DL380 Gen10 M.2 install ESXI

[MathiasR]

Hi

I've put a m.2 SSD on my Gen10 DL380 riser and want to install esxi on it. I made a raid 0 volume and it show up in ilo and intelligent provisioning but no version of esxi installer seems to find it to let me use that as the installer media.

Is this something I need to change or is this a lack of drivers in the HPE custom vmware iso?

[AmRa]

Please fin the below steps to Install VMware ESXi 6.7 on the M.2 SSDs of the servers :

1. Acquire the VMware ESXi 6.7 ISO image and the license code.
2. Create a bootable USB stick with the ISO image on your laptop.
NOTE
HPE recommends using Rufus software to create the image. Bootable USB sticks created from other software products caused the installation to fail or hang in the middle of the process.
NOTE
While installing VMware, disable secure boot in the server BIOS. You can turn secure boot back on after the OS is installed on the primary M.2 boot disk.
3. Following BIOS setting needs to be changed to install ESXi 6.7 on M.2 SSD.
a. During server boot, press F9 (System Utilities) to load System configuration.
b. Select BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) and press enter.
c. Choose Storage Options, select SATA Controller and press enter.
d. Under Embedded SATA configuration, select “SATA AHCI support” from the drop-down list.
e. Press F12 to save and exit.
NOTE
While installing VMware ESXi on M.2 SSD, don’t create RAID through SSA (Smart Storage Administrator).
4. Insert the bootable USB sticks into the servers and reboot them from USB. This will start the OS installation on the server. This can be performed and monitored from a remote session to the HPE iLO webpage of the servers.
5. Go through the VMware ESXi 6.7 installation wizard and start the installation.
6. Once the VMware setup starts (after the OS files are copied to the OS volume for installation), VMware setup will prompt you for the following information.
a. License agreement: Press F11 to accept the license agreements.
b. Install location: This window will show two drives that were previously configured in the array controller prior to starting VMware setup, one representing the boot volume and one representing the data volume. Choose the first M.2 SSD SATA drive that appears in the list of drives on the installation wizard. Select the boot volume, if in doubt the drive with the smaller total size should represent the boot volume and Click on “Continue.”
c. Keyboard layout: Keyboard layout (for most U.S. deployments, you can accept the default settings and click “Continue”).
d. Root password: You will need to provide a password for the root account.
7. After providing the root password, press F11 to start the installation. The server will complete the installation and be ready for initial login and subsequent OS configuration.

For more information please refer HPE Small Business Solution deployment Guide VMware-based solutions (Page numver 11 to 13)

https://assets.ext.hpe.com/is/content/hpedam/a50001956enw

[MathiasR]

Thanks for the reply. Does that mean that I cannot install anything newer than esxi 6.7 on the m.2 SDD?

[Cali]

No reverse.

This is the minimum Version that Supports M.2 boot.

Cali

[MathiasR]

Thanks. So a physical USB disk is required? Because I tried using a ilo mounted esxi 7 HPE ISO and that installer did not find the M2 SSD at all.

[Cali]

I use always HPE ESX ISO with iLO and it works.

Check the BIOS settings AmRa gives.

And again, you can't do any Raid, even not Raid 0.

[MathiasR]

For me, it only finds the front mounted "regular" drives in the drive bay. It does not see the internally mounted M2 on the riser card. 

I also tried deleting the RAID 0 (as I only use 1 drive it can't be anything else) but that wasn't found either.

Yes, I have enabled the SATA controller in the bios.

[mysy]

I suggest buy a good quality TF SD card like scandisk 32G u3 A2 speed model. insert the TF card to HP motherboard TF card slot. Install to esxi system to TF card.  Because the disk install esxi doesn't support data store function. it doesn't need fast or big.  only load file from it when system boot up.

I install esxi 6.7 or 7.0 to tf for my home lab G8 ,G9 and G10 DL20 server. Both working fine.

[MathiasR]

I am already using a USB drive for my install but I'd like the better write endurance for updates by using the M2 SATA SSD. Since there are slots on th motherboard already, it would be nice if I could actually use them. That's all I want.

[Vador]

Hello,

The M.2 is connected to the embedded SATA Controller (S100i) and this does not support ESXi. If you want to install ESXi on the M.2's, you will have to disable the Embedded SATA Controller (i.e. change it to AHCI mode in UIEFI BIOS). Once done, the ESXi should be able to see the M.2's individually, giving you a choice to install it on one of the M.2's. Unfortunately, we will not be able to install ESXi on a RAID'ed volume that comes of the S100i controler.

Regards,

Nirav

[MathiasR]

Hi

I will try that. I tried the above solution with no success. It was also not found before attempting that solution but I will go back and review the settings to match your suggestion.

(3. Following BIOS setting needs to be changed to install ESXi 6.7 on M.2 SSD.
a. During server boot, press F9 (System Utilities) to load System configuration.
b. Select BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) and press enter.
c. Choose Storage Options, select SATA Controller and press enter.
d. Under Embedded SATA configuration, select “SATA AHCI support” from the drop-down list.
e. Press F12 to save and exit.)

Thanks

[MathiasR]

Hello,

The M.2 is connected to the embedded SATA Controller (S100i) and this does not support ESXi. If you want to install ESXi on the M.2's, you will have to disable the Embedded SATA Controller (i.e. change it to AHCI mode in UIEFI BIOS). Once done, the ESXi should be able to see the M.2's individually, giving you a choice to install it on one of the M.2's. Unfortunately, we will not be able to install ESXi on a RAID'ed volume that comes of the S100i controler.

Regards,

Nirav

Thanks everyone. It seems this solution worked. I thought I had tested it previosly but either way, thankfully it did work this time. Now I need to repeat the process a few more times, but at least I have a refrence unit. Thanks a lot!

(the M.2 SATA SSD was formated as a RAID 0 JBOD in the S100i controller before swapping over to AHCI mode in the bios, for future reference if that makes mine or anyone elses day better).

BR

Mathias