BetaQuasi

Quote from another user: In the end the best solution would be to create and start / stop those machines using the vSphere CLI - which I already tested. The only problem with the free license key for ESXi is that you cannot start / stop them anymore remotely from the command line and so we need a full license if we decide to go with a direct CLI remote start / stop: "Fault detail: RestrictedVersionFault"

Hi Brian, Thanks for the heads up - requires some further investigation I guess. Not sure how far we'll get, considering your statement saying 'Vmotion guests to off', as that obviously requires a production license.

Definitely no way to put ESXi to sleep - it was never designed with this in mind, and I would imagine that, even if you could, putting a hypervisor to sleep would have some serious repercussions when you wake it up.

@pjneder, to elaborate further on what WeeboTech said: - VT-d is a feature of the memory controller. On pre-Nehalem (Nehalem was first introduced with the first-gen i7 series) systems, this required the chipset to support it as the chipset contained the memory controller. On post-Nehalem systems, the CPU is required to support it, as Intel moved the memory controller onto the CPU. - The Q6600 does not support VT-d as it is pre-Nehalem, but if coupled with a VT-d-capable chipset, you can do controller passthrough. So in your case, the question will be whether your board supports it or not - I'd update it to the latest BIOS from Asus (Beta or otherwise) and see if you have the option. Note Intel Virtualisation Technology (VT-x) and VT-d are two separate things. You'll often find the former without the latter, which will prevent you from using passthrough.

I know I'm derailing my own thread, but I just set up OpenIndiana/Napp-it in 30 minutes. The guy's PDF instructions were spot on and so far, I really like the look of it. I am going to back up the contents of my ZFS datastore overnight (there's a little under a TB to do), kill my FreeNAS install and migrate the disks to OI/Napp-it I think.

No, everyone else uses passed through controllers (Ok so that's a fairly broad brushstroke, but I'd suggest at least 90% of us do.)

Because FreeNAS was a bit of a pain to set up - was several hours of stuffing around, and I encountered some strange issues (not that I remember much of it now.) It seems with napp-it/openindiana, installation is far more straight forward: http://www.napp-it.org/downloads/index_en.html In fact, I might just test it now for laughs!

FreeNAS at the moment, but I kinda wish I'd gone the napp-it/openindiana route. Thinking of migrating it as another 'project'.

Yeah works fine with passthrough, all my drives spin down properly (except the .vmdk cache drive, but then if that ZFS array spun down, I'd have a lot of other issues haha)

Yeah a .vmdk is probed for status fairly regularly, so I think you will see the same occur for a RDM drive and it not being spun down unfortunately. I think there was a discussion about this a while back.. buggers me if I can find it though!

You can't get spindown with RDM'ed drives - you need to go with the controller passthrough option, something like a M1015 or Supermicro SASLP-MV8. I wouldn't be surprised if you can't get SMART either, as with RDM, you are essentially putting an extra layer between the VM and your drives. Also, while the E1000 adapter certainly works, the VMXNET3 adapter is even better, as it allows (theoretically) 10Gbps traffic internally between VM's. Lastly, the '-flat' file is the actual virtual hard disk itself - the 1kb file is just a configuration file for it. You need both, though you'll only ever see the 1kb file in the datastore when you go looking (as that's what VMware needs to look at to mount the virtual hard disk.)

Sounds like the virtual BIOS is taking a while to POST.. no idea why that would be. Here's a screen recording of my VM booting from the 5.0rc12a .vmdk: http://goo.gl/NV4Ws I wonder if it's something to do with the multiple different types of adapters you have passed through.. or maybe that 'unknown' adapter that I can see. That's the only obvious difference between our VM's.

I'm afraid I have no idea - I don't see anything wrong with your config. That's downright weird!

That's all you should have to do - really no idea why it boots slowly. What type of SCSI controller have you used? Also, what profile have you used to create your VM? (i.e. ubuntu linux, other linux etc.) Maybe post a screenshot similar to this:

No, the boot menu should appear instantly and disappear even quicker. Not sure what you have done wrong - what do you have your primary datastore on? Is it in the same host?

Yes, my .vmdk's will only work in ESXi 5.0/5.1. I've edited the OP to clarify that.

I'm just doing what I'm doing guys, not really interested in making changes/modifications, as there is so many different ways to do this. Also, at 100mb a pop, I'd like to limit the amount of these things that are being hosted as I really don't want to start using a service like mega or 4shared or whatever as they are a pain. Perhaps you'd like to look at implementing/hosting these versions yourselves if you think it's warranted. I think the VM that another user has posted here ticks some of these boxes: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=26634.0

No, the volume label of the (virtual) disk itself - edited to make that clearer.

OP updated with 5.0rc12a

EDIT: I am no longer maintaining this as I have moved to unRAID bare metal/KVM. I will continue to add .vmdk's to this first post if people want to upload/host them. I won't be checking their content however, so please do find the person in the thread that has added it and speak to them if there are any issues. ________________________ I have been intending to do this for a while, since it often comes up as a requirement for various users. I will maintain this thread with each update of unRAID - essentially these are pre-built VMware virtual disks containing what is required to boot unRAID directly, and more quickly than booting entirely from a USB stick. 5.0rc11: https://app.box.com/s/8un6bssqjy8d1z761xputhhu4capgym4 5.0rc12: https://app.box.com/s/uysgq9ij5g3m0823vuio7isrpr4l7wpu 5.0rc12a: https://app.box.com/s/hs5w6ry8nimkt943u5iglobszpv47m90 5.0rc13: https://app.box.com/s/zujn4kj1yc1g5q0plu0tafxk7m38nhh4 5.0rc15: https://app.box.com/s/s82fgzzhp3uw3r2kg89pkjq6ntx27p6z 5.0 final: https://app.box.com/s/in501e2qda18p2k62x3pocnvx1v52698 6.0 b12: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3cXNKF8ZrHsR0h3ZVFkVEtyZlk&authuser=0 6.0 b14b: http://goo.gl/T47Mh8 6.0: https://goo.gl/4oeTnG 6.0.1: https://goo.gl/vwg2Yr 6.1.9: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgiYm5IMXNOTmg1bUk 6.2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgieklzUjc3N2VKREE 6.2.1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4uhfP2afCgiRXFENXdxSks3bWc/view?usp=sharing 6.2.2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgieFBLTU1uQ24tWW8 6.2.3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgiLVhPeDFRNVNKRk0 - 1Gb .vmdk with 100mb partition containing bzroot/bzimage etc - Upgrade/downgrade by mounting the .vmdk in another VM/direct to your PC/via ESXi (ask google) and replacing the bzroot/bzimage with the new version of these files, or simply download the new version from here as they are updated. - If you download the new vmdk from here, simply shut down your unRAID VM, upload the .vmdk over the top of the old one and restart your VM. - Use of these boot .vmdk's is quite simple (I will refine these instructions with more detail, or you can refer to Johnm's Atlas thread in the unRAID Compulsive Design forum: Create a new VM in ESXi, use the Ubuntu 32-bit profile When prompted to add a virtual disk, choose 'Do not create disk'. Upload the .vmdk into your datastore, preferably into the newly-created folder for the VM you just created Edit the new VM and add the disk - choose the .vmdk you just uploaded Map your unRAID USB stick through to the newly-created VM and boot your new VM up NB: Do not change the volume label on the virtual disk to UNRAID - your USB stick should be the only thing with the volume label of UNRAID. The USB stick is still required and holds your unRAID configuration files, all plugin files and your license key. NB2: These .vmdk's will only work in ESXi 5.x I also recommend coupling an ESXi install of unRAID with Zeron's VMware tools plugin, available here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=11449.0 EDIT 23/03 - Added 5.0rc12 EDIT 24/03 - Added 5.0rc12a EDIT 12/01/15 - Added 6.0 b12 - note I am no longer running ESXi, now running bare metal unRAID with KVM VM's, so I won't be maintaining these any longer. I'll update this post to include vmdk's from others that are up to date however, as per above. EDIT 01/03/15 - Added 6.0 b12 EDIT 29/06/15 - Added 6.0.1 EDIT 03/08/16 - Updated links EDIT 01/12/16 - Updated to include links to 6.1.9 through 6.2.3

Not yet mate, but that's typical of USPS -> Australia. Usually see stuff in ~ 2 -3 weeks.

The M1015 is fine with RC4 and would definitely be your best choice. Have a look in the buy/sell forum here on the unRAID boards - seanant shipped two to me in Aus so might ship to NZ as well. It worked out $90 US each including shipping.

Thanks very much RobJ, exactly what I needed. In fact that was so detailed that I should be able to interpret my own reports from now on! The 2nd preclear showed no issues other than those original errors, so I've gone ahead and added the drive to the array. Thanks again!

Hey guys, I think I've got a drive on its way to being a dud by the looks of this - just took 4 of these drives out of a Readynas NV+ and dropped them into unRAID and this one turned up suspect. They'd been running fine for the last 2 years or so. Can someone with better knowledge than I make comment on the results? I'm running another preclear on it now in any case. preclear_finish__5XW1PQ16_2012-04-26.txt