Compiled Info: unRAID as Guest on ESXi


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Ever since i migrated from v5 to v6, my Virtualised Unraid keeps crashing:

Meaning:

  • Gui stop responding
  • SMB shares stop
  • SSH stops
  • ping works
  • can login via VSphere client
  • "Reboot" or "Shutdown -r" commandline fails to reboot the Unraid. it starts executing but just hangs
  • Happens almost every second day

Anyone experiencing such? .. so frustrating..

 

which unRAID v6 version are you using?

mine is running fine with 6.1.9.

 

UnRaid all from V6 up to the latest one V6.2.3. are giving the same issues. every second day that problem pops up . All other VMs work fine except from UnRaid.

What ESXI versions are you guys using? I'm on v6 running on a X9SCM MB

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UnRaid all from V6 up to the latest one V6.2.3. are giving the same issues. every second day that problem pops up . All other VMs work fine except from UnRaid.

What ESXI versions are you guys using? I'm on v6 running on a X9SCM MB

on production server esxi 5.5, on test server 6.0 with the same MB (X9SCM-iif) - the problem are the same for both servers.

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  • 5 months later...
5 hours ago, itsrumsey said:

Question for those using ESXi. I understand the free version only support 8 vCPUs.  If I am running a dual processor configuration, with 8 cores and 16 threads each, for a total of 32 threads and 16 cores... can I utilize all of these in one VM on the free edition?

i think no, max 8 vCPU per VM.. but why you need all cores to one VM? if still you need them all, then you simply go bare-metal route..

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14 hours ago, itsrumsey said:

Question for those using ESXi. I understand the free version only support 8 vCPUs.  If I am running a dual processor configuration, with 8 cores and 16 threads each, for a total of 32 threads and 16 cores... can I utilize all of these in one VM on the free edition?

I do think you are limited to 8.  Remember, though, that the underlying resources not assigned to the VM are also used to support the VM processes if they are available and needed.  

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 10/17/2016 at 4:58 PM, vicom said:

Ever since i migrated from v5 to v6, my Virtualised Unraid keeps crashing:

Meaning:

 

  • Gui stop responding
  • SMB shares stop
  • SSH stops
  • ping works
  • can login via VSphere client
  • "Reboot" or "Shutdown -r" commandline fails to reboot the Unraid. it starts executing but just hangs
  • Happens almost every second day

 

Anyone experiencing such? .. so frustrating..

 

 

This accurately describes my issues.

 

I did some troubleshooting and I've noticed that my unRAID USB disappears from my unRAID VM. I would have to physically unplug it then plug it back in to the server. After that I would have to run a "Rescan All..." and a "Refresh" on the Storage Adapters section in ESXi for the USB to show back up. After that I can then boot it back up fine.

 

When the USB fails, the minute I navigate to unRAID's Web UI it crashes (because it tries to load information from the USB thats not present anymore)

 

I have it described in a separate thread below:

 

I've tried researching the error but am unable to find a solution. I'm still unsure if the problem is ESXi or unRAID.

 

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

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6 hours ago, DragonParoxysm said:

 

This accurately describes my issues.

 

I did some troubleshooting and I've noticed that my unRAID USB disappears from my unRAID VM. I would have to physically unplug it then plug it back in to the server. After that I would have to run a "Rescan All..." and a "Refresh" on the Storage Adapters section in ESXi for the USB to show back up. After that I can then boot it back up fine.

 

When the USB fails, the minute I navigate to unRAID's Web UI it crashes (because it tries to load information from the USB thats not present anymore)

 

I have it described in a separate thread below:

I've tried researching the error but am unable to find a solution. I'm still unsure if the problem is ESXi or unRAID.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

what ESXi version are you using?

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Ever since i migrated from v5 to v6, my Virtualised Unraid keeps crashing:
Meaning:

  • Gui stop responding
  • SMB shares stop
  • SSH stops
  • ping works
  • can login via VSphere client
  • "Reboot" or "Shutdown -r" commandline fails to reboot the Unraid. it starts executing but just hangs
  • Happens almost every second day

Anyone experiencing such? .. so frustrating..
 

Ok, i finally gave in and migrated my drives from ReiserFS to XFS and haven't had any issues since. Uptime of around 45 days +

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 15/05/2017 at 10:58 PM, DragonParoxysm said:

Yes I have tried other ports, still no dice. Please see my other thread here:

 

 

my first thoughts would be to check there are no usb power-saving options enabled on your bios that would cause the device to disconnect.

 

Edited by DeeGee
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  • 5 months later...

Just finished virtualizing my unRAID on 6.5 update 1. I had massive problems trying to get the unRAID USB stick to show up as an available device to connect to the VM. I tried it in every USB port on the motherboard; even the ports that ESXi was using and recognising for the keyboard connection and had no luck whatsoever. Just before giving up completely I came across this VMware KB, https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147650. No idea why the new USB drivers don't like my Lexar USB stick, but after forcing ESXi to revert to the old USB drivers the unRAID USB stick showed up in the list of devices that could be connected to the unRAID VM.

Posting just in case someone else comes across the same issue.

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  • 1 year later...

Thank you so much for gathering all of this information in one place. I personally had been using the VMDK boot method but updating was a huge pain. I figured I would share my journey to move from VMDK boot to Plop boot.

 

Fist of all thank you to Itamar for his instructions on setting up Plop.

  • Follow all of the steps under "Make a Plop Boot Manager image (on Windows)"
  • Copy the ISO to the VM folder on the datastore.
  • Copy all of the files from the boot VMDK to USB
    • I had an issue with syslinux, I kept what was on the USB
  • Remove Hard Disk 1 (old boot VMDK) from the VM, do not delete from disk yet.
  • Add 32 MB boot image to VM (thin)
  • Increase memory to 2+ GB, this is needed to update unRAID via the GUI.
  • Configure the VM to Boot from ISO located in the same folder.
    • You can see detailed steps on Itamar's site.
  • In unRAID validate your Disks and Configs
  • Delete the old boot VMDK from disk
  • Once my system was here, I couldn't stop myself so I updated via the GUI.
    • Make USB bootable via BAT file (run as an administrator)
      • I am not sure if this is required but my system would not boot after the update until I made it bootable again

I hope this helps anyone else changing boot methods.

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  • 1 year later...

Just wanted to share that PLOP is not needed to boot to newer versions of UNRAID that are being virtualized. UNRAID officially supports booting from U/EFI based OpROM. I am currently booting to an UNRAID USB on a VM running under ESXi 6.7 without issues. If there is interest I can create an entire guide on this, but for now basic configuration steps are below.

 

To make this work without PLOP do the following

 

1. Configure a USB host device on your UNRAID VM.

  • If you are already boot UNRAID from USB in a VM on ESXi then this is already done
  • You can use USB 2.0 or 3.x for the USB controller that is added to the VM
  • Select your UNRAID usb boot drive from the available host USB devices

2. Go to the VM options and configure the boot options

  • Inside of the VM boot options change the firmware mode to EFI
  • In this same area check the box to force EFI setup During the next boot
  • DO NOT ENABLE SECURE BOOT

3. Change the boot order or disable the other boot options completely

  • Boot the VM and it will enter the EFI setup screen
  • Enter the setup menu and configure the boot order so USB at the top of the list
  • Alternately you can disable the other boot options completely
  • Commit your changes and reset/reboot the VM


General Considerations when Virtualizing UNRAID in VMware ESXi

  1. Make a backup of your UNRAID boot usb.
  2. Try this at your own risk on existing UNRAID installs. Changing the boot mode for some operating systems can cause them to not boot properly afterward. I have changed it without issues on multiple existing UNRAID installs, but your mileage may vary.
  3. Your underlying hardware needs to support U/EFI boot firmware.
  4. I've only tested with ESXi 6.7 and 7.x  but this should work with any version of ESXi that supports EFI (ESXi 5.0 or above).
  5. Direct pass-through of the underlying USB controller to UNRAID is not needed. It may provide slightly faster boot speeds and possibly better compatibility overall. Note that not all hardware platforms support I/O MMU virtualization for Intel VT-d or AMD VT-vi directed I/O functionality.
  6. This should also work with UNRAID on other hypervisors without issues.
  7. I've transitioned from a physical UNRAID box to being virtualized using this boot method and it works great.
  8. When virtualizing UNRAID it is fairly annoying needing to recompile openvm tools after every update to the Linux Kernel that UNRAID uses. This is only needed if you want to manage UNRAID fully as a virtual machine and/or depend on VMXNET3 NIC drivers. Beyond the NIC drivers it won't take away from normal operation in any way. I think LimeTech should seriously consider providing a pre-compiled OpenVM tools like most major Linux distros are doing already.

    EDIT: Added a few more General considerations
Edited by ryanhaver
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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
On 5/9/2020 at 4:25 AM, ryanhaver said:

Just wanted to share that PLOP is not needed to boot to newer versions of unRAID that are being virtualized. unRAID officially supports booting from U/EFI based OpROM. I am currently booting to an unRAID USB on a VM running under ESXi 6.7 without issues. If there is interest I can create an entire guide on this, but for now basic configuration steps are below.

 

To make this work without PLOP do the following

 

1. Configure a USB host device on your unRAID VM.

  • If you are already boot unRAID from USB in a VM on ESXi then this is already done
  • You can use USB 2.0 or 3.0 for the USB controller that is added to the VM
  • Select you unRAID usb boot drive from the available host USB devices

2. Go to the VM options and configure the boot options

  • Inside of the VM boot options change the firmware mode to EFI
  • In this same area check the box to force EFI setup During the next boot
  • DO NOT ENABLE SECURE BOOT

3. Change the boot order or disable the other boot options completely

  • Boot the VM and it will enter the EFI setup screen
  • Enter the setup menu and configure the boot order so USB at the top of the list
  • Alternately you can disable the other boot options completely
  • Commit your changes and reset/reboot the VM


Considerations

  1. Make a backup of your unRAID boot usb.
  2. Try this at your own risk on existing unRAID installs. Changing the boot mode for some operating systems can cause them to not boot properly afterward. I have changed it without issues on multiple existing unrAID installs, but your mileage may vary.
  3. Your underlying hardware needs to support U/EFI boot firmware.
  4. I've only tested with ESXi 6.7, but this should work with any version of ESXi that supports EFI (ESXi 5.0 or above).
  5. Direct pass-through of the underlying USB controller to unRAID is not needed. It may provide slightly faster boot speeds and possibly better compatibility overall. Note that not all hardware platforms support I/O MMU virtualization for Intel VT-d or AMD VT-vi directed I/O functionality.
  6. This should also work with unRAID on other hypervisors without issues.

Hey @ryanhaver, i would like a complete guide very much :) i am not new to ESX but i am new when it comes to unraid. Thanks in advance!

  • Like 1
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/17/2020 at 7:23 AM, Operations said:

Hey @ryanhaver, i would like a complete guide very much :) i am not new to ESX but i am new when it comes to unraid. Thanks in advance!

I'll hopefully have time to put something together in the near future. Feel free to remind me because I tend to take on a lot of projects and get side-tracked. I've also added a few more considerations to my original post.

Edited by ryanhaver
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  • 1 year later...

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