[Note] Installing vmware ESXi on Arm Fling on Raspberry Pi 4B

Overview

--Use vmware ESXi on Arm Fling with Raspberry Pi 4B. --Since onboard Wifi cannot be used, use a wired LAN. --Since Raspberry Pi UEFI related files are also put in SATA-USB conversion + SSD (or HDD), you do not need a microSD for booting after installation and setting. --If you do not set the option (ʻautoPartitionOSDataSize = 8192`) when starting the installer, the usable area will be reduced.

reference

environment

--Raspbery Pi 4B (4GB / 8GB) --If it is not 4GB or more, it will be repelled. --SATA-USB3.0 conversion cable --SSD (240GB) / HDD (1TB) --- Below, SSD is written, but HDD is also OK. --Wired LAN connection (onboard Wifi cannot be used) -(Cooling fan) --What you need at the time of installation --microSD (1) (RaspberryPi OS --used for updating EEPROM of Raspberry Pi and setting USB Boot) --microSD (2) (for UEFI boot) --USB Flash (VMWare installer --VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0-16966451.burn aarch64.iso) --Display connection --Keyboard --Prepared for microSD / USB flash on Windows 10.

procedure

Working on Windows

File download

--Raspberry Pi firmware
https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/archive/1.20200902.zip --UEFI for Raspberry Pi 4
https://github.com/pftf/RPi4/releases/download/v1.20/RPi4_UEFI_Firmware_v1.20.zip --From RaspberryPi OS
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/. If necessary.

Preparing microUSB / USB flash

VMWare ESXi Intorer

Created with Rufus.

  1. Insert the USB flash memory into your PC
  2. Start Rufus
  3. In Device, select the write destination
  4. Press [SELECT] and select VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0-16966451.aarch64.iso
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap -northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/98af1922-a906-4c17-a1d9-25465df17e52.png)
  5. Start writing through [START]
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/f0f25874-0e97-f40f -2b96-b11c7f0875e3.png)
  6. You will be warned that all the data will be erased. If there is no problem, click [OK].

microSD - Raspbian OS

  • As usual. With Raspberry Pi Imager etc.

microSD - UEFI boot

  1. Format with FAT32 (SD formatter will format with FAT32 for cards up to 32GB, but exFAT for more than that. Such as it was..)

  2. Unzip the Raspberry Pi firmware firmware-1.20200902.zip

  3. Copy the contents of the "boot" folder to the root of the microSD

  4. Delete kernel * .img (4 files)

  5. Unzip UEFI RPi4_UEFI_Firmware_v1.20.zip of Raspberry Pi 4 and copy (overwrite) to microSD

  6. Add the following to the last line of config.txt </ font>

    gpu_mem=16

At Raspberry Pi

EEPROM update and USB Boot settings

  1. Start with microSD of Raspberry Pi OS

  2. Package update / reboot
    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo reboot

  3. After rebooting, sudo raspi-config

  4. 3 Boot Options> B5 Boot ROM Vesion> ʻE1 Latest> Reset boot ROM to defaults? `

  5. Exit once and restart. (The EEPROM will be flushed at the next startup.)

  6. Check the version with sudo rpi-eeprom-update

    pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo rpi-eeprom-update 
BCM2711 detected
VL805 firmware in bootloader EEPROM
BOOTLOADER: up-to-date
CURRENT: Thu 03 Sep 2020 12:11:43 PM UTC (1599135103)
 LATEST: Thu 03 Sep 2020 12:11:43 PM UTC (1599135103)
 FW DIR: /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/stable
VL805: up-to-date
CURRENT: 000138a1
 LATEST: 000138a1
pi@raspberrypi:~ $

  7. Again, sudo raspi-config

  8. 3 Boot Options> B4 Boot Order> B1 USB Boot
    ʻUSB device is default boot device` is OK.

  9. Reboot once.

  10. Shut down with sudo poweroff.

Preparing for vmware ESXi installation

Insert the following into the Raspberry Pi.

--UEFI microSD (for booting) --USB flash (VMWare installer) --SATA-USB3 cable + SSD (installation destination) --Keyboard --HDMI display --Wired LAN

UEFI setting (set "3GiB memory limit" to Disabled)

  1. When turning on the power and booting from UEFI microSD, press ESC a little to go to the UEFI setting screen
  2. Set Device Manager> Raspberry Pi Configuration> ʻAdvanced Configuration> Limit RAM to 3 GBto`
  3. Press [F10]'Y' to save the settings
  4. Press [ESC] three times to select Reset and press [Enter]

ESXi-Arm installer started

Continued from ↑

  1. Press ESC a little to go to the UEFI settings screen
  2. Select Boot Manager> (VMWare Installer USB) with ↑ ↓ and press [Enter].
  3. When it starts booting, immediately press SHIFT + o to display the boot option settings </ font>
  4. Add ʻautoPartitionOSDataSize = 8192 </ font>, [Enter] <br>> runweasel cdromBoot autoPartitionOSDataSize = 8192`
    If you do not do this, the ESXi system Partition is taken about 120GB

ESXi-Arm installation

  1. Welcome to the VMware ESXi on Arm Fling Installation
    => [Enter]
  2. End User License Agreement (EULA)
    => [F11]
  3. Select a Disk to Install or Upgrade
    => Select the installation disk with ↑ ↓ and press [Enter].
  4. Please select a keyboard layout
    => US Default (or Japanese) with [Enter]
  5. Enter a root password
    Move with ↑ ↓. After entering, [Enter]
    Password must be at least 7 characters long. => 7 characters or more
    Password does not have enough character types. => Do you put numbers / symbols?
  6. Confirm Install
    Press [F11] to start the installation
  7. Installation Complete
    Press [Enter] to reboot. (After rebooting, go through ESC to enter UEFI settings)

For the time being, boot ESXi

Continued from ↑

  1. Press ESC a little to go to the UEFI settings screen
  2. Unplug the USB flash (VMware ESXi installer)
  3. Select Boot Manager> (the disk where VMware is installed) with ↑ ↓ and press [Enter].
  4. Do nothing and wait until the startup is complete.

Set to fixed IP (if you like)

The default is DHCP

  1. Press [F2] to log in

  2. Configure Management Network > IPv4 Configuration

  3. In [↑] [↓], select "Set static IPv4 address and network configuration:" and press the [Space] key.

  4. After filling in ↓, press the [Enter] key.

    IPv4 Address
Subnet Mask
Default Gateway

  5. Press [ESC], then Apply changes and restart management network ?, and then press [Y].

  6. Press [ESC] again and Logout

Access from a web browser

  1. Enter the IP address in the address bar. Click
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/be1299cf-f0ac-703c -0899-f9795fdaf5f2.png)
  2. Go to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (not secure) Click
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com /0/75594/ab50265a-a9c0-a170-441e-51018dffb73e.png)
  3. The ESXi login screen is displayed. Username: root, enter the password and click the [Login] button
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com /0/75594/c21ff669-9f1e-4bf6-750e-e59343c84294.png)
  4. Like this
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/b2ae2b79-0d1a-a4d3-1deb-87c6fec65464. png)
  5. Shut down for the time being
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/7e7c4051-e843-d7ee-fecd-b09198e167bb .png)
  6. On the confirmation screen, Button Pochi
    ![Image.png](https://qiita-image-store.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/0/75594/40a73990-d532-704f- 281b-6be4205ff653.png)

Copy the Raspberry Pi UEFI file to SSD so that it can be booted from SSD

Here, the F: drive is a microSD drive.

  1. Connect the SSD with ESXi Arm installed (2 out of 5 partitions can be seen in Explorer, but not touched here) and the UEFI boot microSD card to Windows.

  2. On Win + R, diskpart

  3. Use lis dis to show the connected disks

  4. With sel dis 1, select the SSD with ESXi Arm installed.

  5. Select the first partition with sel par 1

  6. With ʻassign LETTER = P, assign to the P: `drive (example) (as it is without closing)

  7. As an administrator, open cmd and copy the contents of the UEFI microSD card toP: \

    xcopy /E F:\*.* P

  8. Return to diskpart and set remove LETTER = P to unmount.

  9. Exit diskpart with ʻexit`

Execution example


Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.19041.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: PC-90800

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          476 GB      0 B        *
  Disk 1    Online          931 GB  4096 KB        *
  Disk 2    Online         3724 MB  4032 KB

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    System             100 MB    32 KB
  Partition 2    Primary           4095 MB   102 MB
  Partition 3    Primary           4095 MB  4198 MB
  Partition 4    Unknown              8 GB     8 GB
  Partition 5    Unknown            915 GB    16 GB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> assign LETTER=P

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART>
...
//Now copy the file in another window.
...

DISKPART> remove LETTER=P

DiskPart successfully removed the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> exit

Example file copy


Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.572]
(c) 2020 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dir P:
 Volume in drive P has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 5121-71B6

 Directory of P:\

09/01/2020  02:13 PM    <DIR>          EFI
               0 File(s)              0 bytes
               1 Dir(s)     104,224,768 bytes free

C:\WINDOWS\system32>xcopy /E F:\*.* P:\
F:\bcm2708-rpi-b.dtb
F:\bcm2708-rpi-b-plus.dtb
F:\bcm2708-rpi-b-rev1.dtb
F:\bcm2710-rpi-2-b.dtb
.
.Lots of files
.
F:\overlays\w1-gpio-pullup.dtbo
F:\overlays\w1-gpio.dtbo
F:\overlays\w5500.dtbo
F:\overlays\wittypi.dtbo
235 File(s) copied

C:\WINDOWS\system32>exit

Set SSD boot

Connect the following

--SATA-USB3 cable + SSD (installation destination) --Keyboard --HDMI display --Wired LAN

  1. Set the Raspberry Pi to USB boot (with raspi-config on Raspberry Pi OS)
  2. Press ESC a little to go to the UEFI settings screen
  3. Boot Maintenance Manager> Boot Options> Delete Boot Option
  4. Check the SSD other than </ font> to start (use the space key to check ON / OFF)
  5. At Commit Changes and Exit, press [Enter]
  6. Press [ESC] twice, select Continue, and press [Enter].
  7. Once started, shut down and check if the power is turned on to start.

Other

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