Software installation

VMDirectPathIO

The VSL software is only required for ESX or ESXi if you plan to use the IO Accelerator device as a VMFS datastore. If you are passing the devices through using VMDirectPathIO, you do not need to install the VSL on your the ESX or ESXi system. Instead, install the VSL on the guest system. For example, pass the device through to a Windows VM, and then install the Windows VSL on that VM. For installation and user instructions, see the HP IO Accelerator for Windows User Guide.

When passing through an IO Accelerator device, you must be aware of certain constraints. For more information, see "Working with IO Accelerators and VMDirectPathIO (on page 42)."

Command-line installation

To install and manage the VSL driver, you must use a CLI.

ESX command-line installation

ESX includes the COS. The CLI is available on the host or through an SSH connection.

ESXi command line installation

HP recommends installing VMware vCLI for your ESXi system. Install a vCLI package on a physical machine running on a Linux or Windows operating system. For more information on VMware vCLI, see the VMware website (http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/). HP does not recommend using the vCLI on a virtual machine that is hosted on your ESXi system. The IO Accelerator installation and configuration processes involve putting the ESXi host into maintenance mode and rebooting the host.

When installing the VSL, you can choose to use the TSM, also known as Shell or SSH (when used remotely), instead of the vCLI. The TSM might be required for managing or troubleshooting your device with the command-line utilities.

CAUTION: To avoid damage to the system, VMware recommends using TSM only for the purposes of troubleshooting and remediation. VMware recommends using the vCLI or any other VMware Administration Automation Product to perform routine ESXi host configuration tasks that do not involve troubleshooting. For more information on using TSM, see the VMware Knowledge Base article (http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC& externalId=1017910).

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