SCSI Support
From MyWiki
Contents |
Statement
SCSI Devices are nothing but headaches. They possess no socially redeeming value in the virtual world.
Policy
Virtual SCSI Devices are hereby banished.
Specifically:
- All new virtual disk drives will be created as IDE devices
- All SCSI drives causing problems will be converted to IDE
- This is expected (due to VMware problems) when upgrading the host server to VMware Server 1.0.4
Procedure to Convert Virtual Disk Drives from SCSI to IDE
- Power down the VM
- Back up all VM files
- Read the prior step again. I really mean it. Back up all VM files before proceeding.
- In the VMware Console, edit the Virtual Machine Settings and remove the SCSI Device from the VM. Ok the dialog box so that the settings are saved in the vmx file.
- On the host system, edit the vmx file and remove and and all lines that says "scsi". Save the vmx file.
- Your current virtual SCSI disk need to be a "Type 1" (Growable 2G chunks).
If it is not currently, then convert it to one.
An sample command is:
vmware-vdiskmanager -r currentSCSIDiskFile.vmdk -t 1 newSCSIDiskFile.vmdk
- Delete the old SCSI disk file(s) if you converted.
- Get the disk size (in sectors). This can be determined by adding up the "extent description" RW lines in the vmdk file for the disk.
- Create a new (empty) Virtual IDE disk. This is temporary disk that will help you determine the correct IDE geometry.
vmware-vdiskmanager -c -s (# of sectors from above) -a ide -t 1 tempIDEDiskFile.vmdk
- Edit the tempIDEDiskFile.vmdk and copy the following lines / values:
ddb.adapterType = "ide" ddb.geometry.cylinders = "xxx" ddb.geometry.heads = "yyy" ddb.geometry.sectors = "zzz"
- Edit the newSCSIDiskFile.vmdk (or the currentSCSIDiskFile.vmdk if you didn't need to convert it to Type 1) and replace the corresponding lines for adapter type and geometry. This virtual disk is now an IDE device.
- Delete the tempIDEDiskFile.vmdk file(s).
- If desired, now is a good time to rename the virtual disk (to reflect that it is an IDE device, for example)
vmware-vdiskmanager -n oldDiskName.vmdk newDiskName.vmdk
- Back in the VMware Console, edit the Virtual Machine Settings and add the newSCSIDiskFile.vmdk disk (which is really an IDE device now)
- Power up the VM
