2 minutes ago, StevenD said:

unraid on a vmdk boots in like 15 seconds. I really like that.

i have two unRAID servers in my ESXi server - first boots from VMDK (i'm still on 6.1.9) and second(it's on version 6.3.3) boots from PlopKExec. according boot speeds, both unRAIDs boot very fast, i have not notice any big difference.  

1 minute ago, StevenD said:

I will play around with PLOP and an actual USB later.

just be sure to choose right one PlopExec vs PlopKExec - you need one with "K" in the middle.

1 minute ago, uldise said:

just be sure to choose right one PlopExec vs PlopKExec - you need one with "K" in the middle.

https://www.plop.at/en/plopkexec/download.html

 

This one, also linked it earlier in the  conversation

52 minutes ago, Zeron said:

It is not a simple task to build this plugin.  Every time the unRAID kernel is changed, you have to create new patches to get open-vm-tools to work with the new kernel version.  This is also why I never build for beta and RC's as it would take me a full 8-10 hour day to get it building again.

i'm wondering why you can get pre-compiled version from Slackware build.. i can install open-vm-tools for Ubuntu for example simple by downloading  deb file.. and i have not to reinstall it with every kernel update..

am i missing something?

BTW, thank you for your time taken to us with this plugin! 

3 minutes ago, uldise said:

i'm wondering why you can get pre-compiled version from Slackware build.. i can install open-vm-tools for Ubuntu for example simple by downloading  deb file.. and i have not to reinstall it with every kernel update..

am i missing something?

BTW, thank you for your time taken to us with this plugin! 

 

Any precompiled version will not be able to do a clean shutdown of unRAID.  The shutdown routine in open-vm-tools has to be patched to make that happen.

 

Ok...made a bit of progress.  VMDK, BIOS boot, I passed through a USB controller, with a 6.4.0 USB key.  It boots!!  I get an IP!!

 

However, I get "Error accessing your physical USB Flash boot device"

 

UEFI boot does not see the USB passthrough.

 

To be contnued...

 

unraid definitely "sees" the USB key though.

 

It works with plopkexec.iso.  It did not work with plop-bootusb.iso that @ConnectivIT posted above.

Edited January 19, 20188 yr by StevenD

(I think the Open VM Tools thread has been hijacked - perhaps the discussion of getting 6.4 for work with ESXi should be a separate thread in the Virtualizing UnRAID section).

 

https://lime-technology.com/forums/forum/46-virtualizing-unraid/

 

 

Ugh!  I have done this to myself before.  

 

The VMDK boot works just fine with 6.4.0, as along as there is a passthrough USB key.  My issue was I had a label on the VMDK called "UNRAID".  I know better. You cant have two devices labeled "UNRAID".  I renamed it to "UNRAIDBOOT" and it works as expected.

 

Now I can start playing with Zeron's script to get vmware tools working.

With @Zeron help, I have made quite a bit of progress.  I have to step away from this today though. I should be able to look at it again this weekend.

 

On 1/20/2018 at 5:34 AM, StevenD said:

It works with plopkexec.iso.  It did not work with plop-bootusb.iso that @ConnectivIT posted above.

 

I'm using it to boot 6.4 currently - but I'm not using UEFI, that might be why?

 

On 1/20/2018 at 8:34 AM, StevenD said:

With @Zeron help, I have made quite a bit of progress.  I have to step away from this today though. I should be able to look at it again this weekend.

 

Thanks to you and Zeron for your efforts!

On 1/19/2018 at 2:14 PM, StevenD said:

Ugh!  I have done this to myself before.  

 

The VMDK boot works just fine with 6.4.0, as along as there is a passthrough USB key.  My issue was I had a label on the VMDK called "UNRAID".  I know better. You cant have two devices labeled "UNRAID".  I renamed it to "UNRAIDBOOT" and it works as expected.

 

Now I can start playing with Zeron's script to get vmware tools working.

 

I also appreciate your efforts here. I know there are still quite a few still virtualization unraid....

Hallo.

 

I am still on unraid 6.3.5 on ESXI 6.5.0 Update 1 (Build 7388607) with plopkexec-1.4.1 and Open-VM-Tools for unRAID 6.3.5 (10.1.0-4449150-26). Still waiting for Open-VM-Tools for unRAID 6.4.0.

 

Schöne Grüße aus Österreich

Hermann

 

Best Regards from Austria

Hermann

****  USE AT YOUR OWN RISK ****

 

I am still having some difficulty with Zeron's script that makes the package.  The package gets created, but there is some stuff missing in the middle.  I plan on continuing to learn and figure it out, but it's going to take some more time.  Packaging software is a whole new ballgame for me.  However, I have incentive to figure this out as I still want to run unRAID on ESXi.

 

That being said, I have manually re-packaged Zeron's last package, and published a TEST plugin for 6.4.0.  It uses the previous version of VMWare Tools, and there are a couple of errors in the logs from using files from an older kernel.  But, it installs, and most importantly, it shuts down the VM properly when the array is started.  Video of shutdown is at the very bottom.

 

I cannot provide any support for this. As I said, this is way out of my realm.  If it works, great, if not, I'm sorry.  

 

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenDTX/unRAID-openVMTools/master/openVMTools-test.plg

 

 

 

 

 

Video of shutdown:

unraid-6.4.0-shutdown.mp4

My test/backup server was on 6.4.0_rc13 - plugin not compatible (kernel too old)

Updated unraid to 6.4.1_rc1 (just released <24 hours ago):

 

Open-VM-Tools is not available for Kernel 4.14.15 Please update the plugin. 
Check here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=38279.0 for more information.

 

I tried to trick the plugin to install anyway by downloading and editing the .plg file, but it's smarter than me:

 

Quote

plugin: installing: /boot/packages/unraidvmware.plg
Verifying package open_vm_tools-10.1.0.4449150-K4.14.13_unRaid-x86_64-2018.01.27.00.tgz.
Installing package open_vm_tools-10.1.0.4449150-K4.14.13_unRaid-x86_64-2018.01.27.00.tgz:
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
WARNING: Package has not been created with 'makepkg'
Executing install script for open_vm_tools-10.1.0.4449150-K4.14.13_unRaid-x86_64-2018.01.27.00.tgz.
Open-VM-Tools NOT LOADED.
Plugin was built for Kernel 4.14.13 but you have 4.14.15
Package open_vm_tools-10.1.0.4449150-K4.14.13_unRaid-x86_64-2018.01.27.00.tgz installed.

plugin: installed

 

edit: tried editing the contents of the .tar.gz but still had issues.

 

Reverted back to 6.4.0 - worked perfectly.

 

Thank you for your efforts and thanks again to Zeron!

Edited January 28, 20188 yr by ConnectivIT

Seems to be working ok for me on 6.4.0. Thanks StevenD!

Tried on 6.4, looks good. Thanks for your effort @StevenD.

Woohoo!  I finally got the complete package to build.  I still have an error though, so I am going to reach out to Zeron once more to see if he can point me in the right direction before I post the "final" for 6.4.0.

Hi!

 

I'm all new to unRAID but i wanted to run it in my ESXi server and was just wondering how do i install your plugin? is it as simple as putting a file on my usb drive? i was using PLOP and got no network then found this plugin and changed to plopkexec.iso but now i saw you have not released a "final" for 6.4.0

10 minutes ago, DigitalLF said:

Hi!

 

I'm all new to unRAID but i wanted to run it in my ESXi server and was just wondering how do i install your plugin? is it as simple as putting a file on my usb drive? i was using PLOP and got no network then found this plugin and changed to plopkexec.iso but now i saw you have not released a "final" for 6.4.0

 

Hi,

 

Welcome

 

To install the plugin, select Plugins inside unRAID web interface, Install Plugin tab, then enter this URL:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenDTX/unRAID-openVMTools/master/openVMTools-test.plg

 

A new version is being worked on, but this current release seems to work fine as far as VMWare control of shutdowns.  unRAID already includes vmxnet3 drivers, so hypervisor initiated shutdown was really the only feature missing.

10 hours ago, ConnectivIT said:

 

Hi,

 

Welcome

 

To install the plugin, select Plugins inside unRAID web interface, Install Plugin tab, then enter this URL:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenDTX/unRAID-openVMTools/master/openVMTools-test.plg

 

A new version is being worked on, but this current release seems to work fine as far as VMWare control of shutdowns.  unRAID already includes vmxnet3 drivers, so hypervisor initiated shutdown was really the only feature missing.

 

In my VM i thought i couldn't get a IP without the driver so maybe i did something wrong when i created the VM in ESXi but i thought the vmxnet3 driver was missing!

 

Thank you ConnectivIT and StevenDTX for helping us out in our ESXi problems. unRAID really need to get openVMTools included. I'm even thinking about skipping out on unRAID because of this problem.

Here is a plugin I wrote that will compile openvm tools for you as the kernel version changes between unraid version. I've been using it since version Unraid 6.2 and has been working well for me.  

 

It will compile it, package it and store it on your flash.  The package will then be installed during reboots without the need to recompile.  It will only recompile if it detects a new kernel version.

 

I don't plan on maintaining it outside of my personal use, so anyone who wants to run with this, feel free.

 

openVMTools_auto62.plg

On 2/1/2018 at 7:52 PM, SeeDrs said:

Here is a plugin I wrote that will compile openvm tools for you as the kernel version changes between unraid version. I've been using it since version Unraid 6.2 and has been working well for me.  

 

It will compile it, package it and store it on your flash.  The package will then be installed during reboots without the need to recompile.  It will only recompile if it detects a new kernel version.

 

I don't plan on maintaining it outside of my personal use, so anyone who wants to run with this, feel free.

 

openVMTools_auto62.plg

i just tried this method on my test server - and success!

Here are steps what i used - i created fresh new unRAID VM with version 6.4.0. then i installed openVMTools plugin - before you install it, you must change some filenames in PLG file - some paths on Slackware repo was changed(at the moment of writing - Linux Headers and Perl versions). plugin install takes a few minutes because of recompilation. then i rebooted unRAID VM, and next time it loaded already compiled version of openVMTools plugin. Next, i initiated ESXi Host reboot and watched how unRAID shutdowns - all worked very well, after host comes back, unRAID VM boots, i looked at syslog, there where no "Unclean shutdown detected" message.

Next, i updated unRAID OS to version 6.4.1, unRAID VM reboot took a bit longer cos openVMTools plugin was recompiled at boot time cos of kernel version change. But compile was sucessfull and VM starts normally. then i repeated a test with ESXi host reboot, and all still working as expected.

 

if you wanna something more to test with this, just let me know.  

56 minutes ago, uldise said:

i just tried this method on my test server - and success!

Here are steps what i used - i created fresh new unRAID VM with version 6.4.0. then i installed openVMTools plugin - before you install it, you must change some filenames in PLG file - some paths on Slackware repo was changed(at the moment of writing - Linux Headers and Perl versions). plugin install takes a few minutes because of recompilation. then i rebooted unRAID VM, and next time it loaded already compiled version of openVMTools plugin. Next, i initiated ESXi Host reboot and watched how unRAID shutdowns - all worked very well, after host comes back, unRAID VM boots, i looked at syslog, there where no "Unclean shutdown detected" message.

Next, i updated unRAID OS to version 6.4.1, unRAID VM reboot took a bit longer cos openVMTools plugin was recompiled at boot time cos of kernel version change. But compile was sucessfull and VM starts normally. then i repeated a test with ESXi host reboot, and all still working as expected.

 

if you wanna something more to test with this, just let me know.  

Can you upload the corrected version with the updated repo links?