Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

[Pages:74]Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VMware Update Manager (VUM) Guide

Feb. 7th, 2023

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

37th Edition, Feb. 2023. Copyright Lenovo 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023. LIMITED AND RESTRICTED RIGHTS NOTICE: If data or software is delivered pursuant a General Services Administration "GSA" contract, use, reproduction, or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in Contract No. GS-35F-05925. Lenovo, the Lenovo logo, and System x, ThinkServer, ThinkSystem and BladeCenter are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. VMware ESXi is a trademark of VMware, Inc. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

Table of Contents

Lenovo VMware Customized Image Reference Guide...................................................................................5 ESXi Custom Image Download Links ...........................................................................................................6 Lenovo VMware Update Manager (VUM) Repository ................................................................................8 System Support and VMware Lifecycle Policy...........................................................................................11 Best Practices and Solutions........................................................................................................................12 Performance Enhancements ....................................................................................................................12 When is the Vendor CIM Provider Needed? ...........................................................................................13 Identifying the CIM Providers....................................................................................................................14 Installation of CIM Providers .....................................................................................................................14 Creating a Full Image.................................................................................................................................26 Checking the Bootbank Size.....................................................................................................................26

Customized Image Content...............................................................................................................................27 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 8.0 (ThinkSystem).........................................................................27 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U3 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................28 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U3 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................29 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U3 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................30 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U3 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................31 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U2 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................32 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U2 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................33 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U2 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................34 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U1 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................35 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U1 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................36 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 U1 (ThinkSystem)...................................................................37 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 7.0 (ThinkSystem).........................................................................38 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................39 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................40 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................41 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................42 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................43 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................44 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................45 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................46 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................47 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................48

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................49 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................50 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................51 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................52 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................53 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U2 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................54 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 U1 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................55 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U2 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................56 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.0 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................57 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.0 U3 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................58 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 (ThinkSystem and System X)...............................................60 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U2 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................61 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 (ThinkSystem and System X)...............................................62 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U2 (ThinkSystem and System X).........................................63 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U2 (ThinkServer) ....................................................................64 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 (ThinkSystem and System X)...............................................65 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.7 (ThinkServer) ..........................................................................66 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5 U1 (ThinkSystem, System X and ThinkServer) .................67 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.0 U3 (ThinkSystem, System X, and ThinkServer)................68 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 5.5 U3 (System X and ThinkServer) ..........................................69 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5a (ThinkSystem).......................................................................70 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5b (System X and ThinkServer)..............................................71 LENOVO CUSTOM IMAGE for ESXi 6.5b (ThinkSystem).......................................................................72 Additional Information ........................................................................................................................................73 Support ............................................................................................................................................................74

Fixes and Updates .....................................................................................................................................74 Related Documentation .............................................................................................................................74

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

Lenovo VMware Customized Image Reference Guide

Lenovo recommends that you install VMware ESXi 6.x, ESXi 7.x using the Lenovo VMware ESXi custom image. Installing from the custom image has several advantages:

1. It is tested across Lenovo's server and adapter portfolio with the same ServerProven? support guarantee as VMware's base release.

2. It enables support of Lenovo's tools, including Lenovo XClarity Essentials (ToolCenter) that provide the ability to flash server firmware such as UEFI, XCC, and IO adapter firmware.

3. It includes the latest VMware certified IO drivers to support Lenovo servers, as outlined in Lenovo VMware I/O drivers and firmware code recipe.

This document provides additional information for VMware customized images available from Lenovo.

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

ESXi Custom Image Download Links

Custom

Targeted

Image

Systems

Version

Most Recent images

Download URL

ESXi 8.0

ThinkSystem

ESXi 7.0 u3 ThinkSystem

ESXi 7.0 u2 ThinkSystem

ESXi 7.0 u1 ThinkSystem

ESXi 7.0

ThinkSystem

ESXi 6.7u3 ThinkSystem,

System X

ESXi 6.7u2 ThinkSystem,

System X

ESXi 6.7u1 ThinkSystem,

System X

ESXi 6.7

ThinkSystem,

System X

nkSystem/

ESXi 6.7

ThinkServer

/

ESXi 6.5 U3 ThinkSystem,

System X

ESXi 6.5 U2 ThinkSystem,

System X

ThinkSystem/

ESXi 6.5 U2 ThinkServer

er/

ESXi 6.5 U2 ThinkServer- TS440-TS540 er-TS440-TS540/

Older images

ESXi 6.5 U1

ThinkSystem, System X and ThinkServer



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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

ESXi 6.0 U3 ESXi 5.5 U3

ThinkSystem, System X and ThinkServer

System X



ESXi 6.5a ThinkSystem

ESXi 6.5b ESXi 6.5b ESXi 6.0u2

ThinkSystem

System X and ThinkServer

System X

m/



Note: A Minimum of 16 GB RAM is recommended to run the VMware ESXi Customized Image on Lenovo ThinkSystem.

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Lenovo ESXi Custom Image and VUM Guide

Lenovo VMware Update Manager (VUM) Repository

Lenovo VMware Update Manager (VUM) Repository is available at:

This is a one-stop repository that provides access to Lenovo developed bundles along with device drivers that are part of the Lenovo Customized VMware images. These bundles and associated vibs can be used with VMware applications and tools like VMware Update Manager (VUM), ESXCLI & PowerCLI.

To learn more about these tools, refer to the VMware documentation.

When configuring VMware Update Manager, choose the URL that is appropriate for your systems from the table below. In most cases, selecting the "Latest" location is sufficient and provides accumulative updates for all ESXi versions on all systems:

? (for System x and ThinkSystem) ? (for ThinkServer)

VUM Location

Latest

Targeted Systems

ThinkSystem, System X

ESXi versions

5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.7

Latest ThinkServer 6.7

URL for VMware Update Manager



2022_05 ThinkSystem, 6.7

System X

2021_12 ThinkSystem, 6.7

System X

2021_08 ThinkSystem, 6.7

System X

2021_05 ThinkSystem, 6.7

System X

2021_03 ThinkSystem, 6.7

System X

2020_11 ThinkSystem, 6.5, 6.7

System X

2020_08 ThinkSystem, 6.5, 6.7

System X

2020_05 ThinkSystem, 6.5, 6.7

System X

2020_02 ThinkSystem, 6.5, 6.7

System X



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