Zsoldier's Tech Blog

Summary: Building an embedded lab for some testing w/ NSX and everything.  Cannot clone a pre-installed ESXi host w/o some magic, so decided to utilize a simple kickstart script in an ESXi custom iso pre-mounted to my VM template.  Worked fine on Fusion, not vSphere/ESXi though... Workaround: Simply change VM Options --> Boot Options to BIOS Fusion defaults to BIOS, which is why it worked.  I made the iso w/o UEFI options which is why it worked on fusion, but not ESXi VM. OR Solution: The command I was using to make the iso was missing some key new features to make the iso UEFI bootable. mkisofs -relaxed-filenames -J -R -o ~/Desktop/custom_esxi.iso -b ISOLINUX.BIN -c BOOT.CAT -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-alt-boot -eltorito-platform efi -b EFIBOOT.IMG -no-emul-boot ~/Desktop/ESXiDefaultInstall You will have to modify two BOOT.CFG files, one in root directory, and the other in the EFI subdirectory to utilize any custom kick...

Blarg! Summary: All was well and dandy until I tried to actually "do" something.  I was trying to create a new logical switch (New-NSXLogicalSwitch) when these errors reared their ugly head: https://github.com/vmware/powernsx/issues/493 One or more errors occurred. (The handler does not support custom handling of certificates with this combination of libcurl (7.54.0) and its SSL backend ("LibreSSL/2.0.20").) ---> System.PlatformNotSupportedException: The handler does not support custom handling of certificates with this combination of libcurl (7.54.0) and its SSL backend ("LibreSSL/2.0.20"). Workaround: Windows w/ full Powershell does not have these issues.  Have yet to see if it is a thing specific to Powershell Core.  So use it if you can. If you don't have a Windows box handy, you can modify the PowerNSX.psm module file to get around this error.  I'm unsure if it can become a permanent solution, but it effectively accomplishes the...

Summary: This was a weird one.  I had a couple of Dell FC630's (FX2 Blades) w/ qlogic broadcom 57810 integrated card in them.  Went to upgrade them from 6.0 to 6.5, that's when the fun began.  Before upgrade, my hosts could see them just fine.  After upgrade, they could only 'see' vmnic1.  Fresh install was also having issues. Solution/Workaround: In my case, I had to literally remove the FC630 blade from the FX2 enclosure so that all residual power would be drained.  Once done, whatever it was that was hanging the firmware for my nic finally cleared for ESXi to take control of it. Details: