Re: [Blind-sysadmins] FW: installing vmware esx

The moderator of the esx form on the vmware site says that I am correct... The text installer does indeed put the graphics card into graphics mode but in a mode compatable with the base vga standard. So it's displaying text but the card is in graphics mode. Therefore, the PC Weasel will not work. Possibly, the serial console install won't work for the same reason. PS: I think you mean 'esx text' instaed of 'linux text' to start an install in text mode. Maybe older versions had a kernel named linux but the 3.5 installer CD does not. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Hodgson" To: Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:08 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] FW: installing vmware esx

Hi,

Sorry for sending this reply personally - I replied to this, but the Scalix client seemed to send it to the original author and not the address in the reply-to.

Andrew.

----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Hodgson Sent: Wed, 7/30/2008 2:57pm To: Ryan Shugart Subject: RE: [Blind-sysadmins] installing vmware esx

Hi,

You need to type in linux text at the boot prompt. I have some sight, and know this actually works in text mode on the latest ESX CD, though not sure whether the screen is in graphics mode or not.

One thing which puzzles me is that the Vmware installer opens up a text screen in Anaconda to ask whether the CD check should be done or not before starting an X session in the graphical installer, so if you don't see this, I am not sure it will work the way you want.

Text mode installers in RedHat and Vmware are not as good as the graphics options, some defaults can sometimes get missed out and some screens don't appear in the text mode installer, and you loose the advanced partition editor in the text mode installer also. Kickstart is the best way to go, especially if you do a graphics install, then capture the Kickstart file in /root after the installation.

Andrew.

----- Original Message ----- From: Ryan Shugart Sent: Wed, 7/30/2008 2:47pm To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] installing vmware esx

Hi John: You may very well be right. There is a text mode installer equivalent to the Redhat installer, and I'm sure there's a way to make it active I just don't know what it is. Ironically I think the first graphical screen you get asks you if you want to go into text mode. For long term, your best bet is to get a Kickstart script up and running, but honestly, ESX won't be something you're installing on a daily basis. I'd refer you to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html They have online documentation for all of the VMWare Infrastructure family, including ESX, including an installation guide which should answer all your questions. Most of the documentation, including the install guide, is PDF. Its accessible PDF, but some of them are a little strange, such as having one word per line, but I've been able to get through them. Hope this helps. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 7:32 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] installing vmware esx

But when you compile a kernel, you have to enable the serial console. It doesn't necessarily work with every kernel. So I'm thinking they turned it off when compiling their kernel because it doesn't work.

Also, I have a PC Weasel card and it says that it's receiving a signal to go into graphics mode when the vmware installation program runs. At that point, neither the PC Weasel or the serial console would work. The PC Weasel works up to that point though. I'm seeing typical linxu boot messages, finding hardware, etcetra, and then it stops and says the host is in graphics mode.

As you may know, a lot of BIOS setup programs are like that. They look like plain text but they're not. They put your video card into graphics mode so they can display their logo. The rest is text but the PC Weasel can't get to it because the host is in graphics mode.

Well, my department is supposedly buying vmware esx. Right now, I'm using the 60 day evaluation version. I doubt there is any difference in the installer but at least I'll be able to get technical support.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:43 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] installing vmware esx

...

Hi John: The ESX installer is a modified Redhat installer, I forget from what version I think REL 3 but don't quote me on that. You should be able to use the same code you used with Redhat to get a serial console. When I did the install, I just grabbed sited help as the interactive portion of setup is perhaps a 15 minute thing and after doing some research I realized it was taking me longer to figure out which boot option I needed and to get a computer set up for serial console than it would be just to grab someone. I believe its also possible to use Kickstart scripts just like you would with readhat, if you do an interactive install I actually think it puts a script of the install in /root. There are several files the installer puts in there and I've not looked through them all. For those that don't know, a Kickstart script is similar to an unattended Windows install. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:48 PM To: blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] installing vmware esx

Anybody know if it's possible to install vmware esx if you're blind?

I have already tried modifying the boot CD to have a serial console and I've booted a normal CD with a PC Weasel card. In case you haven't heard of it, the weasel acts like a VGA card except that instead of VGA output it has a serial port. So you can use a null modem cable and a terminal emulator on another computer to get text output.

I booted from a vmware esx installation CD and entered 'text' at the boot prompt to start a text install. But the weasel is still indicating that it is getting a command to go into graphics mode. I suspect the vmware text install isn't a real text install.

-- John Heim jheim@math.wisc.edu / 608-263-4189 "An operator of a vehicle shall stop the vehicle before approaching closer than 10 feet to a pedestrian who is using a service animal" -- Wisconsin Statute 2005 Act 354,

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