Creating a New Virtual Machine for ESX

Creating a New Virtual Machine for ESX

Create Datastore

1. Run the VI Client; enter your server's IP address, username and password.
2. Pick Inventory > Configuration. Select Click here to create a datastore.
   1. Select radio button Disk/LUN
   2. Under Device location - leave defaults
   3. Under Current disk layout - select radio button Use free space
   4. Under Properties - select datastore name, e.g. dell06
   5. Under Formatting - pick 1024GB, block size 4MB. Leave checkbox Maximize capacity selected.
   6. Click Next and Finish.
3. Verify that under Inventory > Configuration > Hardware > Storage there is an entry: Identification=dell06, Device=vmhba0:0:0:7, Capacity=221.00GB, Free=220.45GB, Type=vmfs3.
4. Reboot the ESX server. (You can do this from the VI Client - right-click the server name in the leftmost navigation pane and pick Reboot.)

Creating new virtual machine

1. Pick tab Getting Started, click Create a new virtual machine
2. Leave Typical
3. Give your virtual machine a name, e.g. winxp61
4. As a datastore pick the datastore you created in the previous subsection.
5. As a Guest Operating System, select radio button Microsoft Windows and select version Microsoft Windows XP Professional (32 bit)
6. Leave the number of virtual processors equal to 1 (default).
7. As a RAM memory, pick 512MB (overwrite the default 256)
8. Pick two NIC cards per your VMWare. They are both VM Network, Adapter = Enhanced vmxnet, connect at power on is Yes.
9. Leave virtual disk size at 8GB.
10. Click Finish

Preparing the ISO image

1. Run WinSCP (SCP client) and connect to the standard SSH port (22) on your ESX server.
2. Log in as "administrator" user.
3. Copy the ISO image file you wish to install, e.g. winxpproeng_sp2.iso
4. Connect with a regular SSH client (PuTTY) to the same ESX server. Issue these commands

   sudo mkdir /vmimages/tools-isoimages/myimages
   sudo mv /home/administrator/winxpproeng_sp3.iso /vmimages/tools-isoimages/myimages

Preparing the SCSI drivers

1. Right click the virtual machine, e.g. winxp61, select Edit Properties. Verify, what is written next to SCSI Controller property. It could be either BusLogic or LSI Logic.
2. Check that there is a BusLogic driver /vmimages/floppies/vmscsi-1.2.0.2.flp on the ESX server.
3. If there is no such file (or you want another driver or a newer version version), you can also download an appropriate driver, e.g.
   1. LSI Logic XP Driver (older version)
   2. LSI Logic XP Driver (newer version)
   3. BusLogic XP Driver
4. If you download another driver, use WinSCP to move it to an appropriate subdirectory, e.g. /vmimages/floppies/myimages
5. Select Floppy Drive, and select an appropriate *.flp file.
6. Do not check the Connect at power on box for the floppy device. Otherwise XP when you go to start the installation will try to boot from the floppy disk and will fail.
7. Check the Connected checkbox for the floppy device though.

Run the machine for the first time

1. Run the VMWare Infrastructure (VI) Client. Log in as "administrator"
2. In the left navigation window pick the dell06 ESX server and select winxp61.
3. Right click that entry and pick Edit Settings
4. Pick CD/DVD Drive 1, select the checkbox Connect at power on
5. Select radio button Datastore ISO file, click Browse
6. Select /vmimages/tools-isoimages/myimages/winxproeng_sp2.iso, and click OK. You will have the following text displayed in the text-field: [] /vmimages/tools-isoimages/myimages/winxpproeng_sp2.iso
7. Close the Properties dialog by clicking OK.
8. In the VI Client console right-click the winxp61 and select Power On.
9. Click the Console tab very fast, click inside the console screen so that the mouse focus is captured by the guest machine, and press F6 to get an opportunity to add more drivers.
   1. Press S to add drivers from a floppy disk.
   2. Read the message "Please insert the disk labeled...", at this moment select Edit Properties in the VI Client, and select option Connect for the floppy disk device.
10. After adding drivers resume installation.
11. Click Yes to install anyway despite the "Windows Logo test" warnings

Installation options for Windows XP

1. Use defaults for installation, leave English (United States) as the regional settings, i.e. do not customize the regional options.
2. Pick a user name Student from the organization Education and Training (the installation does not allow to pick Administrator at this point). Pick password from the data sheet.
3. Enter the Volume License Product Key - a combination of 25 letters and digits.
4. After installation is done, shut down the machine.
5. Detach the floppy drive and the CD-ROM by editing the properties for the shut down machine.

Links

1. http://www.techhead.co.uk/vmware-esx-creating-a-windows-xp-vm-and-getting-error-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-installed-in-your-computer .
2. http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1001805

Tags: esx