ESXi 5.x - pre-built VMDK for unRAID


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EDIT: I am no longer maintaining this as I have moved to unRAID bare metal/KVM.  I will continue to add .vmdk's to this first post if people want to upload/host them.  I won't be checking their content however, so please do find the person in the thread that has added it and speak to them if there are any issues.

 

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I have been intending to do this for a while, since it often comes up as a requirement for various users.  I will maintain this thread with each update of unRAID - essentially these are pre-built VMware virtual disks containing what is required to boot unRAID directly, and more quickly than booting entirely from a USB stick.

 

5.0rc11:     https://app.box.com/s/8un6bssqjy8d1z761xputhhu4capgym4

5.0rc12:     https://app.box.com/s/uysgq9ij5g3m0823vuio7isrpr4l7wpu

5.0rc12a:   https://app.box.com/s/hs5w6ry8nimkt943u5iglobszpv47m90

5.0rc13:     https://app.box.com/s/zujn4kj1yc1g5q0plu0tafxk7m38nhh4

5.0rc15:     https://app.box.com/s/s82fgzzhp3uw3r2kg89pkjq6ntx27p6z

5.0 final:   https://app.box.com/s/in501e2qda18p2k62x3pocnvx1v52698

6.0 b12:   https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3cXNKF8ZrHsR0h3ZVFkVEtyZlk&authuser=0

6.0 b14b:   http://goo.gl/T47Mh8

6.0:   https://goo.gl/4oeTnG

6.0.1:     https://goo.gl/vwg2Yr

6.1.9:     https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgiYm5IMXNOTmg1bUk

6.2:       https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgieklzUjc3N2VKREE

6.2.1:     https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4uhfP2afCgiRXFENXdxSks3bWc/view?usp=sharing

6.2.2:     https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgieFBLTU1uQ24tWW8

6.2.3:     https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4uhfP2afCgiLVhPeDFRNVNKRk0

 

- 1Gb .vmdk with 100mb partition containing bzroot/bzimage etc

- Upgrade/downgrade by mounting the .vmdk in another VM/direct to your PC/via ESXi (ask google) and replacing the bzroot/bzimage with the new version of these files, or simply download the new version from here as they are updated.

- If you download the new vmdk from here, simply shut down your unRAID VM, upload the .vmdk over the top of the old one and restart your VM.

- Use of these boot .vmdk's is quite simple (I will refine these instructions with more detail, or you can refer to Johnm's Atlas thread in the unRAID Compulsive Design forum:

 

  • Create a new VM in ESXi, use the Ubuntu 32-bit profile
  • When prompted to add a virtual disk, choose 'Do not create disk'.
  • Upload the .vmdk into your datastore, preferably into the newly-created folder for the VM you just created
  • Edit the new VM and add the disk - choose the .vmdk you just uploaded
  • Map your unRAID USB stick through to the newly-created VM and boot your new VM up

 

NB: Do not change the volume label on the virtual disk to UNRAID - your USB stick should be the only thing with the volume label of UNRAID.  The USB stick is still required and holds your unRAID configuration files, all plugin files and your license key.

NB2: These .vmdk's will only work in ESXi 5.x

 

I also recommend coupling an ESXi install of unRAID with Zeron's VMware tools plugin, available here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=11449.0

 

EDIT 23/03 - Added 5.0rc12

EDIT 24/03 - Added 5.0rc12a

EDIT 12/01/15 - Added 6.0 b12 - note I am no longer running ESXi, now running bare metal unRAID with KVM VM's, so I won't be maintaining these any longer.  I'll update this post to include vmdk's from others that are up to date however, as per above.

EDIT 01/03/15 - Added 6.0 b12

EDIT 29/06/15 - Added 6.0.1

EDIT 03/08/16 - Updated links

EDIT 01/12/16 - Updated to include links to 6.1.9 through 6.2.3

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Hey Quasi...quick suggestion....

 

Maybe the VMDKs should contain the entire unRAID archive contents and not just the bzroot/bzimage.  Here is my reasoning....

 

Users of the free version of unRAID could do so with also use a VMDK and ditch the USB key as long as:

 

1.  The volume of the VMDK is named "UNRAID"

2.  The VMDK contains a the configuration (config directory)

3.  The VMDK is set to Independent - Persistent changes are saved

 

Does this make sense?  As far as I know, having the entire contents of the archive in the VMDK shouldn't hurt anything for Pro/Plus users since unRAID will look for the config and license on the USB key anyway.

 

John

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Might add to add the VMDK as Indepentent - Non Persistent.  That way if you somehow corrupt/delete/format the VMDK from inside UNRAID all you got to do is power cycle the guest and all is well again.

 

I've also deleted the bzroot/bzimage off of my thumb drive and the config directory off of the VMDK I make so its impossible to get them confused with each other.

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Might add to add the VMDK as Indepentent - Non Persistent.  That way if you somehow corrupt/delete/format the VMDK from inside UNRAID all you got to do is power cycle the guest and all is well again.

 

This is a good idea but would nuke my suggestion above for people who are using the free version (no USB key required).  they would lose their settings after every reboot.

 

Maybe there should be two flavors...persistent and non-persistent.

 

John

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I'm just doing what I'm doing guys, not really interested in making changes/modifications, as there is so many different ways to do this.  Also, at 100mb a pop, I'd like to limit the amount of these things that are being hosted as I really don't want to start using a service like mega or 4shared or whatever as they are a pain.

 

Perhaps you'd like to look at implementing/hosting these versions yourselves if you think it's warranted.

 

I think the VM that another user has posted here ticks some of these boxes:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=26634.0

 

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It is great that you have posted these images! I'm just getting started with ESXi but I am not totally ignorant to VM's and Hypervisors. This is definitely a level of complexity above VMWare Workstation and V-box...

 

I have a test rig that I am trying to experiment with. I've been reading a number of posts, but for some reason I'm still struggling. Here's what I've got and what I've done:

 

Asus P5Q-Deluxe

Q6600 CPU

4GB

60GB SSD (as datastore)

2x 1 TB HDD's (mapped http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7914.0)

16GB USB running ESXi

2GB SD-card volume = UNRAID setup with RC5.0-12a AiO

 

ESXi 4.1 installed on USB stick and 60GB set as "datastore1"

Created "VM-unraid" as Ubuntu 32b, no disk assigned.

Went to Configuration tab for the server, right click on datastore1 and browse datastore. Uploaded the unRAID-flat.vmdk file.

Went to VM-unraid machine and then Edit Settings

Hardware Add.. "Hard Disk", Use an existing virtual disk, browse, go the VM-unraid folder in datastore1 and  there are no files to select!?!?!?

 

Any hint on what I'm doing wrong? I know it must be something painfully stupid.

 

Thanks!

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ESXi 4.1 installed on USB stick and 60GB set as "datastore1"

 

 

 

BetaQuasi appears to be using ESXi 5.1.  Was 4.1 a typo?  If not I'd recommend trying 5.1.

 

Nope, not a typo, I just started with 4.1 since I found a lot of posts regarding that. It's all a big experiment, so I'll switch up to 5.1 and give it another go. This time I'll probably not install to USB and just install on the SSD, assuming you can use the same disk as the ESXi server install and a datastore...

 

Thanks.

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Nope, not a typo, I just started with 4.1 since I found a lot of posts regarding that. It's all a big experiment, so I'll switch up to 5.1 and give it another go. This time I'll probably not install to USB and just install on the SSD, assuming you can use the same disk as the ESXi server install and a datastore...

 

Thanks.

 

If you install to SSD, you can still use whatever is not partitioned and used for ESXi as a datastore.  The advantage to using USB is you can back it up more easily as the drive is normally plugged into an external port (don't have to open anything up), plus SSD for booting ESXi is overkill.

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This my data store, It was formated with 1MB block ? is that right, but I didn't get any settings where I could chose a different settings

 

When I come to the boot menu, it boots very quick, butits take about 25 sec to it shows up.

 

See image of my data store

 

 

//Peter

5.JPG.21e8837cd5de9c8983d98fa01bbf5afb.JPG

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