Skip to main content

Mounting ISO from ILO/iDRAC of an ESXi host

 

Symptoms
Does not detect the ISO.
Purpose
To mount an ISO from ILO/iDRAC to ESXi host.
Cause
Unknown
Workaround
  •  Run below command and see if you can find any USB vmhba
esxcfg-mpath -l

For eg.,
usb.vmhba32-usb.0:0-eui.00e04c2020202000
   Runtime Name: vmhba32:C0:T0:L0
   Device: eui.00e04c2020202000
   Device Display Name: Local USB Direct-Access (eui.00e04c2020202000)
   Adapter: vmhba32 Channel: 0 Target: 0 LUN: 0
   Adapter Identifier: usb.vmhba32
   Target Identifier: usb.0:0
   Plugin: NMP
   State: active
   Transport: usb
usb.vmhba33-usb.0:0-
   Runtime Name: vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
   Device: No associated device
   Device Display Name: No associated device
   Adapter: vmhba33 Channel: 0 Target: 0 LUN: 0
   Adapter Identifier: usb.vmhba33
   Target Identifier: usb.0:0
   Plugin: NMP
   State: active
   Transport: usb

   
  • The USB vmhba  showing "No associated device" is the virtual USB / USB cd-rom where ISO has been mounted from iLO/iDRAC.
  •  Run below command to load the iso9660 module.
vmkload_mod iso9660
  • Run below command and you should be able to see an attached device/path for the ISO on USB vmhba.
esxcfg-mpath -l

For eg.,


usb.vmhba32-usb.0:0-eui.00e04c2020202000
   Runtime Name: vmhba32:C0:T0:L0
   Device: eui.00e04c2020202000
   Device Display Name: Local USB Direct-Access (eui.00e04c2020202000)
   Adapter: vmhba32 Channel: 0 Target: 0 LUN: 0
   Adapter Identifier: usb.vmhba32
   Target Identifier: usb.0:0
   Plugin: NMP
   State: active
   Transport: usb
usb.vmhba33-usb.0:0-mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
   Runtime Name: vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
   Device: mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
   Device Display Name: Local USB Direct-Access (mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0)
   Adapter: vmhba33 Channel: 0 Target: 0 LUN: 0
   Adapter Identifier: usb.vmhba33
   Target Identifier: usb.0:0
   Plugin: NMP
   State: active
   Transport: usb
  •  To mount the ISO to the host run below command.
vsish -e set /vmkModules/iso9660/mount mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
  • After that you should see a new datastore showing the ISO contents and you should be able to browse to that datastore.
ls -l /vmfs/volumes/
cd /vmfs/volumes/<datastore_name>
  • If you want to unmount the ISO, please run below command.
vsish -e set /vmkModules/iso9660/umount mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
  • To unload the iso9660 module.
vmkload_mod -u iso9660

Note- Please make sure the ISO is mounted at iLO/iDRAC and is visible in BIOS before proceeding with the above steps.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Troubleshooting vpxd service on Windows vCenter Server

  Symptoms You cannot connect to VMware vCenter Server with the vSphere Client. You cannot see the VMware vCenter Server in the inventory in the vSphere Web Client. You see a Microsoft Windows Event error associated with IIS similar to: Event properties - Event 7024, Service Control Manager The VMware VirtualCenter Server service terminated with service-specific error The system cannot find the file specified.. Log Name: System Source: Service Control Event ID: 7024 Level: Error Note : A windows Event ID 1000 may also be reported in relation to this issue.   Connecting to vCenter Server fails with the error: Cannot connect to host server_name : No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.   Attempting to start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service fails. You see this error: Windows could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service on...

Cloning and converting virtual machine disks with vmkfstools

 Purpose This article provides information and instructions on the use of the vmkfstools command to convert virtual machine disks from one type to another. Resolution The vmkfstools command offers the ability to clone virtual machine content and also convert from one virtual machine disk ( .vmdk ) format into another. Note : The host operating system chosen to perform the conversion may not necessarily support running of virtual machines via the output format defined. vmkfstools maintains the possibility of exporting virtual disks for use in other VMware products which support alternative disk formats. To convert a virtual machine disk from one type to another: Shut down the virtual machine. Virtual machine disk files are locked while in-use by a running virtual machine. Log in to the VMware vSphere Management Assistant (v...

Increasing the disk space for the VMware vCenter Server Appliance in vSphere 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0

  Purpose This article provides steps to increase the disk space of a specific VMDK for the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0. With the introduction of Logical Volume Management (LVM) in vSphere 6.0 and continued support with vSphere 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0, the vCenter Server disks can be dynamically increased. List of VMDKs for a vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 - Size Mount point and Purpose Note : Resizing the root partition (VMDK1 listed in the KB above) is not supported on 6.5. Please see the vSphere 6.5 Release Notes for more information. Resizing root partition has been added to 6.7 and 7.0. List of VMDKs/Partitions for a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 - Size Mount point and Purpose   List of VMDKs/Partitions for a vCenter Server 7.0 - Size Mount point and Purpose Note : This KB can be used for the situation like SEAT partition full or any other vCenter appliance partition full. ...