ESXi 5.x - pre-built VMDK for unRAID


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Hi

This is my build of unRAID 6b3 - vmdk

(1GB partition)

 

https://copy.com/xm92LofkhfKrzv46

 

I tried using this vmdk but I'm unable to get it to work properly.  I added my USB drive that has my key but when unRAID 6 boots up it says "No flash (-4)".  It looks like the flash is showing up as the virtual disk instead of my USB drive.  How did you configure this to work properly with the unraid license key?

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hi

This is my build of unRAID 6b3 - vmdk

(1GB partition)

 

https://copy.com/xm92LofkhfKrzv46

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing mate!

 

Just fired up my Server and Esxi and saw this was a quick way to get it up and running so dnwld it and bam it worked straight away!

 

As I'm new to UNRAID & VMW I assume it's safe to run unRAID as a guest right? Do I need to load/add the VM tools to this virtual setup?

Thanks

Kosti

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi

This is my build of unRAID 6b3 - vmdk

(1GB partition)

 

https://copy.com/xm92LofkhfKrzv46

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing mate!

 

Just fired up my Server and Esxi and saw this was a quick way to get it up and running so dnwld it and bam it worked straight away!

 

As I'm new to UNRAID & VMW I assume it's safe to run unRAID as a guest right? Do I need to load/add the VM tools to this virtual setup?

Thanks

Kosti

 

There is a VMware tools plugin maintained by Zeron for this purpose.  I'd highly recommend using it.

 

Just FYI for all in this thread, I've moved to bare metal unRAID, and moved all my VM's to KVM, so I won't be maintaining this any longer.  Hopefully other people will step in, as per above.  I'll edit the first post and add the link to the 6b12 VM from Savestheday above.

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For Linux, yes quite easy... I didn't bother with my one Windows VM as I didn't really use it anyway.  See my post here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=19332.msg348034#msg348034

 

For Windows, it's a little more difficult, as you have to do some work to stop blue screens.  See here for example:  http://backdrift.org/converting-windows-guests-from-vmware-esx-to-kvm-with-virtio-drivers

 

As I mentioned, I just ditched my Windows VM as it seemed like more work than it was worth.. but I still have a backup of it, so may give it a crack at some stage.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
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Since updating to -beta15, I can no longer mount my vmdk boot drive. 

 

All the way back to unraid 5.x, I have run this in my go file:

 

#mount boot vm hd
mkdir /mnt/boothdd
mount -w -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/boothdd 2>&1

 

However, I no longer see the VMDK at all...not via the command line or via the GUI.

 

Any ideas??

 

root@nas:/dev# hdparm -I /dev/sd* | grep "Model Number:"
        Model Number:       Crucial_CT512M550SSD1
        Model Number:       Crucial_CT512M550SSD1
        Model Number:       HGST HDN724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDN724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDN724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDN724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       HGST HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640
        Model Number:       Hitachi HDS724040ALE640

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've never used one of the pre-built VMDKs.  I always just connect the existing VMDK to a Windows VM and install unRAID like I would on the flash drive. 

[*]I format the drive

[*]Unzip unraid on it

[*]Run MakeBootable.bat on it with the VMDK named UNRAID.

[*]When that is all done I rename the VMDK to BOOT and disconnect if from the Windows VM

[*]Reconnect it to my unRaid VM and boot the VM with the new version.

I do essentially the same thing to the flash drive but I back it up first.

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I've never used one of the pre-built VMDKs.  I always just connect the existing VMDK to a Windows VM and install unRAID like I would on the flash drive. 

[*]I format the drive

[*]Unzip unraid on it

[*]Run MakeBootable.bat on it with the VMDK named UNRAID.

[*]When that is all done I rename the VMDK to BOOT and disconnect if from the Windows VM

[*]Reconnect it to my unRaid VM and boot the VM with the new version.

I do essentially the same thing to the flash drive but I back it up first.

 

Ok sweet, that seems simple enough.  Any gotchas for me in terms of transferring my license key over from my current USB (version 6 beta 15) up to the newest version?  I've got all brand new disks so I'm basically just doing a fresh install/setup of unRAID at this point.

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I've never used one of the pre-built VMDKs.  I always just connect the existing VMDK to a Windows VM and install unRAID like I would on the flash drive. 

  • I format the drive
  • Unzip unraid on it
  • Run MakeBootable.bat on it with the VMDK named UNRAID.
  • When that is all done I rename the VMDK to BOOT and disconnect if from the Windows VM
  • Reconnect it to my unRaid VM and boot the VM with the new version.

I do essentially the same thing to the flash drive but I back it up first.

 

Ok sweet, that seems simple enough.  Any gotchas for me in terms of transferring my license key over from my current USB (version 6 beta 15) up to the newest version?  I've got all brand new disks so I'm basically just doing a fresh install/setup of unRAID at this point.

I believe the key file is required in the CONFIG directory now and is not recognized at the ROOT level but I think that was also true of all Version 6 betas so you should already be doing that.  Assuming my memory is correct (am at work currently so cannot confirm).  I just copy the key file from my backup of the USB flash drive to the config directory on the reformatted flash drive.  The latest unRAID version I have is V6b15. I have V6b15 on one ESXi server and 5.0rc16 on the other two. I've downloaded V6rc4 but I'm not sure I will get time to upgrade to it before V6 final comes out.
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Followed your exact instructions and upon booting my unRAID VM I get this message like 20 times before it boots to Tower login.

 

unRAID%20boot%20error_zps5v5dlwny.jpg

 

Is this normal?

 

Also, I'm unable to access the webgui but I can ping the DHCP address it received.

You did rename your VMDK to something other than UNRAID for the volume name correct?

Also you are passing through the UNRAID labeled unRAID USB flash drive to the VM?

 

That message is saying it can't find your flash drive.

 

I have ESXi 5.0 but I don't believe 5.5 would be any different when passing through the USB flash drive.  But if you are unable to get unRAID to find just the flash drive passed through (like I have done with 5.0) then you may need to pass through the whole controller.

 

I will get the settings from my ESXi 5.0 server that has unRAID V6 VM tonight.

 

Edit: One other thought is I used IDE for the VMDK based on your screen you might be using SCSI?  I would switch to an IDE VMDK.

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Followed your exact instructions and upon booting my unRAID VM I get this message like 20 times before it boots to Tower login.

 

unRAID%20boot%20error_zps5v5dlwny.jpg

 

Is this normal?

 

Also, I'm unable to access the webgui but I can ping the DHCP address it received.

You did rename your VMDK to something other than UNRAID for the volume name correct?

Also you are passing through the UNRAID labeled unRAID USB flash drive to the VM?

 

That message is saying it can't find your flash drive.

 

I have ESXi 5.0 but I don't believe 5.5 would be any different when passing through the USB flash drive.  But if you are unable to get unRAID to find just the flash drive passed through (like I have done with 5.0) then you may need to pass through the whole controller.

 

I will get the settings from my ESXi 5.0 server that has unRAID V6 VM tonight.

 

Edit: One other thought is I used IDE for the VMDK based on your screen you might be using SCSI?  I would switch to an IDE VMDK.

 

You're right, I looked at my settings and all of a sudden my USB flash drive is not being detected at all by my ESXi host.  Every since I ejected it from the Windows VM I was configuring it on, it's gone even after a full reboot of the host.

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You're right, I looked at my settings and all of a sudden my USB flash drive is not being detected at all by my ESXi host.  Every since I ejected it from the Windows VM I was configuring it on, it's gone even after a full reboot of the host.

I had this (or something similar) happen to me on my ESXi boot flash.  It worked but was unable to save VM configurations.  Rebooted and the flash drive was gone and my unRAID Flash drive booted.  Spent about 2 hours setting up ESXi again on a new flash drive. 
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