Making a datastore accerssible from other ESXi hosts

[mark_r1]

I have a datastore on an ESXi 5.1 host that I'd like to make accessible via NFS or FTP so that other hosts can see its contents, is this possible? What's the best way to do this?

[a_p_]

If you are talking about running ESXi hosts which datastore you want to share, then the answer is no, this is not possible. It's possible however to boot an ESXi host using e.g. a Linux Live CD which contains tools to share the datastore to access the data.

André

[Gortee]

I agree with Andre,  but I will say you can present NFS to ESXi then other hosts.   So if you have a NFS system that can be presented around but once you go VMFS on the block device you cannot share via NFS or FTP... you can share via VMFS of course.

[mark_r1]

>you can present NFS to ESXi then other hosts.

Do you mean I can create an NFS datastore through the vSphere client and have the ESXi host on that machine run a NFS server? If so that would be ideal but I've not been able to find how to do that, could you point me in the right direction?

>you can share via VMFS of course.

Do you mean by using VSA or were you referring to something else?

[Gortee]

Sorry about not being clear let me try to clear it up:

>you can present NFS to ESXi then other hosts.

->Do you mean I can create an NFS datastore through the vSphere client and have the ESXi host on that machine run a NFS server? If so that would be ideal but I've not been able to find how to do that, could you point me in the right direction?

No sorry I do not.  ESXi has not ability to be a NFS server in any way.   You would need to have a NFS server(not ESXi Linux, unix etc) present storage to ESXi then that same storage could be presented to other hosts via NFS... be careful with that thou it could cause some funky locking.

>you can share via VMFS of course.

Do you mean by using VSA or were you referring to something else?

VMFS datastores can be shared with as many ESXi hosts as you like up to configuration maximum.  

Honestly If I understood better what you are trying to do I could better answer your questions... let me ask a few questions to help frame the solution:

I have a datastore on an ESXi 5.1 host that I'd like to make accessible via NFS or FTP so that other hosts can see its contents

-> What other type of hosts?  (ESXi, Linux, Unix, Windows etc..)

-> What do you plan on doing with the Files once presented to the other hosts?

In the back of my mind I wonder if your working on some type of backup solution or something... Help me understand more so I can assist you.

Thanks,

J

[mark_r1]

I have a datastore on an ESXi 5.1 host that I'd like to make accessible via NFS or FTP so that other hosts can see its contents

-> What other type of hosts?  (ESXi, Linux, Unix, Windows etc..)

Other ESXi and and Windows machines.

-> What do you plan on doing with the Files once presented to the other hosts?

The datastore is just going to hold a library of ISO images that VMs on the same hosts and other hosts can reference as needed. Is my only option to have a ReadyNAS VM or something similar with direct access to the datastore so I can make an NFS share? It looks like I'd need a VSA appliance on every host otherwise?

[Gortee]

Mark,

Thanks for the clarification.  If I am not wrong what you need is a location to store ISO's that can be shared between Windows / Linux / ESXi correct?

Assuming this is correct then the best option is a virtual machine running linux or some type of freeNas Open filer type appliance.  If you use linux you could present the ISO's to Linux and ESXi as NFS and present the same mount point via Samba (CIFS) to Windows.   It would work great...  I would suggest that you present it readonly to Vmware to avoid things like datastore heart beating on it thou.

Just my two cents.

I'll see if I can do a write up of the process in the near future if your not familiar with it.

Thanks,

J

[Gortee · Accepted solution]

Morning,

I managed to get some time to write it up:

http://blog.jgriffiths.org/?p=58

This should show you how to setup NFS and CIFS on centos for ISO stores.

Thanks,

J