Downloading and licensing vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)

Downloading and licensing vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)

Its a Freeware Software to Download

Purpose

This article provides steps for downloading and licensing ESXi 4.x.

Resolution

Downloading ESXi 4.x

To download and activate ESXi 4.x:

1. Navigate to http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vsphere_hypervisor_esxi/4.
2. Click Download next to VMware ESXi 4.x.
   
   Note: To access older versions, click View History.
   
3. Log in using your VMware login credentials and complete the VMware vSphere Hypervisor Registration form after which an activation email is delivered to your inbox.
4. Navigate to your email inbox to find the activation email. If you do not receive the activation email, see Not receiving activation email for evaluation and free products (1026455).
5. Click Activate your VMware ESXi License and access your download. This gives you the serial key for ESXi 4.x.

Licensing ESXi 4.x

To license a standalone vSphere Hypervisor host:

1. Log in to the ESX/ESXi host using vSphere Client.
2. Click the Configuration tab.
3. Click Licensed Features under Software.
4. Click Edit under Licensed Features.
5. Select Assign a new license key to this host.
6. Press Enter and enter the license key.
7. Click OK.
   
   Note: The free vSphere Hypervisor license key can be deployed on an unlimited number of physical hosts, but the number of deployments on physical servers cannot be more than 100. However, the number of physical servers can be increased upon request. For more information, see vSphere Hypervisor Terms and Conditions.

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Setup VMware vSphere to Access ISCSI SAN

In this example I am setting up a VMWare ESXi 4.1 server to access a VMware iSCSI SAN using the VMWare iSCSI software initiator. The server is connected as shown below

1. Enable the software iSCSI initiator

Note the vmhba number of the software iSCSI initiator – in this example vmhba39

1. Setup vSwitch

Create a Vmkernal vSwitch to be used for iSCSI

In the vSwitch properties, create Vmkernal ports for each physical interface. Note the vmk numbers.

1. Setup Vmkernal ports

In the vSwitch properties specify each Vmkernal port to use a specific adapter

1. Bind vmkernal ports

Note you will need to connect to the console to issue these commands. You will need to enable either local or remote tech support mode on ESXi.

Bind each vmkernal port to the iSCSI software initiator. You will need to know the vmk# and the vmhba# of the iSCSI initator. Run these commands in the service console.

esxcli swiscsi nic add –n vmk1 –d vmhba39 esxcli swiscsi nic add –n vmk2 –d vmhba39

1. Enable Jumbo frames (optional)

The command to enable jumbo frames is

esxcfg-vswitch -m 9000 vSwitchx – where x= switch number

Note you should only enable jumbo frames if all other devices in your storage network are configured to use jumbo frames

1. Setup iSCSI target

In the properties of the software iSCSI initatiator add the relevant info for your SAN

Add iSCSI Target

You should be prompted to rescan – please select yes.

You should now have more paths to the datastores.

To use round robin access, right click on each datastore and select manage paths. Choose Round Robin.

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Useful VMware Commands

Restart management services:	Service mgmt-vmware restart
Find DNS servers:	Cat /etc/resolv.conf
Check ESX version:	esxupdate query
Restart vmware management:	service vmware-vpxa restart service mgmt- vmware restart
vdf –h	view partion info (disk space etc)
ls –larth	list files in a directory in by GB, MB (easy to see file sizes)
ls –larth *delta*	as above but only show files with “delta” in the name
List registered VMs:	vmware-cmd –l (gives machine id)
Check if VM powered on (e.g.):	vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes/4a006885-0aed81dd-0cdc-002219b72e1d/Exchange01/Exchange01.vmx getstate
Check if VM powered on (e.g.):	Type ifconfig to check the current IP address. esxcfg-vswif -i x.x.x.x vswif0 Example esxcfg-vswif -i 10.0.1.3 vswif0
Check jumbo frames are working	Vmkping –s 9000
ifconfig	Display IP information

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Deploy an ESXi via Dell Unified Server Configurator

In the below example I am using the Dell Unified Server Configurator to deploy and operating system – in this case ESXi 4.1

• When booting up the server press the F10 key to enter “System Services”

• This will launch the Dell Unified Server Configurator

Choose the above options

• I like to have a separate partition for the operating system. This allows you to use a larger block size on the other partition to allow for files larger than 256GB. By default ESXi will format the system drive with a 1MB block size and therefore a maximum file size of 256GB.

• Choosing the “system” partition.

Optional – Check Bootable Volume

If after installation the server fails to boot giving the error “No Operating System found” then you may have the wrong virtual disk selected as the boot volume.

Whilst booting up the server press CTRL+R to enter the PERC setup screen.

Navigate to the below screen and make sure the correct boot VD is selected.

For further info on setting up ESXi please look at this article…

http://laxmanmcse.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-esxi-installation.html

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How to – ESXi installation

Summary Checklist

• Check Virtualisation Technology is enabled in the BIOS
• Download and install latest version of ESXi
• Patch
• Configure (static IP, DNS, NTP, vSwitch, root password and license)
• Install VMA
• Configure Hardware Health Monitoring

Step 1: Installation:

• Check that “virtualization technology” is enabled in the BIOS
• If you need to store files greater than 256GB then I would recommend creating 2 virtual disks in the RAID controller BIOS. One for the OS and one to use as a data store. Note that by default the installation of ESXi will format the virtual disk with a 1MB block size.
• Remember to check that virtualisation support is enable in the BIOS.

Where possible download the vendors version of ESXi. For example Dell provide their own customized ISO that contains Dell specific settings for SNMP etc.

(Alternatively you can use the Dell Uniform Server Configurator – you will still need the Dell ESXi ISO however.

http://laxmanmcse.blogspot.com/2011/08/deploy-esxi-via-dell-unified-server.html)

After downloading the ISO from the Dell Website I have booted the server off it and installed ESXi.

After reboot you will get a screen similar to the below showing the current IP address of the ESXi box. In this case it has picked up an IP address from DHCP.

Step 2 – Patching

I recommend running the VMware vSphere Host Update utility to install the latest patches.

Step 3 – Configure

If you haven’t got the Vmware VI client installed on your PC already you will then want to download the VI client to enable you to manage this server. You can get this by opening a web browser and entering in the IP of the ESXi server (as shown in the diagram above).

Click on the link highlighted above and install the VI client. Note that this downloads the client from the web and not from this server. It may take a few minutes.

Once installed open the vi client and connect to the ESXi server IP as shown below. Note the default username is root with no password.

You may now want to customise your install.

Set static IP:

Note that if the static IP is different you will need to re-launch the vi client and connect to the new IP.

Configure DNS:

Add other NICs to vSwitch:

This will improve performance and add a degree of fault tolerance with the network cards.

Setup NTP:

Note that VMs will likely pickup the time from the ESXi server so it is important the time is correct

Change Root Password:

License VMware:

You will need to Registerwith Vmware and they will email you a license. Once you have this you can enter this on the below screen.

Step 4 – Post Installation

I recommend installing the vMA and setting up hardware monitoring. Please click on the hyperlinks for more information.

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