on the raid array, wiping out the 2008 install with 250GB of user data and the sharepoint site, i nearly crapped myself, the good news was it booted ESXi properly from the RAID array. It booted just like last time, but instead of asking any questions, it went right to installing itself. (if you have a weak stomach, you may want to stop reading) i should have read the kick start file more closely. It did with no problem, however it wouldn't let me install to another USB drive i connected to the server, gave a fatal error about not finding the CD-ROM image, so i shut it down, reenabled the kick start file and tried again. Gave that last USB guide a try, i setup the image on a spare Linux server (CentOS base), copied over the files and disabled the ks.cfg file since i just wanted to see if it would boot. In case you're wondering, i'm using VMWare converter to move the 2008 install into a VM on a spare linux server, then once ESXi is setup, move it back again via the same process. I do however have 6 new hard drives for it for when i convert it to ESXi and run the 2008 install as a VM., i want to install ESXi on a thumb drive and use the RAID as VM storage. The server is not a new server, its been running 2008 R2 and its a production server, so I don't have the luxury to take it offline for a huge amount of time. I have selected F11 at boot to go into the BIOS boot manager where i can then select the internal optical drive, but it thinks about it for a second and then looks for an OS on the RAID array or move on to the NIC I'm pretty sure i've got the boot order set to 1. Always a good idea to run, even on brand 'spankin' new hardware.Ĭonsider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers. This will perform a 'burn-in' test of your hardware. Run it for a minimum of 24 hours (better to run 72 hours or up to a week). Is this a new server (or new to running ESX/ESXi)? If so, download, burn, and then run memtest (google/bing it, easy to locate, and a small download). WAIT for the regular boot sequence to go after that (chances are it will go through the RAID initialization and such before booting from the cd). Then use the F12 option to manually select the optical drive as the boot device. First make sure your bios settings are correct for running ESX/ESXi (review them for things like Intel virtualization support, execute disable, etc.).
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