<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There's been a lot of interest in ESX/ESXi 2.5 Update 4 recently, but we shouldn't forget that the next release of ESX (renamed VMware vSphere) is just around the corner.  I took a shot at installing the vSphere beta in my test lab a few weeks ago - and did a face-plant.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have a lab server with ESX 3.5 installed, so I thought I’d try doing an in-place upgrade.  I had already downloaded the vSphere beta .iso, so I tried burning it to a CD.  Unfortunately the .iso image is 770 MB and a CD only holds 700 MB, so I needed a blank DVD.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I didn't have a blank DVD.</span></span></span></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, I figured I could use my server's iLO to remote boot from my laptop's DVD drive.  I could mount the .iso image directly and not even need an actual DVD.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find my server’s iLO IP address or login info, so I had to reset it to the factory default in the BIOS, then pop the cover to find the factory default password.  Next, I checked the DHCP server to see what IP address it received, and I was finally able to log in.  That’s when I discovered the iLO in my server requires an additional license to enable the remote media feature - another dead end.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next, I figured I could try installing ESXi instead.  The ESXi 4 beta documentation says that ESXi 4 supports the same hardware as ESXi 3.x, so I searched the HCL (hardware compatibility list) and found my server on the supported hardware list.  Yay!  I downloaded the installable version of ESXi and burned it to CD.  The server booted to it just fine and loaded a bunch of drivers, but would hang right before bringing up the welcome screen.  I checked the server BIOS but didn’t see any settings to change.  Another dead end.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I went out and bought a blank DVD.  </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was able to burn the vSphere beta .iso to the DVD in a few minutes using the DVD burner in my laptop, but the server wouldn't boot to it.  That's when I realized the server only had a CD drive.  I might have been able to get it to work with a USB DVD drive, but I didn’t have one.  Yet another dead end.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After that I dug deeper into the vSphere beta documentation and found this -</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Important Note: This guide is to be used in conjunction with the VMware ESX 3.5 and ESX 3.5i System Compatibility Guide (informally known as the 3.5 System HCL).  All servers listed in the 3.5 System HCL are supported with VMware ESX 4.0 and ESXi 4.0 RC with the exceptions noted in this document.  </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Servers Not Supported - VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 include a 64-bit vmkernel.  As such servers with 32-bit only processors will not be supported with VMware ESX 4.0 and ESXi 4.0 RC.  </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The processors in my lab server only support 32-bit, so I’m toast.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh well.  At least I have the DVD I’ll need to install the vSphere beta on lab servers at the eGroup data center in Greenville, SC the next time I'm there.  If they have 64-bit support.  And a DVD drive.  Or a fully-functioning iLO.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'll tell about my successful experience installing the vSphere beta on lab servers at the eGroup data center in Greenville, SC in a separate blog entry.</span></span></span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"> </p>