DamjanDemsar
asked on
vmware esxi 6.5 does not see virtual drive from lsi 9361-8i
Hi!
I'm trying to install VMware esxi 6.5 on a server (supermicro 6028u-tnrt+, 2x e5-2697 v4, 768 GB ram, 400 GB intel P3600 NVMe PCIe ssd, qle 2672 FC HBA, LSI 9361-8i with 4x 6TB SAS3 HDD in raid 6). I'd like to install it on the raid, but vmware does not see it.
At the moment I have bios fully set in the UEFI mode (no legacy, it was the same in legacy). I cannot select the raid as boot drive (but when I installed windows server 2016 as a test, I was able to install and boot from raid drive). I also have a temporarly removed ssd, and put in a sata disk (connected to on board sata controller). On the sata disk I have installed esxi 6.5.0 456106. esxi does see the controller, but does not see the virtual drive.
the relevant part of output of "storcli storage core path list":
sas.500605b00c806d90-sas.6 05e7f5b0d7 64693-
UID: sas.500605b00c806d90-sas.6 05e7f5b0d7 64693-
Runtime Name: vmhba2:C2:T0:L0
Device: No associated device
Device Display Name: No associated device
Adapter: vmhba2
Channel: 2
Target: 0
LUN: 0
Plugin: NMP
State: active
Transport: sas
Adapter Identifier: sas.500605b00c806d90
Target Identifier: sas.605e7f5b0d764693
Adapter Transport Details: 500605b00c806d90
Target Transport Details: 605e7f5b0d764693
Maximum IO Size: 131072
I also installed storecli, and it sees the virtual drive:
./storcli /c0 /v0 show
Controller = 0
Status = Success
Description = None
Virtual Drives :
==============
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------
DG/VD TYPE State Access Consist Cache Cac sCC Size Name
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------
0/0 RAID6 Optl RW Yes RWBD - ON 10.915 TB raid6-internal
-------------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------
Cac=CacheCade|Rec=Recovery |OfLn=OffL ine|Pdgd=P artially Degraded|Dgrd=Degraded
Optl=Optimal|RO=Read Only|RW=Read Write|HD=Hidden|TRANS=Tran sportReady |B=Blocked |
Consist=Consistent|R=Read Ahead Always|NR=No Read Ahead|WB=WriteBack|
AWB=Always WriteBack|WT=WriteThrough| C=Cached IO|D=Direct IO|sCC=Scheduled
Check Consistency
I tried replacing the build in driver with:
lsi_mr3 versions 6.913.05.00, 6.912.12.00, 6.912.11.00 and 6.610.19.00
and megaraid_sas 6.612.07.00 (with disabled lsi_mr3 module),
the results are always the same (the raid controller is detected, but attached drives or virtual drives are not detected).
I'm trying to install VMware esxi 6.5 on a server (supermicro 6028u-tnrt+, 2x e5-2697 v4, 768 GB ram, 400 GB intel P3600 NVMe PCIe ssd, qle 2672 FC HBA, LSI 9361-8i with 4x 6TB SAS3 HDD in raid 6). I'd like to install it on the raid, but vmware does not see it.
At the moment I have bios fully set in the UEFI mode (no legacy, it was the same in legacy). I cannot select the raid as boot drive (but when I installed windows server 2016 as a test, I was able to install and boot from raid drive). I also have a temporarly removed ssd, and put in a sata disk (connected to on board sata controller). On the sata disk I have installed esxi 6.5.0 456106. esxi does see the controller, but does not see the virtual drive.
the relevant part of output of "storcli storage core path list":
sas.500605b00c806d90-sas.6
UID: sas.500605b00c806d90-sas.6
Runtime Name: vmhba2:C2:T0:L0
Device: No associated device
Device Display Name: No associated device
Adapter: vmhba2
Channel: 2
Target: 0
LUN: 0
Plugin: NMP
State: active
Transport: sas
Adapter Identifier: sas.500605b00c806d90
Target Identifier: sas.605e7f5b0d764693
Adapter Transport Details: 500605b00c806d90
Target Transport Details: 605e7f5b0d764693
Maximum IO Size: 131072
I also installed storecli, and it sees the virtual drive:
./storcli /c0 /v0 show
Controller = 0
Status = Success
Description = None
Virtual Drives :
==============
--------------------------
DG/VD TYPE State Access Consist Cache Cac sCC Size Name
--------------------------
0/0 RAID6 Optl RW Yes RWBD - ON 10.915 TB raid6-internal
--------------------------
Cac=CacheCade|Rec=Recovery
Optl=Optimal|RO=Read Only|RW=Read Write|HD=Hidden|TRANS=Tran
Consist=Consistent|R=Read Ahead Always|NR=No Read Ahead|WB=WriteBack|
AWB=Always WriteBack|WT=WriteThrough|
Check Consistency
I tried replacing the build in driver with:
lsi_mr3 versions 6.913.05.00, 6.912.12.00, 6.912.11.00 and 6.610.19.00
and megaraid_sas 6.612.07.00 (with disabled lsi_mr3 module),
the results are always the same (the raid controller is detected, but attached drives or virtual drives are not detected).
ASKER
the storage controller is supported by ESXi 6.5.
Drives are HGST 4k native SAS 12Gbps
OK, but even if I install on something else (like a supermicro disk on module), I still need the raid for local storage.
Thank you,
Drives are HGST 4k native SAS 12Gbps
OK, but even if I install on something else (like a supermicro disk on module), I still need the raid for local storage.
Thank you,
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
hmm, thank you..... I'll try to borrow some 512 drives and test it.
Let me know.
ASKER
ok, I added 2x sata 3TB 512n drives in a raid 1, and it is detected by esxi.
I tried to create a new datastore using built in web client, but the client crashed ( I needed to reload it) if I started from the storage devices page.
If I start from the storage datastores pages it says "cannot change the host configuration".
from the command line it seems like it created 2 partitions (there are :1 and :2 in /vmfs/devices/disks/), but partedUtil getptbl shows an error (backup GPT is located beyond the end of disk).
I'm moving back to the latest drivers, clearing and reconstructing the raid, and trying again.
I tried to create a new datastore using built in web client, but the client crashed ( I needed to reload it) if I started from the storage devices page.
If I start from the storage datastores pages it says "cannot change the host configuration".
from the command line it seems like it created 2 partitions (there are :1 and :2 in /vmfs/devices/disks/), but partedUtil getptbl shows an error (backup GPT is located beyond the end of disk).
I'm moving back to the latest drivers, clearing and reconstructing the raid, and trying again.
I may be misreading the following Vmware KB but it implies that 4K drives are not fully supported yet in ESXi
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2091600
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2091600
ASKER
ok, it works with sata drives (512n), I just needed to manually create partition table https://kb.vmware.com/self service/mi crosites/s earch.do?l anguage=en _US&cmd=di splayKC&ex ternalId=2 082806
Thanks for the help
Thanks for the help
Are you using 4k disks?
I would personally not install on spinning rust and install on SD card or USB flash drive for an embedded installation ESXi was designed for this.