ESXi 5.x - pre-built VMDK for unRAID


Recommended Posts

  • 6 months later...

Hi all,

 

Just wanted to know if there is a way to edit the pre-build vmdk file's partition size.   At this point the new version 6.6.7 bizroot file is too big to fit in the 100meg partition the original poster put in.  I tried to use some windows based partition editor to increase the partition size in windows but when I ran the vm I get an boot error.   Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Link to comment

Probably the most user-friendly way would be to use gparted (https://gparted.org) - I'd grab the live CD/ISO and set that as your boot drive for the VM running unRAID.  It should see your existing vmdk and allow you to resize it.  From memory (and this is going back quite a few years now so I don't know for sure!) the .vmdk file itself was already 1Gb, so you should be able to extend the partition to fill that.

 

If the .vmdk file itself also needs extending, you can do that from the command line in VMware, using the vmkfstools command.  You can see more detail here.  You would first extend the .vmdk file to a certain size, and then run gparted to expand the partition to fill the newly-created disk.

 

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.storage.doc_50%2FGUID-97FED1EC-35A5-4EF2-80BA-7131F8455702.html

 

There's quite a few other ways to approach this too, but that should specifically address what you need.  Lastly, back up the .vmdk first in case something goes wrong! :)

Edited by BetaQuasi
Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/18/2019 at 4:31 AM, itimpi said:

Another way to approach this might be to download one of the later 6.x vmdk's where the partition size seems to be 1GB, and then copy the contents of whatever Unraid release you want to use on top of the existing contents.

Thanks for the quick reply but really didn't have a chance to download a later versions of the VMDK because I was on vacation. Since I have have time now I tried to download the latest VMDK that was posted on this thread and still the partition is only 100mb.  You have a later version of the VMDK or will I have to go with the gparted route?

Link to comment
13 hours ago, Blackrain said:

Thanks for the quick reply but really didn't have a chance to download a later versions of the VMDK because I was on vacation. Since I have have time now I tried to download the latest VMDK that was posted on this thread and still the partition is only 100mb.  You have a later version of the VMDK or will I have to go with the gparted route?

Just checked and the 6.2.3 vmdk definitely has the partitions size as 1GB (i.e. the whole of the virtual disk).

Link to comment
  • 3 months later...

Hello guys i just installed unraid 6.2.3 on a IBM X3550 M4 server with Esxi 6.5U2. I used the method with making a fresh unraid usb key plugged it into the server and created a unraid vm in esxi. I then attached the downloaded vmdk i downloaded from the link from the first page and attached it to the vm as a hdd.

 

I then booted up the vm and got a trail key but now im running into other problems with installing CA. 

 

Now im trying to install Community Application but i get an error that Unraid version is too low. require at least version 6.4.0. How do you guys install CA? 

Link to comment
23 minutes ago, skjonnemand said:

Now im trying to install Community Application but i get an error that Unraid version is too low. require at least version 6.4.0. How do you guys install CA? 

I'm running Unraid 6.7.x.  Is there a reason you are installing a backward version?

Link to comment

Two simple ways to boot your VM:

  1. Use PlopKexec, boot from its ISO image, and have your flash drive available to the VM. The boot code will detect the USB drive and continue boot from it. Adds a few extra seconds to be boot time but might be worth it in simplicity. This is the method I'm using now.
  2. Create a small boot drive on your Unraid VM, format it as FAT, copy the content of the USB drive to it and then run the "make bootable" bat script from it to make that drive bootable. You will still need to have the flash drive available to the VM. This method shaves a few seconds from boot time but needs a bit of fiddling, and, most importantly, each time Unraid is updated, you will need to manually copy the updated files to the boot virtual drive or your system won't boot the next time around.

None of these methods involve a downloaded, pre-cooked VMDK. You just create a VM and provision it with these elements. You will also need to provision it with your array drives, but this is discussed extensively in other posts.

 

Hope this helps.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.