ESXi Version 5

Lanz · 25 Aug 2011 at 15:45

Just a heads up, its out today and i'm just installing it on my microserver. Apparently free licenses will be available at a later date, so you can just use the 60 day eval for now, and put in a new code later.

I wonder if it'll support the crappy software raid1 on this box now, we shall see...

Ringiho · 25 Aug 2011 at 16:10

Just got the ISO at work, need to get it installed on some machines. I'm not expect any massive changes.

Any feature list anywhere?

Edit: Found this if anyone is interested: http://www.virtualizetips.com/2011/07/whats-new-in-vmware-vsphere-esxi-5/

Gerbil · 25 Aug 2011 at 23:01

For home lab use the feauture I'm looking forward to trying out is better support for a nested copy of ESXi. It's supposedly possible to run a nested copy of HyperV now as well. Haven't tried it out yet

http://www.vcritical.com/2011/07/vmware-vsphere-can-virtualize-itself/

Trojan · 26 Aug 2011 at 00:12

Just downloaded ESXi and vCenter server 5. Hoping to install today, work permitting.

Ringiho · 26 Aug 2011 at 07:46

I've got it installed on a test server at work. Didn't get time to do anything yesterday but going to try and take a look today. Runs pretty well so far, it is on SSDs though

quackers · 26 Aug 2011 at 08:48

Cheers, downloading now. Is there a way of backing up VM's on ESXI4.1? Reason I ask is this, I want to install 5 fresh on a different pc then move all the existing 4.1 vm's over, does anyone think this is possible?

BoomAM · 26 Aug 2011 at 08:50

I'm gonna hold fire till the free licences come out, then try it on one of our auxiliary servers. The better storage support clinches it for me.

ShadowMan · 26 Aug 2011 at 09:39

Free licences for 5 are available. Got mine by going through the download centre.

Trojan · 27 Aug 2011 at 01:34

quackers said:
Cheers, downloading now. Is there a way of backing up VM's on ESXI4.1? Reason I ask is this, I want to install 5 fresh on a different pc then move all the existing 4.1 vm's over, does anyone think this is possible?

Of course it's possible! Use something like Veeam FastSCP to copy the VM folders from their existing datastore to the new datastore, then go into ESX, open the datastore, drill down to the freshly copied VMs and double click the VMX file for each one. This will register them in your new instance.

bods · 27 Aug 2011 at 06:40

Trojan said:
Of course it's possible! Use something like Veeam FastSCP to copy the VM folders from their existing datastore to the new datastore, then go into ESX, open the datastore, drill down to the freshly copied VMs and double click the VMX file for each one. This will register them in your new instance.

This'll work just fine - you'll need to upgrade the virtual hardware and tools but that is trivial.

GeX · 27 Aug 2011 at 11:13

Have you checked out the web console? It's taken them long enough!

More info on getting it going under Ubuntu here; http://blog.thesysadmins.co.uk/vmware-vsphere-web-client-console-ubuntu-linux-11-04.html

RazorBlade · 28 Aug 2011 at 20:44

I just installed 24 GB extra ram (48 GB total) for this and an extra CPU in my home server. A month ago I did the "what is (not so) new" training to get certified for vSpehere 4. After that i can directly start to study on vSphere 5. My exam is planned for monday september the 5th.

I understand it is now also possible with vSphere 5 to create a 64TB VMDK without using extends. This is great for virtualizing fileservers.

mole90 · 29 Aug 2011 at 15:09

RazorBlade said:
I just installed 24 GB extra ram (48 GB total) for this and an extra CPU in my home server. A month ago I did the "what is (not so) new" training to get certified for vSpehere 4. After that i can directly start to study on vSphere 5. My exam is planned for monday september the 5th.

I understand it is now also possible with vSphere 5 to create a 64TB VMDK without using extends. This is great for virtualizing fileservers.

You're thinking of the VMFS datastores themselves where there is no longer the 2TB limit, unfortunately I think we're still stuck with 2TB as the max size for a VMDK itself.

I've just upgraded my Microserver from 4.1 to 5. Just going through the pain of storage vMotioning the VMs around so that I can create new VMFS 5 volumes rather than just converting the old ones.

growse · 29 Aug 2011 at 20:37

Boo. Looks like they've dropped support for some of the 2GB FC kit I use in my lab. Need to shell out actual £££ on supported 4GB stuff now

*edit* lies! It works just fine. Guess, it's just not supported officially.

Lanz · 30 Aug 2011 at 10:59

GeX said:
Have you checked out the web console? It's taken them long enough!

More info on getting it going under Ubuntu here; http://blog.thesysadmins.co.uk/vmware-vsphere-web-client-console-ubuntu-linux-11-04.html

Does the web console only work with vCenter? As I cant seem to get it working on a standalone host.

tbz_ck · 30 Aug 2011 at 12:47

Just installed it on my HP Microserver. Wouldn't let me force a migration on account of VIB's (dunno what that is to be honest) so have fresh installed and will re-import virtual machines.

howamidifferent · 30 Aug 2011 at 13:09

Can someone clarify exactly what product/executable/link from the VMWare site is ESXi free? And provide said link? I cannot understand the many product offerings.

Also is ESXi 5 free? It says the eval is a 60 day trial. Do any VMs created go belly up after 60 days or what?

I'd like to try this on a spare HP Microserver I have but I have no prior experience of VMware products, only used Hyper-V before.

What I ultimatly want to try to do is follow the Solaris ZFS VM on ESXi and see how that works out. I've been looking at napp-it but the ESXi start is what I dont understand.

Many thanks for any help.

tbz_ck · 30 Aug 2011 at 13:24

Hi,

You need the ESXi 5.0 installable CD ISO and the VMWare vSphere client 5.0.

The 60 day eval is of the full vSphere suite as opposed to the vSphere free hypervisor ESXi 5. The difference is in the license key which de-activates all non-free license features.

You may want to try the 60 days of free full functionality. On the other hand you may want to request a vSphere 5 hypervisor free license key and license it as the free edition via the vSphere client.

Just finished the install on my Microserver. Installed it to USB stick (8GB one) and run ESXi 5 off that. It didn't want to upgrade ESXi 4.1 so I did a fresh install and re-imported my vm's. Now just updated teh virtual hardware to version 8 (that comes with ESXi 5) and am finding no issues

howamidifferent · 30 Aug 2011 at 14:10

Ok, I found the download links and registered for a free version license.
What size should I use for USB installation and booting?

I have a few USB sticks and just wondering if it needs much space when installed to usb to run. And I assume it will and can run from USB stick with good performance?

Dr. Pain · 30 Aug 2011 at 18:37

I must admit, I love the fact its so MUCH FASTER to use than 4.1

All the Vcenter responsiveness and Client responsiveness is great.

Just need to try the web interface now!