HP or VMware ESXi

[Rob Buxton]

Hi All,
There seem to be two ways of getting ESXi up and running in an HP SIM environment, just wondering which way folk are generally going.

It seems you can download the latest VMware ESXi iso and install that and then just add the HP CIM providers. Or download the HP version and just update as VMware release new releases. So which way are folk going?

My understanding is that you need to have the HP CIM Providers installed in order to get wbem to work with HP SIM. I've not tested this though, except I've not been able to subscribe to a VMware only ESXi built server. So for this reason it seems having the HP CIM providers installed is more than just enhanced reporting. Anyone know if this is correct?

[Louis de Silva]

I am also interested to know this. I have downloaded the ESXi version from HP and installed it. However, it is not appearing on my HP SIM. Just wondering what else is needed to configure?

[wobbe]

I've used the HP cdrom. But need the latest patches for HP SIM to get hing working.

[Michal Kapalka (mikap)]

hi Rob,

in my opinion, it's beteer to use ESXi directly from vmware, and not customized from HP.

If i need to have some hp-tools inside the hypervizor i can always install it, but if i use HP customized vmware i have there lot HP ulitilies, but i need to wait if the vmware make som patch or update, until HP made his own customized installation/update media.

it's always about cons/prons and at the end its up to you make the final decision.

mikap

[DerekS_1]

With ESXi HP is only integrating their CIM providers. They aren't adding additional agents. I personally only use the HP provided ESXi installable CDs for the initial load of ESXi. I then use VUM or manually apply ESXi patch bundles directly from VMware.

Patch bundles can contain updated CIM providers, and they are automatically installed if it detects OEM CIM provider already present.

Whenever HP releases a new ESXi CD I use that as my new basis and then apply any approved VMware patch bundles.

[DerekS_1]

What is interesting with 4.1 is that the HP ESXi CD is substantially larger than the basic VMware ESXi installable CD. I didn't take the time to drill down into the ISO and see what is using up the extra space. My first thought was additional drivers, since the CIM and NMI bundles are so small..just a couple of MB.

[Rob Buxton]

Actually ended up doing it the reverse way.
I build from a Vmware distribution and then add the HP ESXi Bundle as required.

Doesn't seem to matter which way you go.

Had some fun recently as ESXi 4.1 and HP Bundle 1.3 didn't work (couldn't subscribe to wbem events) but seems to be fixed in bundle 1.4

[MGaccess]

Hi, I have downloaded the "HP ESXi Offline Bundle for VMware ESXi 4.1" but I'm not quite sure how to install it using the vSphere Update Utility.

Could someone point me in the right direction? Thank you

[StefanL]

I see people only mention agents.
Another thing to keep in mind is drivers, some of the newer servers require additional NIC drivers etc. They are (up to a certain point) included in the HP version.

[Rob Buxton]

MGaccess, hopefully you resolved this, if not the installation instructions are located on the site you download the bundle from. There's a bit of work to do.

StefanL, that's true for ESX but less so with ESXi, which is what this thread covers.