Installing driver in ESXi

[dkm777]

Hi guys,

Been trying to get my ESXi 5.1 setup sorted and so far I ran into only one hurdle - there was no driver for an LSI RAID controller in the installation image so naturally I can't use my RAID array. I found that it is possible to install drivers in ESXi for various hardware just as in any other OS so I looked around and downloaded the LSI controller driver pack. The problem is - I can't figure out how to install it. Anybody have a good tutorial?

 

[imagoon]

Enable SSH mode on the host.
Use something like fileszilla to push the VIB file to the /tmp directory
Do:
ssh to the machine using something like PuTTY.
esxcli software vib install -v "the path to the .vib file here"

This is the exact same way you add things like Dell Openmanage to the machine.

Any and all software stuff with ESXi is done with whit the esxcli command. It is a good one to review.

 

[tomt4535]

Enable SSH mode on the host.
Use something like fileszilla to push the VIB file to the /tmp directory
Do:
ssh to the machine using something like PuTTY.
esxcli software vib install -v "the path to the .vib file here"

This is the exact same way you add things like Dell Openmanage to the machine.

Any and all software stuff with ESXi is done with whit the esxcli command. It is a good one to review.

This. Or if you have vCenter, Update Manager can install it using an Extension Baseline. It pretty much just runs those commands for you.

 

[dkm777]

Thanks, that worked. But I found out that I don't really have an LSI controller - just LSI firmware for whatever it is and it is not supported as a RAID controller under ESXi. Essentially I have WinRAID . Oh well, I had ordered a real controller anyway because onboard one didn't have enough ports and now I can use the onboard ports for non-RAID disks.