MegaRAID Storage Manager Online Help System

Installation > Installing and Supporting the MegaRAID Storage Manager Software on VMware > Installing the MegaRAID Storage Manager Software on the VMware ESX and ESXi Operating Systems

Installing the MegaRAID Storage Manager Software on the VMware ESX and ESXi Operating Systems

This section describes the product requirements needed to support the VMware ESX operating system. Classic VMware includes a Service Console that is derived from the Linux 2.4 kernel, but with reduced functionality.

The MegaRAID Storage Manager server part cannot be installed directly in VMware ESXi 4.0. Management is possible only through the Common Information Model (CIM) providers. These CIM providers integrated into the ESXi 4.0 system build an interface between the hardware driver of the LSI MegaRAID controller and remote applications, such as the MegaRAID Storage Manager. Management is performed through the MegaRAID Storage Manager software installed on a remote machine (Linux/Windows).

 The Linux RPM of the MegaRAID Storage Manager software works under the console with minimal changes. Hardware RAID is currently supported in ESX 4.x.

The virtual drives that are created or deleted are not reflected in the kernel. The workaround is to reboot the server or to run esxcfg-rescan <vmhba#> from COS shell.

The network communication is a key element for a proper setup. The communication between the ESXi CIM provider and the LSI management software is an active/passive combination, which requires a highly reliable network. Therefore, we recommend that you install the management on a VM within the ESXi. Follow these steps to install and configure the MegaRAID Storage Manager support on the VMware ESXi operating system.

1. Network Configuration of the ESXi Host
2. VM Installation

Install the operating system as usual, including the VMware guest tools. The virtual network card should be linked to a Vswitch that has a VMKernel port attached. For a quick installation, no change is recommended.

3. VM Network Configuration
4. Reboot and Login

Reboot the VM and start the MegaRAID Storage Manager software. The ESXi server now appears in the list of the found hosts. You can now log in with the root account name and password of the ESXi Host.

Host Overview

Figure 1 shows the name of the host ESXi server. In this example, the host ESXi server name is local.lsi.com.

Figure 1 Host ESXi Server Name

Click Configure Host, if you want to select the display preferences for the server. You can choose to display only the local server, systems from a list, or display all of the systems in the network of the local server.

  1. Click Connect.
  2. Enter the user name and the password to log in on the ESXi Host, as shown in Figure 2.
  3. Figure 2 Login on the Host Server



    After you log in, the Dashboard view shows an overview of the system and covers the following features:
    • Properties of the virtual drives and the physical drives
    • Total capacity
    • The MegaRAID Storage Manager software features and their status (enabled or disabled)
    • Actions you can perform, such as creating a virtual drive and updating the firmware, and links to Online Help as shown in .
    • Figure 3 Dashboard View for IR



  4. Click the Physical tab to view the drives connected to the controller (the Physical view).
  5. Figure 4 Physical View for IR



  6. Click the Logical tab to view the virtual drives connected to the controller (the logical view), as shown in Figure 5.
  7. Figure 5 Logical View for IR



Limitations of the Installation and Configurations

For more information about these limitations, see Differences in MegaRAID Storage Manager for VMware ESXi:


DB09-000202-05  37857-02  Rev. F  May 2011
Copyright© 2011 by LSI Corporation. All rights reserved.
You can find a list of the LSI U.S. distributors, international distributors, sales offices, and design resource centers on the LSI web site at:  http://www.lsi.com/cm/ContactSearch.do