to hp customized 5.1?

And can I cee my virtual machines, or should I create them new?

Greetings,

Christian.

[aravinds3107]

And can I cee my virtual machines, or should I create them new?

if your VM's are present on local datastore suggest take a backup before doing the upgrade. However when doing an upgrade the installer will give an option to PRESERVE THE VMFS Datastore" if you select this option there wont be any data loss

[nive1103]

Hi,

As mentioned by aravind, you need to take backup of vm's stored in internal datastore. Personally, I would recommend to reinstall ESXi 5.1 because of three reasons,

1. In your case you are migrating from VMware Image to HP custom image.

3. There will be some unwanted files from your previous installation, which might eat up system resources (This is true for all vsphere product installation, hence people will prefer fresh installation over upgradation).

3. If you preserve your datastore by just upgrading existing OS, your internal datastore stays at VMFS 3.x version, whereas fresh install will create a VMFS 5.x version.

[cjs1976]

Hi!

I must change all Harddisk (we need more space). In this case i install the new harddisks and i install the hp oem custom setup of the 5.1 version.

Then i have to create the virtual machines completely new (as i read in the faqs).

BUT:

How will i get the data of the old virtual machines? I thought to use an imaging software like acronis, but is there a better way?

Thanks,

Christian.

[aravinds3107]

How will i get the data of the old virtual machines? I thought to use an  imaging software like acronis, but is there a better way

Instead of re-creating all the VM's back I would sugges to backup your VM's using ghettoVCB or Trilead VM explorer  (Assuming your are uisng Free ESXi)

Or

Export the VM's as OVF file on a external disk and once you have done the fresh install and deploy the VM's back

[cjs1976]

hi!

i did it last night:

1. powered off correctly the 2 virtual servers.

2. made a ovf-backup of every virtual server.

3. removed and numbered the old harddisks, so that i can use them without any problems again if there will be a problem.

4. startet the server without harddisks, in this case the raid controller will be reseted. (was an info of hp).

5. putted in the new harddisks, and created a raid 6.

6. installed version 5 update 2 customized iso.

7. configured the new vsphere installation.

8. restored the ovf-files.

9. started the virtual servers and updated the vmware tools (incl. restart).

10. ready, everything worked fine.

BUT now i have two warnings:

a) in the configuration view under memory, the 'hp smart array p400 controller : slot1 : hspa1' has a yellow sign. without any information. there is a hint firmware version: 7.22 ... but i have no other information. i did already the actual firmware update dvd from hp, but this did not help.

b) in the event log both of my virtual machines habe not enough video-ram. but i think this is very easy to fix. this should be a configuration option. but i am not able to power off the machines at this time. i will check this if it is possible.

so, the only thing which worries me, is the warning from the raid controller.

greetings,

christian.

[bitvm]

Hi christian,

i have axact the same problem:

in the configuration view under memory, the 'hp smart array p400 controller : slot1 : hspa1' has a yellow sign. without any information. there is a hint firmware version: 7.22 ... but i have no other information

Test with - HP Image:

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.0 and Firmware 7.22

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.0 U2 and Firmware 7.22

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.1 and Firmware 7.22

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.0 and Firmware 7.24

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.0 U2 and Firmware 7.24

DL380 G5 - ESXI 5.1 and Firmware 7.24

With 3 diffrent Server - every time the same Problem.

Has any a solution?

cu

Bit

[bitvm]

I found the solution

Infstall:
RECOMMENDED * HP ESXi Offline Bundle for VMware ESXi 5.x

[cjs1976]

Hi bitvm!

Thank but, can you send me more information?

Greetings,

Christian.

[Kesshin]

I have this exact issue as well - the Health Status is showing a yellow warning triangle on the HP Smart Array P400 Controller.

However, this is just a test server that I want to play around with the HP VSA or something else on so it isn't a critical problem - just would like to know the reason.

HP Proliant DL380 G5 with Smart Array P400 (256MB, 7.24 - No Battery but cache enabled)

ESXi 5.1 Build 799733 from HP ISO: VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-HP-5.34.23.iso

Per the latest HP Recipe for this controller and server, I am using the following:

Driver Type: cciss

Driver: 3.6.14.10.1-2vmw

Firmware: 7.24

Although it is showing a warning mark, it doesn't appear to be affecting performance significantly when I run tests with IO meter. Unfortunately, I don't have an exact system to test on.

What is strange though, when I deploy a template from a VM (the only VM running) onto the HOST, I see DAVG/cmd values of 556 ms and KAVG/cmd values of 40 ms. When I perform the exact same task on a server that does not have this issue, I do not get anywhere near the latency even though the reference host is using a P410i controller with no cache at all.

To the OP of this thread - yes, you should always use the HP provided image if you can AND follow the HP Recipe recommendations for firmware / driver combinations.