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Installing ESXi 5.0 Update 2 on Mac Mini is Now a Breeze! (No Custom ISO/patches Needed!)

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VMware has just released ESXi 5.0 Update 2 which includes many bug fixes, but along with these fixes, these updates usually also include new inbox drivers as part of the default ISO image for ESXi. One important driver that I had noticed while going through the release notes is the inclusion of the tg3 (Broadcom) inbox driver:

  • Updates the tg3 driver to version 3.123b.v50.1
    The tg3 inbox driver version shipped with the ESXi 5.0 Update 2 is 3.123b.v50.1.

Disclaimer: The Apple Mac Mini is not officially supported by VMware. 

Why is this awesome!? Well, for those of you who own an Apple Mac Mini and would like to run ESXi, may recall an additional step is required to create a customized ESXi ISO to include an updated tg3 driver for the networking stack to function in an Apple Mac Mini. Though the steps have been documented here, it is great to see this working right out of the box using the new ESXi 5.0 Update 2 ISO from VMware. In addition to the networking stack functioning properly after installation, it also enables connectivity to an Apple Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter if you happen to have one connected to your Apple Mac Mini! You no longer have to create a custom ESXi ISO for the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter as mentioned in an earlier article here.

Note: This article is only relevant to pre-2012 Apple Mac Mini, if you have a newer Apple Mac Mini 6,2 - Please refer to this article for installation.

Here are a few screenshots of running the latest ESXi 5.0 Update 2 on my Apple Mac Mini 5,3 as well as showing the Apple Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter active in ESXi:

If you want a tiny form factor for a vSphere home lab, you should definitely consider asking Santa for an Apple Mac Mini this Christmas 😉 Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday and Happy New Years! 

Running ESXi 5.0 & 5.1 on 2012 Mac Mini 6,2

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If you recently purchased the new 2012 Apple Mac Mini 6,2 which was just released not too long ago and tried to install either ESXi 5.0 or 5.1, you probably noticed a PSOD (Pink/Purple Screen of Death) during the installation. This is currently a known issue and there is an extensive VMTN thread (9,300+ views) about this problem which also includes a fix through a collaboration between VMTN community user zer010gic and VMware Engineer dariusd. Even though the Apple Mac Mini is not an officially supported hardware platform for running ESXi, it is great to see VMware engineers going out their way and trying to help the VMware community find a solution as well as providing an "unofficial" fix in this case.

I would also like to point out that this issue only applies to the new 2012 Apple Mac Mini, for previous models such as the Apple Mac Mini 5,1 or 5,3 you can install ESXi 5.0 or 5.1 without any issues. For more details, please refer to the instructions in this blog post.

Disclaimer: The Apple Mac Mini is not officially supported by VMware. The only supported platform for ESXi 5.0 for Apple hardware is the Apple XServe 3,1 and for ESXi 5.1 is the Apple Mac Pro, which you can get more details here.

Before jumping into the solution, if you think VMware should support the Apple Mac Mini for running ESXi, please provide feedback to VMware by submitting a Feature Request. The more feedback that VMware receives from customers along with business justifications, the better our product management team can prioritize features that are most important to our customers.

Here are the current problem/solutions when trying to install on the new Mac Mini:

Problem: PSOD during ESXi 5.0 or 5.1 installation.
Solution: Add iovDisableIR=true to the kernel option before attempting installation. When you are asked to reboot, be prepared to enter iovDisableIR=true again (SHIFT+O) which is required to get ESXi to boot after installation. Once the system has booted up, go ahead and run "esxcli system settings kernel set -s iovDisableIR -v true" in the ESXi Shell to persist the kernel setting. This is a "temp" workaround while PSOD is being investigated.

Problem: Unable to install new OSX Server on a VM or power on existing OSX Server VMs.
Solution: There appears to be a significant change in Apple's SMC (System Management Controller) device in the newer models that prevents the Apple SMC VMkernel driver from properly loading. A tempoary fix was provided to zer010gic to create a custom ISO until the fix is integrated into a future release.

Note: There may be other minor/unconfirmed issues listed on the VMTN thread, but for basic ESXi installation/usage + OSX Server VM creation/installation, the above solutions should be sufficent.

Instead of having everyone walk through the process of creating a custom ESXi ISO which includes the two fixes mentioned above as well as the bundling the updated tg3 Broadcom network drivers for network connectivity, zer010gic has generously created and is hosting ESXi 5.1 ISOs for users to download and use. It contains some work that I have been doing with zer010gic to create an ESXi 5.1 ISO that does not require any manual intervention outside of the normal ESXi installation. I recently completed the rest of this work which is based off of the oriignal ISO that zer010gic has shared on the VMTN community (unfortunately I have not been able to get a hold of him to provide him with the necessary bits and I have decided to post a modified ISO).

Here is a step by step instruction for zer010gic ESXi 5.1 ISO

Step 1 - Download zer010gic ESXi-5.1-MacMini-SMC-6-2.iso.

Step 2 - Transfer ISO to either USB key or CD-ROM

Step 3 - Perform ESXi installation as you would, but when you get to the very last step prior to rebooting, be ready for some typing when the host boots back up (this is important else you will get a PSOD)

Step 4 - When ESXi starts to boot up, hit SHIFT+O which will allow you to add additional kernel boot option. Add the following text the bootUUID (remember to add a space first)

iovDisableIR=true

This step is required to ensure your ESXi boots up properly for the first time so you can permanently enable this kernel option using ESXCLI which will then persist this upon sub-sequent reboots.

Step 5 - Login to ESXi Shell (you may need to enable it first) and run the following ESXCLI command:

esxcli system settings kernel set -s iovDisableIR -v true

Once this is set, you no longer have to do this again. If you prefer not to go through these manual steps, please refer to the section below for a modified ESXi 5.1 ISO which automates all this for you.

Here is my modified ESXi 5.1 ISO which does not require any additional user intervention

Step 1 - Download my ESXi-5.1-MacMini-SMC-BOOT-FIX-6-2.iso

Step 2 - Transfer ISO to either USB key or CD-ROM

Step 3 - Go through normal ESXi install and enjoy

Note: For details on how I automated the kernel setting setting, take a look at the very end.

So if you are looking to refresh your home lab, you just may want to consider using the new Apple Mac Minis, especially with small form factor footprint 🙂

Note: A couple of users mentioned it took a bit of time to boot up, specifically when usbarbitrator module is being loaded. I noticed this too and it took quite a bit of time, probably 5-6 minutes. If you do not plan on any USB pass-through from the Mac Mini to your guestOSes, you can actually disable this service which should help speed the bootup. If you wish to disable usbarbitrator, run the following command:

chkconfig usbarbitrator stop

ESXi ISO Customization Details

If you take a look at the steps required to install the ISO provided by zer010gic, most of the heavy work has already been done for you. The only "manual" part that is required from the user is to enter a kernel option during the first boot and then run an ESXCLI command to persist this kernel setting which will prevent Mac Mini from PSODing. Removing these these manual steps is actually harder than it looks because of when you need to actually perform the changes. After much trial and error, I came up with the following script below (it's not the cleanest, but it works).

Basically the script is loaded from custom.tgz and executed before the installation begins and it generates a script stored in /tmp/customboot.sh which will look for the boot.cfg configuration file stored in the primary bootbank. This is where we insert the iovDisableIR=true parameter so the user is not required to do this after the first boot up. The challenge with this is the boot.cfg does not exists until after the installation has completed, so what I ended up doing was insert a command into /usr/lib/vmware/weasel/process_end.py which is part of the weasel installer for ESXi and is the very last script that is called when a user hits reboot. The command points back to the /tmp/customboot.sh which will perform the insert into boot.cfg right before rebooting. To automatically take care of the ESXCLI configuration, I added the ESXCLI command to /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh which will automatically run after all init scripts have executed. Then finally, I need to clean up local.sh since I only need that that run once which is handled by another script that is also created and stored in /etc/init.d/customcleanup which will just clean up local.sh file as well as delete itself. Simple right? 😉

Note: There is probably a more optimal way of doing this, probably using one of the weasel installer scripts and just set the boot.cfg option and then clean up with an init script, but I decided to leverage some of my earlier work for Disabling LUN Duringn ESXi Installation

Here is the script within the custom.tgz file:

#NotSupported Sessions at VMworld 2012, A Dream Come True

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There is going to so much awesomeness at this year's VMworld, but one new event that I am most excited for this year is the #NotSupported Sessions which will be held at the VMware Community Lounge. The concept of this event was thought of by no other than Randy Keener, who works in TechOps at VMware. Randy's idea was to put together an event where people from all around could share tips/tricks, best practices, etc. on some of the neat and cool things  people have done with VMware technologies that may not be "officially supported". This can include installing ESXi on not supported white box configurations, to running nested ESXi for home lab environments. 

I am really glad Randy pushed for this event this year, as this is like a dream come for myself as I tend to walk on the "Not Supported" road quite frequently for those who know me well. I enjoy pushing the boundaries of VMware's products and it will be great to meet other people who also enjoy doing the same. I will also be presenting at #NotSupported which will take place on Wednesday 8/29, so be sure to come check out my session as well as Duncan Epping's session from 1-3pm or even coming by and just saying hello. 

For more details about #NotSupported sessions, including the vBrownBags which will also be taking place in the VMware Community Lounge, take a look at the schedule here.

In addition to the awesome session line-up, there will also be some NEW stuff that I have been working on with Randy and some of our engineers which will be unveiled by Randy during the #NotSupported event, so you won't want to miss out! #NotSupported will be the PLACE to be at VMworld 2012! Hope to see you there!

How to Access USB Storage in ESXi Shell

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While performing some experiments in my home lab, I needed to access a USB storage key directly on my ESXi host (not pass-through to VMs) and found it required a small trick after some tinkering. I thought I share the process in case this comes in handy for others.

Disclaimer: This is mainly for educational and testing purposes as this is not officially supported by VMware. Please use at your own risk.

Before I begin, you should know that only USB storage devices formatted with FAT16 can be accessed in the ESXi shell and is applicable to both ESXi 4.1 and 5.0.

Step 1 - Login to ESXi Shell via SSH and disable the USB Arbitrator service (this is automatically enabled by default to allow pass-through of USB devices to your VMs) using the following command: /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop

Step 2 - Plug-in your USB device to your ESXi host and you can verify by using the two ESXCLI commands: verifying the storage device using the command: esxcli storage core device list | grep -i usb or viewing the mounted filesystems using the command: esxcli storage filesystem list

Step 3 - Lastly, after you verify the USB device can be seen by the ESXi host, you can of course browse and access your USB device by looking under /vmfs/volumes/

Te re-enable pass-through of USB devices to your VMs, you just need to start the usbarbitrator service.

How to Enable Support for Nested 64bit & Hyper-V VMs in vSphere 5

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With the release of vSphere 5, one of the most sought out feature from VMware is the ability to run nested 64bit and Hyper-V guest virtual machines in a virtual ESXi instance. Previous to this, only 32bit virtual machines were supported as the VT-x/AMD-V Hardware Virtualization CPU instructions could not be virtualized and presented to the virtual ESX(i) guest. This feature is quite useful for home and lab setups in testing new features or studying for VMware certifications and running multiple vESX(i) instances.

You will still be required to have a 64bit capable system and CPU and you will need to be running ESXi 5.0, this will not work for ESX(i) 4.x or older.

The above diagram depicts the various levels of inception where pESXi is your physical ESXi 5.0 hosts. We then create a vESXi 5.0 host which will contain the necessary Hardware Virtualization CPU instructions to support a 64bit nested guest OS which I've created as another ESXi host called vvESXi.
Note: You will not be able to run a 4th level nested 64bit VM (I have tried by further passing the HV instructions in the nested guest) and it will just boot up and spin your CPUs for hours.
This feature by default is disabled in ESXi 5.0, to enable this virtualized HV (Hardware Virtualization) you will need to add the following string vhv.allow = "TRUE"  to /etc/vmware/config of your Physical ESXi 5.0 host
Once the configuration change has been made, the feature goes into effect right away. A reboot of the system is not necessary. To verify, you should now be able to power on a 64bit guest OS and see that the HV instructions bits are being passed into the guestOS which will then allow you to run a nested 64bit guestOS. You can also verify by looking in the vmware.log file of the virtual machine and grep for the string "monitorControl.vhv" and if you see the following message, then Virtualized HV is not enabled.
In the past to run a virtual ESX(i) instance, a few advanced .vmx configuration entries were needed as documented here. With ESXi 5.0, if you are using virtual hardware version 8, then you do not need to make any additional changes. If you are using hardware version 4 or 7, then you will need to add a few changes to the VM's configuration file.
Creating vESXi 5.0 Instance using Hardware Version 8:
1. To create a virtual ESXi 5.0 instance, start off by just creating a standard RHEL5/6 64bit VM using the vSphere Client
2. Once the VM has been created, edit the settings of the VM and change over to the "Options" and now have the ability to select a new guestOS type: VMware ESXi 5.x or VMware ESXi 4.x under the "Other" section.

Note: I'm not sure why these two additional guestOS type is not available from the default creation menu, but are available after the initial VM shell is created.

3. You are now ready to install ESXi 5.0 in this new vESXi host and then you can create and power on nested 64bit guestOS within that vESXi instance as denoted from the picture below

Creating vESXi 5.0 Instance using Hardware Version 4/7:
1. To create a virtual ESXi 5.0 instance, start off by just creating a standard RHEL5/6 64bit VM using the vSphere Client

2. Now you will need to add the following advanced .vmx parameter:  monitor.virtual_exec = "hardware" which can be done through the vSphere Client and/or editing the .vmx parameter manually.

3. Next you will need to add some cpuid bits, depending if you are running an Intel or AMD CPU, the respective entries are required:

Intel Hosts:

cpuid.1.ecx = "----:----:----:----:----:----:--h-:----"

AMD Hosts:

cpuid.80000001.ecx.amd = "----:----:----:----:----:----:----:-h--"
cpuid.8000000a.eax.amd = "hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"
cpuid.8000000a.ebx.amd = "hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"
cpuid.8000000a.edx.amd = "hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"

4. You are now ready to install ESXi 5.0 in this new vESXi host and then you can create and power on nested 64bit guestOS within that vESXi instance

By using a VM that is hardware version 8, you can easily automate the creation of vESXi 5.0 instance by changing the guestOS string in the .vmx parameter to "vmkernel" and the above configurations other than "vhv" string needed for either an Intel or AMD system are automatically configured.

For proper networking connectivity, also ensure that either your standard vSwitch or Distributed Virtual Switch has both promiscuous mode and forged transmit enabled either globally on the portgroup or distributed portgroup your nested ESXi hosts are connected to.  

Creating a vHyper-V  Instance on physical ESXi 5.0:
1. To create a virtual Hyper-V instance, start off by creating a Windows 2008 Server R2 64bit VM using the vSphere Client

2. If you are using Hardware Version 7, you will need to follow the instructions in "Creating vESXi 5.0 Instance using Hardware Version 4/7" to add the additional parameters to the VM. If you are using Hardware Version 8, you just need to change the guestOS type to VMware ESXi 5.0

3. You need to add one additional .vmx parameter which tells the underlying guestOS (Hyper-V) that it is not running as a virtual guest which in fact it really is. The parameter is hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = FALSE

4. You are now ready to install Hyper-V in a virtual machine and you can also spin up nested 64bit guestOSes in this virtual Hyper-V instance.

As you can see, now you can even run Hyper-Crap, err I mean Hyper-V as a virtualized guest under ESXi 5.0. I did not get a chance to try out Xen, but I'm sure with the ability to virtualize the Hardware Virtualization instructions, you should be able to run other types of hypervisors for testing purposes.

This is a really awesome feature but note that this is not officially supported by VMware, use at your own risk.