Connect USB Drive to VMware ESX Server

Friday, February 5, 2010 by BBTUNA
Steps to be followed : (NOTE : I is my USB drive)
  1. Plug in your USB flash disk and format it in dos using the following command: FORMAT I: /FS:FAT
  2. From Windows Explorer, find the boot.iso file in the /images directory on the ESX 3.x CD-ROM. Copy boot.iso into a temporary directory on your hard drive.

  3. Using your ISO extraction or mount program, extract the contents of the boot.iso file to your USB flash drive.
  4. Delete the isolinux.bin and updatecd.cfg files from the USB disk.
  5. Rename the isolinux.cfg file on the USB flash disk to syslinux.cfg
  6. Using WordPad (not Notepad), open the syslinux.cfg file and add the keyword usb to the end of every line that begins with append. Here's what the file should look like when you're done:
    • default esx
    • prompt 1
    • timeout 600
    • display boot.msg
    • F1 boot.msg
    • F7 snake.msg
    • label debug
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append initrd=initrd.img noapic nomediacheck debug usb
    • label esx
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append initrd=initrd.img usb
    • label text
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append initrd=initrd.img text usb
    • label expert
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append expert initrd=initrd.img usb
    • label ks
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append ks initrd=initrd.img usb
    • label lowres
      • kernel vmlinuz
      • append initrd=initrd.img lowres usb
  7. Extract the syslinux.zip file into another temporary directory on your hard drive.
  8. Open up a command prompt and navigate into the win32 directory. For example: C:\temp\syslinux-3.36\win32
  9. Now, run the syslinux program to apply the boot loader and boot sector to the USB flash drive: syslinux -s –ma I:
  10. Copy the ESX 3.x ISO image onto the USB drive root
  11. Confirm that your USB flash drive contains the following files:
    • boot.cat
    • boot.msg
    • initrd.img
    • snake.msg
    • splash.lss
    • vmlinuz
    • syslinux.cfg
    • esx-X.iso

  12. Your ready to go, ensure your bios on the server you want to install too is setup to boot from USB or select USB from the alternate boot menu.
  13. The ESX installer will detect the USB device and whatever SCSI / disk controllers you have. When the installer asks you what the installation source will be, choose Hard Disk.

  14. You will need to choose the right disk device (ie. /dev/sda, /dev/sdb) that corresponds to your USB disk. Chances are it will be /dev/sdb.

  15. Finally, the installer will ask you what directory to find the ESX installation CD image in. Just use / and it will find the .ISO image for you.
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