vmtar utility

[vmwarevijay]

I am working on un-attended installation of VMwre ESXi 4.1.

And am copying the install media and ks.cfg to hard disk.

Question:

To extract .vgz files , I need a +vmtar*+ utility, from where can I get it ? (and I don't want to pick it up from the ESXi host.)

If it is a open source then where can I get it (specificaly) ? to integrate in my code with license.

Thanks in advance!

[amalanco8]

hi,

i think your best chance to download it without taking it from the /sbin/ of your esxi host is to download the opensource code for ESX/ESXi here:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vsphere_4/4#open_source

regards.

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[vmwarevijay]

Thanks for your response.

I have downloaded the source code,

*Open Source files for VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1 - Part 1 *

*Open Source files for VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1 - Part 2 *

*Open Source files for VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1 - Part 3 *

but I am not able to find the specific package.

[amalanco8]

well i really dont know where you can get it beside an esxi host, its a shame you cant find it on the open source code

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[DSTAVERT]

Have a look at the following http://communities.vmware.com/message/1322215#1322215

From the description it might be worthwhile trying to modify tar source to see what happens.

Forum Upgrade Notice - We will be upgrading VMware Communities systems between 10-12 December 2010. During this time, the system will be placed in READ-ONLY mode.

[vmwarevijay]

That link was helpful, but still there is no solution.

I have few questions regarding VMware ESXi 4.1 unattended installation:

1. It does support scripted installation, but where does ks.cfg should be installed ?

2. If the user wants to install ks.cfg in the ramdisk, then he should have the vmtar utility ?

if yes, then from where the user can get it ?

3. .vgz is a modified version of .tgz, how the user should extract the .vgz file, and convert back to .vgz file ?

Is it possible without vmtar utility ?

If yes, how ?

If no, then what is the other option ?

4. If any one is doing vmware esxi 4.1 unattended installation, then where they are installing the ks.cfg file without vmtar utility ?

5. What is the story about the partitions of ESXi 4.1 ?

I know it is not same as ESX, but lcan the user mention it in ks.cfg using part command ot else ony autopart is reccommended ?

I am sure I will get answers for these questions, as there are lot of experts in here ...

I would be grateful to those who answer these questions.

Thanks in advance ...

[DSTAVERT]

The link basically said the vmtar utility was proprietary and not available as an open use tool. I'm not really sure why you can't take it from an ESXi since you are creating an install and not openly distributing it or using it for another purpose.

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2010_11_01_archive.html has some interesting information as well as links to scripted installs.

[vmwarevijay]

My goal is to kickstart unattended installation from a Hard disk, for which setup will be done from the Linux* Live CD.

The setup script will run on linux, copying the install files to HDD and make the HDD bootable with syslinux.

As part of this process to inject ks.cfg into ienviron.vgz, i require the vmtar utility in my Linux* Live CD.

The Linux* setup CD will be distributed to customers, having vmtar in the CD will have license issues.

In that case what is the best bet ?

1. modifying the tar source code ?

2. Or else is there any way that I can get sbin/vmtar from the sys.vgz ?

And vmtar is embedded in the sys.vgz -> sbin/vmtar. I tried to extract sys.vgz at run time using tar, but it ends up with error.

[vmwarevijay]

Resolved the issue.

In order to place the ks.cfg in the initrd image.

$ mkdir -p opt/intel/

$ cp ks.cfg  opt/intel/

$ tar czvf ks.tgz opt

Then pass the ks.tgz in the command line options and the syslinux.cfg looks like below

default menu.c32
menu title Unattended VMware VMvisor Boot Menu
timeout 30

label Unattended ESXi Installer
menu label ^ESXi Installer
kernel mboot.c32
append vmkboot.gz ks=file:///opt/intel/ks.cfg --- vmkernel.gz --- sys.vgz --- cim.vgz --- ienviron.vgz --- install.vgz --- ks.tgz