VMware ESXi 5.

5 (Update 0) ImageBuilder Instructions for Adaptec Controllers

ESXi Customizer: Some Adaptec by PMC customers have reported that “ESXi Customizer”

http://www.v-front.de/p/esxi-customizer.html

enables users to generate a VMware ISO which includes the latest Adaptec driver in a streamlined uncomplicated
fashion. All that is required is a VMware ISO and the desired Adaptec driver in .vib form. No access to VMware source
code (offline bundles) is required, as is the case with the ImageBuilder procedure below. The ESXi Customizer procedure
is simpler than ImageBuilder. Please use “ESXi Customizer” at your own discretion. ImageBuilder is officially supported
by VMware.

ImageBuilder Instructions:
NOTE: If you are using a ESXi 5.5 Update 1 or Update 2 or new, download the “Driver Rollup” version of the ISO. Those
versions contain a driver that can boot from all Adaptec controllers. An update to the latest driver can be performed after
installation. ESXi 5.5 Update 0 does not contain such a driver. In that case, follow the instructions below.

1.) Download Microsoft PowerShell and Microsoft .NET 2.0 or greater (if not installed on your machine already) and
install them on your Windows build machine. You can download PowerShell and Microsoft .NET from the Microsoft
Download Center at www.microsoft.com/download.

Note: PowerShell is preinstalled on Windows 2008 and Windows 7 and newer systems.

2.) Run PowerShell as Administrator

and set the execution policy to RemoteSigned:

PowerShell> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Close the PowerShell window.

3.) Download and install vSphere PowerCLI on your Windows build machine. You can download PowerCLI from the
VMware Download Center at www.vmware.com/downloads (as of this writing it was VMware-PowerCLI-6.0.0-2548067).

Note: You will need to provide account credentials to download this from the VMware website.
4.) Download the VMware ESXi5.5 Standard Software Depot (as of this writing it was VMware-ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-
depot.zip) and store in a temporary location on your Windows build machine (for example c:\vm). It is advantageous to
use a short name near the root in order to save command line space.

Note: You will need to provide account credentials to download this from the VMware website.

5.) Copy aacraid-1.2.1.52033-offline_bundle-5082987.zip to the directory on the Windows machine where the offline
bundle is stored (c:\vm).

6.) Launch the vSphere PowerCLI. Change to the above mentioned directory (example: cd\ vm).

7.) Add the software depots.

PowerCLI c:\vm> Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-depot.zip

PowerCLI c:\vm> Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\ aacraid-1.2.1.52033-offline_bundle-5082987.zip

8.) Check the profiles.

PowerCLI c:\vm> Get-EsxImageProfile

You should see something like this:

ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard
ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-notools

9.) Create a copy of the standard image profile and set the acceptance level.

PowerCLI c:\vm> New-EsxImageProfile –CloneProfile ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard –Name

Image1 –AcceptanceLevel VMwareCertified

When prompted for

Vendor:

enter

VMware, Inc.

10.) Check to see that the new driver package is available.

PowerCLI c:\vm> Get-EsxSoftwarePackage

There should be something like this in the list:

scsi-aacraid 5.5.5.2.1.52033-1OEM.550.0… Adaptec

There will also be an in-box driver by the same name but different version.

11.) Add the new scsi-aacraid software package to the new image profile.

PowerCLI c:\vm> Add-EsxSoftwarePackage –ImageProfile Image1 –SoftwarePackage scsi-aacraid

12.) Export your customized ISO image.

PowerCLI c:\vm> Export-EsxImageProfile –ImageProfile Image1 –FilePath ESXi5.5.0-1331820-

aacraid-b52033.iso -ExportToIso

13.) Burn a CD, create a boot array on the Adaptec controller and boot from the CD to install ESXi 5.5 to the array.