VMware on Sun Quick

Start Guide
Version 1.5
Ron Graham
January 2009
Quick Start Guide for VMware ESX on the SunFire x4150 and Unified
Storage 7000 Series

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................................3

Additional document resources..................................................................................................................3

Installation of VirtualCenter Server and VI Client....................................................................................3

Installation of ESX Server.........................................................................................................................5

Starting the VI Client.................................................................................................................................8

Shared Storage Implementation ................................................................................................................9

Introduction
This document steps through the basic setup of VMware Infrastructure 3 functionality on the
Sun Fire X4150. This QuickStart Guide assumes the reader has a working knowledge
of system administration. For detailed instructions on x4150 Installation, please visit
http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/820-1851-11?l=en.

Additional document resources

Although the material presented in this document can be found on the VMware Web site, this
evaluation guide attempts to consolidate the majority of the information into a single
document to facilitate the evaluation process. For further information and specific installation /
configuration steps that are beyond the scope of this guide, please refer to the following
documentation:
1. Install VMware Infrastructure with either an ISO image or a CD.
1. For ISO image installation refer to Sun Integrated Lights Out Manager 2.0 User's
Guide located at http://dlc.sun.com/pdf/820-1188-12/820-1188-12.pdf
2. For detailed VMware OS installation, please refer to http://dlc.sun.com/pdf/820-1853-
12/820-1853-12.pdf
1. Please make sure the disk array's are configured prior to the installation.
3. Refer to Server product notes. For the Sun Fire X4150, refer to
http://dlc.sun.com/pdf/820-1854-18/820-1854-18.pdf

Installation of VirtualCenter Server and VI Client

The following section describes how to install VirtualCenter Server software into a Windows
environment. You can install the VMware Infrastructure client and VirtualCenter server
components separately or on the same Windows system. This process will use the default
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express database that comes with VirtualCenter server. For
production environments, Sun recommends using an Oracle or a SQL Server database. Sun
recommends that VirtualCenter Server is installed on Windows 2003 or 2008.
As Administrator on the Windows system, insert the installation CD and run the installer.
When the VMware Infrastructure management installer screen is displayed, click Next. Read
through the introduction and the license agreement pages and click Next. On the next page
enter your customer information.
Accept the default installation type VirtualCenter Server and Infrastructure Client to install all
VirtualCenter components as well as the VI Client.
On the database selection page, leave the Use an existing database checkbox unselected.
The VMware Infrastructure Management installer will install Microsoft SQL 2005 Express data
base.

If you have a license server already setup or are going to set one up now please proceed
through the instructions on the license Server page. Since this step requires specific
company information we will proceed using an Evaluation license option for purposes of
example. On the license Server page, check the I would like to evaluate the product first
check box. VMware Infrastructure Management will install a license server and the licenses
can be added after the installation.
For the Administration login and password, enter the username and password that you use
when you log into the system on which you are installing VMware Infrastructure. Click Next.
The Installation Summary page appears and click Install to begin installation. Click Finish to
complete the installation.

Installation of ESX Server

This section describes how to install the ESX Server software on the Sun Fire X4150 using
the graphical installer.

1.Verify the network cable is plugged into your primary Ethernet adapter. The ESX Server
installer needs a live network connection to properly detect certain network settings, such as
the machine name under DHCP.
2.Power on the machine with the VMware ESX Server CD in the CD drive. The ESX Server
begins its boot process until the mode selection page appears. If this page does not appear,
reboot the machine and press the key required (F2) to enter the machine’s BIOS Setup page.
3.Press Enter to start the graphical installer. A series of installation messages scroll past until
the CD Media Test page appears.
Turning the System on with the VMware Infrastructure CD installed, the following screen
should appear:

Click Test to have the installer inspect the installation CD media for errors. If you click Skip,
continue now with next step.

Click Next of the Welcome page.

Several pages will appear next to configure keyboard language and mouse. Select the
approriate settings from the list, and click Next.

The VMware license agreement appears next. Read through the user license agreement and
select I accept the terms of the license agreement to continue.

Click on Next to accept the hard drive located on the Sun Fire X4150, the partitions should
remain the same and the installation will automatically select the first disk. If no disk drives
appear, reboot the machine and press the key required (crtl-S) to enter the machine’s hard
drive setup page.

Configure the network settings.

Select the network interface for use by the ESX Server console. Virtual machine network
traffic shares this network adapter until you configure a virtual switch for another network
adapter. You can configure other network adapters at a later time from the VI Client.
Enter the host network IP address. Sun recommended that you use a static IP address to
simplify client access. If you do not have the required information, consult your network
administration for assistance.
Enter the ESX server host name (esx-svr1.sun.com). Type the complete machine name
including the domain name.

On the next page, set your time zone and click Next.

The next page, enter the root password into both fields and click Next. The root password
must contain at least six characters. Additional users can be added at this time, only the root
user is recommended.

The install wizard will show a summary of the installation. Confirm your installation
configuration, and click Next. Progress bars will appear to show the status of the installation,
and a dialog box informs you when the installation completes. Click Finish to exit.

Once the installation is complete, the server will restart and boot the ESX server
automatically.
Starting the VI Client
The VI Client is the interface to VirtualCenter Server and ESX hosts. You can manage
VirtualCenter Server as well as all the ESX hosts and virtual machines with the VI client. The
VI client was installed on the VirtualCenter Server.

To launch the VI Client, double-click a shortcut, or choose the application through

Start>Program>VMware>VMware Infrastructure Client. The VI Client dialog box appears.

The getting Started tab is designed to provide new users with background information and
suggestions for next steps. The next step is to create a datacenter and bring one or more
ESX server hosts under VirtualCenter management.

ESX Server hosts (hosts) serve as the virtualization platform for the virtual machines. Hosts
provide the CPU and memory resources to your virtual machines, give virtual machines
access to storage, and offer network connectivity. You manage your hosts through the VI
Client connection to the VirtualCenter Server. In the event of a VirtualCenter failure, the VI
Client can connect to your ESX Server hosts directly, you manage each of them individually
as a standalone host.

To add a host to the Inventory:

Click Inventory in the navigation bar to display the inventory panel.
2.Right-click the datacenter you just created, and choose Add Host. The Add Host Wizard
appears.
3.Type the Host Name of the host on the Connection Settings page. Note that ESX Server
must be installed on the machine you wish to add to VirtualCenter.
4.Type root in the Username field, and type the root password in the Password field.

Accept the default to not Enable Lockdown Mode on the host and click Next. On the next
page select the datatcenter you created earlier and continue to accept the default choices.

After you close the wizard, VirtualCenter Server performs the following:
Searches the network for the host and determines if the host has any virtual machines.
Determines if the host is being managed by another datacenter
Reads the number of processors on the host and allocates appropriate of licenses.
Verifies the the host version is supported.

Once the host is added to the datacenter, it is available to support virtual machines.

Shared storage is important if you would like to use the VMotion feature of VMware
Infrastructure 3. VMotion allows the migration of operational guest virtual machines between
similar but separate hardware hosts sharing the same storage.

Shared Storage Implementation

Let's switch gears and configure the 7210 Unified Storage System which is our shared
storage. The system should be set up and configured at this point. Type the DNS name or the
IP address of the 7210 in a browser and the Open Storage Manager login prompt will appear.
Login with user ID root and the password.

First create a filesystem to use for NFS file sharing. Start by clicking on Shares in the menu
bar. Then click on the Plus symbol next to Filesystems to create a new filesystem. Enter a
name for the filesystem (ESX-Server in the example below) in the window next to Name and
then make sure the permissions attributes blocks are all highlighted in yellow by clicking on
each one the is not already highlighted. Click Apply to create the new file system.

ESX Servers supports both ISCSI and NFS devices for shared storage.
Most likely you will receive a warning about there being no default gateway set, click the Yes
button to configure the Default gateway for the Vmkernel.

ESX Server supports using Network Attached Storage (NAS) through the NFS protocols.
Prior to this setup, Sun recommends that each ESX Server has a Vmkernel port correctly
configured. Because of the amount of network traffic, it is recommended that several
dedicated network ports are configured depending on the amount of network load.
The Locate Network File System page appears. enter the DNS hostname, or IP address, of
the NFS Server in the Server field. Enter the name of the NFS share in the Folder field. Enter
the name you would like to use for the Datastore Name and click Next.

The Network File System ready to complete page appears. Review the datastore
information, and click Finish. Repeat these steps to add the same shared storage for each
ESX Server.