OpenFiler 2.3, on vSphere, using VMXNET3, and Paravirtual SCSI

I am going to walk you through setting up open filer 2.3, ( after a openfiler 2.3 64 bit, install with Static IP. * note, do not use openfiler VM ) to work with vSphere’s latest VMware tools, and VMXNET3, Paravirutal SCSI adapters.

Why write this? the openfiler 2.3 kernel is build with open VMware tools installed, which do not support the above, and we will need to remove these to get them working.

When I refer to console, I am talking about Linux console, not VMware’s.

1. To Start, Create a Server 2008, 64 bit Guest, remove the NIC, and add a new Nic, Select VMXNET3 from Adapter Type, click ok, add a VMDK with 1:0 SCSI, change SCSI to Paravirtual (i’ll assume you know how ) and hit ok.
2. Edit the Guest, go to options, and change the Guest Operating System to the Linux 64 bit, 2.6x OS. ( doing this allows you to later install VMware tools )
3. go into console, type conary update kernel:build-tree
4. type conary update gcc
5. reboot
6. go into the web UI of openfiler, and update to the newest version. ( system, system update )
7. reboot
8. go into console, type nano /boot/grub/grub.conf
9. Change change “default=0” to “default=1” ( to use the older kernel, needed because devel is older)
10. reboot
11. in VI, Select Install VMware tools to the guest ( i’ll assume you know how )
12. Go into console, type the following lines 12 – 18 :
13. mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
14. cp *.gz /tmp
15. cd /tmp
16. tar zxvf *.tar.gz
17. cd vmware-tools-distrib
18. cd bin
19. ./vmware-uninstall-tools.pl ( follow any prompts )
20. type ..
21. now, run ./vmware-install.pl, and it will give you a execution aborted, and list the following modules that are installed.
22. write down the modules names.
23. type find /lib/modules | grep nameofmodule ( example find /lib/modules | grep vmmemctl), ( this will display somthing like /lib/modules/2.6.26.8-1.0.11.smp.gcc3.4.x86_64/misc/vmmemctl.o /lib/modules/2.6.26.8-1.0.11.smp.gcc3.4.x86_64/misc/vmmemctl.ko
24. You need to remove all finds and directories listed when you run find /lib/modules | grep nameofmodule . Do this by using RM, and RM dir, ( example rm /lib/modules/2.6.26.8-1.0.11.smp.gcc3.4.x86_64/misc/vmmemctl.o rmdir /lib/modules/2.6.26.8-1.0.11.smp.gcc3.4.x86_64/vcmmemctl ) * note * if the file doesn’t have a . it’s a folder .
25. run ./vmware-install.pl ( follow any prompts ) ( you will see it compile support for vmxnet3 and paravirtual scsi.)
26. reboot
27. In console, cd to /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
28. type nano ifcfg-eth0 , change the IPADDR, DEVICE to eth1, and the HWADDR = to the address of your virtual nic. ( see the guest’s nic in VI), hit Ctrl X, yes, and type ifcfg-eth1
29. reboot.
30. in console, type nano /etc/modprobe.conf
31. make sure that( alias eth1 vmxnet3 ) is a line.
32. test the IP you assigned in eth1 and make sure it’s alive ( ping )

You are set, you can now use the IP of the VMXNET3 nic for your NFS or ISCSI, and the other static ip for management.

You should also see the vmdk under block devices in openfiler UI in the volumes section.

Roger L.