Re: [CentOS-virt] Install nested ESXi 6.x host under CentOS 7 kvm host

On 11/27/2015 01:32 PM, Patrick Laimbock wrote:

On 11/26/15 09:47, C. L. Martinez wrote:

...

Hi all,

I am trying to install nested Esxi 6.x under a Centos7 kvm host to use it as test lab for new ESXi versions, but I am doing something wrong because I can't install it.

I have configured kvm and kvm_intel modules with the following options:

options kvm ignore_msrs=1 options kvm_intel nested=1 ept=1

and I add the following options in <cpu> xml guest file:

<cpu mode='custom' match='exact'> <model fallback='allow'>Westmere</model> <feature policy='require' name='vmx'/> </cpu>

qemu-kvm package is installed from Virtualization SIG:

qemu-kvm-common-ev-2.1.2-23.el7_1.8.1.x86_64 qemu-kvm-ev-2.1.2-23.el7_1.8.1.x86_64

Am I doing something wrong or is it not possible to accomplish this scenario??

Here are my old notes how to run ESXi6 on KVM on Fedora 21:

# cat /etc/modprobe.d/nested.conf options kvm ignore_msrs=1 options kvm-intel nested=y ept=y

Install ESXI6 Hypervisor with the vmxnet3 nic:

# virt-install --connect=qemu:///system -n esxi6 --cpu=host --vcpus=2 --ram 4096 --os-type=linux --cdrom=/var/lib/libvirt/images/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-2494585.x86_64.iso --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/esxi6.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=ide,size=25,cache=none --hvm --network=default,model=vmxnet3 --virt-type=kvm --arch=x86_64 --graphics spice --accelerate --video qxl --channel spicevmc

or with the e1000 nic:

# virt-install --connect=qemu:///system -n esxi6 --cpu=host --vcpus=2 --ram 4096 --os-type=linux --cdrom=/var/lib/libvirt/images/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-2494585.x86_64.iso --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/esxi6.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=ide,size=25,cache=none --hvm --network=default,model=e1000 --virt-type=kvm --arch=x86_64 --graphics spice --accelerate --video qxl --channel spicevmc

Boot the ESXi VM and in the console interface go to Troubleshooting Options and enable SSH and Console access.

SSH to the ESXi VM:

$ ssh -o IdentitiesOnly=yes root@<IP of ESXi6 VM>

# cd /etc/vmware # vi ./config and add the following options:

vmx.allowNested = TRUE hv.assumeEnabled = TRUE

Add the IP address of the ESXi Hypervisor to /etc/hosts 192.168.122.172 esxi.lab.local

Now reboot the ESXi VM to make those options active.

I was able to install vCenter 6 (VCSA) on ESXi6 with these steps:

Create the template json file which is explained in http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsphere/VMware-vsphere-60-vcenter-s...

Some tips: http://www.vladan.fr/vcenter-appliance-6-0-simplified-scripted-installation/

$ cat /home/patrick/VMware/patrick_embedded.json { "__comments": [ "Test template for VCSA deployment on a nested ESXi Hypervisor running on KVM on F21" ],

 "deployment":
 {
     "esx.hostname":"esxi.lab.local",
     "esx.datastore":"datastore1",
     "esx.username":"root",
     "esx.password":"password",
     "deployment.option":"tiny",
     "deployment.network":"vm",
     "appliance.name":"vcsa",
     "appliance.thin.disk.mode":true
 },

 "vcsa":
 {
     "system":
     {
         "root.password":"password",
         "ssh.enable":true
     },

     "sso":
     {
         "password":"Password1!",
         "domain-name":"lab.local",
         "site-name":"patrick_lab"
     }

 }

}

Next mount the VMware-VCSA-all-6.0.0-2562643.iso file # cd /run/media/patrick/VMware\ VCSA/vcsa-cli-installer/lin64

And run the command to deploy the VCSA appliance on top of ESXi: $ vcsa-deploy -v /home/patrick/VMware/patrick_embedded.json

[patrick@lab lin64]$ ./vcsa-deploy -v /home/patrick/VMware/patrick_embedded.json

Start vCSA command line installer to deploy vCSA "vcsa", an embedded node.

Please see /tmp/vcsa-cli-installer-8159mI.log for logging information.

The SSO password meets the installation requirements. Opening vCSA image: /run/media/patrick/VMware VCSA/vcsa/vmware-vcsa SSL fingerprint fb:9a:f8:d2:86:14:c0:17:6d:02:f4:9d:da:e8:31:ee:fb:3b:58:d4 is different from host fingerprint 51:A6:F1:28:E7:2D:9B:02:7A:97:0A:1A:87:A3:42:A8:4C:42:24:03 for host esxi.lab.local as target type. Accept update of SSL fingerprint in known host file Write 'yes' or 'no' yes Opening VI target: vi://root@esxi.lab.local:443/ Deploying to VI: vi://root@esxi.lab.local:443/

Progress: 99% Transfer Completed Powering on VM: vcsa

Progress: 48% Power On Completed

Installing services... Progress: 5%. Setting up storage Progress: 50%. Installing RPMs Progress: 55%. Installed VMware-unixODBC-2.3.1.vmw.2-6.0.0.x86_64.rpm ... Profit!

Or not because the Firefox VCSA plugin did not work on a Linux (Fedora) host which you need to actually use vCenter. If you make the VCSA gui work with Firefox on Linux, I would appreciate an update.

HTH, Patrick

Many thanks Patrick for your valuable help!!. I've found the problem: removing my <cpu> entries and adding "<cpu mode='host-passthrough'>", works...

But in my case, I can't assign vmxnet3 as a virtual nic for ESXi, it seems is not supported at this time ...