Setting up an ESXi Server with Celerra Storage
With a USB thumbstick and the Celerra simulator, you can easily get an ESXi server up and running with just your laptop and the temporary use of your home PC. This document will show you how to:
-Create a bootable ESXi USB Thumbdrive
-Temporarily turn your home PC into an ESXi server
-Create an iSCSI LUN and NFS Export in the Celerra Simluator running on your laptop.
-Create VMware Datastores on the iSCSI LUN and NFS Export
Note: This document assumes that you already have a Celerra Simluator configured and running on your laptop. If you need instructions for setting that up, please consult the “Setting Up the Single Data Mover Celerra” document before proceeding. I can give you my latest version of that as well.
Create a bootable ESXi USB Thumbdrive
First you need to download the latest version of ESXi. You can find it on the VMware website here: You will also need the freeware apps IZArc and WinImage. A simple Google search will help you locate both software packages. Install both of them before proceeding to the next step.
*Note: This requires a minimum of a 512MB USB Thumbdrive
Open IZArc and open the ESXi ISO that you have downloaded
Using IZArc, extract the INSTALL.TGZ file from the root directory of the ISO
Now open INSTALL.TGZ with IZArc and extract the following file: /usr/lib/vmware/installer/VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0-xxxxx.i386.dd.bz2
Open that .bz2 file in IZArc and extract VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0-xxxxx.i386.dd. This is the file that you will create bootable thumbdrive from
Plug your USB Drive into your laptop. WARNING – ALL DATA WILL BE DELETED FROM THE USB DRIVE
Open the WinImage application
Click the Disk menu and then Restore Virtual Hard Disk Image
Select your USB flash drive from the menu
Select the VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0-xxxxx.i386.dd file
Confirm the warning message and the process will begin.
When it finishes, you have an ESXi bootable USB Thumbdrive
Temporarily turn your Home PC into an ESXi Server
With ESXi, you can boot ESX off of a USB Thumbdrive and don’t need any local storage to run ESX. I have personally only tested this on a few types of PC, so your experience may vary.
To start, plug the Thumbdrive into one of your computer’s USB slots and power on the PC. While it is booting, hit whatever key it says to bring up a one-time boot menu. On that menu, choose USB Drive and it will boot into ESXi.
When ESXi comes up, you will see an intro screen like this:
Hit the F2 key to setup your ESXi server.
Highlight Configure Management Network and hit Enter
Highlight IP Configuration and hit Enter
Make sure that Use Dynamic IP Address is selected and hit Enter
If you want to, you can rename your ESXi server through the DNS Configuration
Press the Escape key to exit the Network Configuration Screen
Since you made changes, it will ask if it should save and restart the management network.
Choose Yes
Press Escape to LogOut
You are now back at the original screen and should see your ESXi server’s IP address
Now you can proceed to connect to your ESXi server over the network
Download VI Client and configure your ESXi Server
Open up a web browser and type in the IP address of your ESXi server
Select the link that says Download VMware Infrastructure Client
Install the VI Client and accept all defaults
Browse to your desktop and run the VI Client
Log in with the following parameters:
- Server – enter IP address of your ESXi server
- Username – root
- Password – no password
If you get any security warnings, you can click ignore
Configure NTP
Once the VI Client loads up, go to the Configuration tab
Under the Software section, select Time Configuration
Click Properties on the right-hand side
Click the Options button
Click NTP Settings
Click Add
In the Address field, enter pool.ntp.org and click OK
Click General
Click the Start button
Click OK and your NTP is now configured
Configure the iSCSI Software Adapter
Go to the Storage Adapters tab
Select the iSCSI Software Adapter
Click Properties
On the General tab, click the Configure button
Check the Enabled box to enable the iSCSI SW Adapter
Click OK
Click the Configure button again to see your iSCSI Name
Copy this name and keep it handy for an upcoming step
Create a Celerra iSCSI LUN and mask to your ESXi server
Log into Celerra Manager
Click Wizards on the left
Choose “Create an iSCSI LUN”
On the first screen, make sure “server_2” is the Data Mover selected and click Next
Now you need to select your target and click Next
(If you haven’t set this up yet, you will need to click the Creat Target button)
On the Select File System screen, pick the Filesystem for your iSCSI LUNs and click Next
Create a new LUN and choose the size. I’ll use 10GB in this example.
On the LUN masking screen, you will mask the LUN to your ESXi server’s Software iSCSI Initiator. Click the Add New button and paste the IQN that you got from ESXi above. Click OK and then Next.
On the CHAP Access screen, just click Next.
Click Finish on the Results screen.
You now have an iSCSI LUN created and masked to your ESXi server.
Discover iSCSI LUN on your ESXi server
Now go back to your VI Client.
Click on the Configuration tab and go to Storage Adapters
Click your iSCSI Software Adapter and then Properties on the right-hand side
Go to the Dynamic Discovery tab and click Add
Enter in the IP address of the cge0 interface on your Celerra
Leave the default iSCSI port of 3260
Now your iSCSI target is listed in the Target window.
Click Close
Now click Rescan to discover your new storage devices and click OK
This will rescan all adapters and discover your new iSCSI LUN.
Create a Datastore on your iSCSI LUN
Once the task completes, click on Storage and then Add Storage
This will bring up the wizard to create a new Datastore on your iSCSI LUN
For Storage Type, select Disk/LUN and click Next
Your iSCSI LUN should be in the list. Select it and click Next
The next screen shows that the new disk is blank. Click Next
Choose a name for your Datastore and click next
Accept the defaults on the Formatting screen and click Next
Click Finish on the Completion screen
Now your Storage screen should look similar to this:
You now have an iSCSI Datastore that you can create VMs on.
Create a Celerra NFS Export
Log into Celerra Manager and go to NFS Exports on the left-hand side
Click New to create a new NFS Export
Choose the Filesystem for your NFS Export and give it a Path
Click OK when complete
You now have an NFS Export created and ready for your ESXi server
Create a Datastore on your NFS Export
Open up your VI Client and go to the Configuration tab
Click Storage and then Add Storage
Choose Network File System for your storage type and click Next
For Server Name, enter the IP Address of cge0 on your Celerra
For Folder, enter the Path you used above
Choose a name for your Datastore
Click Next to move on
Click Finish on the summary screen
Your Storage screen should now look similar to this:
You now have an NFS Datastore to create VMs, store ISOs, etc