VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3 running on an HP ProLiant ML115 G5
Recently I purchased an HP ProLiant ML115 G5 for use as a test server. Having installed Windows 2008 on the machine, I have now decided to install VMware ESX 3.5 on to it instead.
The installation of ESX ran through fine, however when I logged onto the VI Client, I was greeted with the following error dialog box, stating that “The VMware ESX Server does not have persistent storage.”
Having a closer look it appeared that the SATA controller was not being picked up so I could not create any datastores using the local disks.
Had to to quite a bit of digging, but found a very useful thread on VMware Communities: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/165388 which came up with the following solution of editing the sata_nv.xml file.
- Boot the server and chose to start into Service Console > Troubleshooting Mode at the ESX boot menu
- Once you have logged into the Service Console issue the commands:
- cd /etc/vmware/pciid
- chmod +w sata_nv.xml
- vi sata_nv.xml
Using VI Editor I also had to change the last entry from <device id=”037e”> to <device id=”037f”>. If you are not familiar with VI Editor a useful site is http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html. Once you have made the necessary changes, the following commands also need to be issued:
ss- esxcfg-pciid
- esxcfg-boot -r
- esxcfg-boot -b
- reboot
Once your machine reboots, you should see the MCP55 SATA Controller under the Storage Adapters in the VI Client.
About the Author
Kieran has worked with computers and technology for over 20 years. Based in the United Kingdom, he works as a Solution Engineer for Salesforce, specialising in all things Commerce, Digital and the Internet. Predominantly blogging on KieranLane.com he can also be found on Twitter @KieranLane, Instagram and Flickr.
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