VMWare ESX Server

ESX Server Installation

ESX Server Installation

Installating ESX Server is similar to RedHat installation in that it allows installation of provided by hardware manufacturers. Running the ESX server on local disks is recommended for better performance, if there is enough space.

Before starting the installation make sure that the latest hardware drivers have already been loaded as in a production environment there may not be enough time to shut down and load them, it could take a long time and carry on into the late hours.

 

Loading a Patch

Close all Virtual Machines and switch to maintenance mode.

Find and download the upgrade package, by using the search function from http://www.vmware.com/downloads/, to upgrade to ESX Server 4.0 Update 1a and unzip the archive.

 

Please note that since this article was originally written these upgrade packages will have been upgraded to much later versions.

 

Unzip the archive with the following line:

 

Using a shell open the files in /var/cache/esxupdate/rpm_xxxxx where the ‘x’s represent the file number.

Start using the update command.

 

Check the version

 

Has been upgraded from build-162856 to build-208167.

Note: Has to be updated from vcenter

 

To update using the update manager

 

Shutdown the firewall using the previous command. The above was used to shutdown the firewall but it took a long time and the db had shutdown before the firewall.

 

Installing Vcenter

MS xpi 2003 can be installed on a server. For some reason the regional settings not being in English results in errors.

An existing database can be used during setup or alternatively a version of MS SQL express can be used.

 

Vcenter can also installed on virtual machines instead of ESX, but this isnt recommended. Addressing issues on ESX servers could take a long time, it may be quicker and also necessary to do a fresh install.

 

To add a shared disk

After connecting to root on the ESX server using SSH (secure shell)