You must add the host before creating virtual disks. You can use ESI to create additional virtual disks for a virtual machine. However, before this option is available, the hypervisor that hosts the virtual machine must appear in the Hypervisors section on the main ESI windows and the virtual machine must be listed in the Hosts section. When you select the virtual machine in the Hosts section, the Hypervisor and Hypervisor Type must appear at the top of the center pane (gray information area). If these do not appear, the virtual machine might have been discovered before the hypervisor. If so, remove the virtual machine and add it again as a host.
To create a virtual disk after adding a host:
In the left pane of the ESI window, select the host. The host has to be a virtual machine that correctly identifies the hypervisor
Select the host disk from the center pane.
In the Actions pane, click Create Disk.
The Create Disk wizard appears.
Select Virtual Hard Disk as the disk type, and then click Next.
In the Create File-based Disk page, set the following details and then click Next.
|
Field |
Description |
|
File Name |
Name of the file, including the file extension of VHD, VHDX, or VMDK. |
|
Folder |
Location of the folder |
|
Size |
Size of the file in GB |
|
File-based Disk Type |
Select either Fixed or Dynamic |
Note: The page that appears next depends on the type of host that you select:
The Hypervisor Settings page appears if you selected a Hypervisor host.
The VMware Settings page appears if you selected a VMware vSphere host.
On either the Hypervisor Settings or VMware Settings pages, set the following details, and then click Next.
|
Field |
Description |
|
Controller |
Hypervisor or VMware controller |
|
Location |
SCSI controller location |
|
Persistence (VMware Settings page only) |
Types include:
|
|
Disk Provisioning (VMware Settings page only) |
Select either Thick or Thin |
Depending on the hypervisor, the Disk Preparation Settings page may appear. If the page appears and the disk does not require these values, skip this step. If the disk requires one or more of the following, set the applicable details, and then click Next.
|
Field |
Description |
|
Partition Type |
Type of partition to be created, select either MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) |
|
File System |
|
|
Allocation Unit Size |
Size of the allocation unit measured in bytes |
|
Volume Label |
Label for the volume |
|
Drive letter or mount path |
Drive letter or a mount path to the disk Note: If you enter a drive letter and folder path that does not exist, ESI will create the specified folder path, and then create the disk. |
In the Review Input Parameters page, review the settings, and then click Next to confirm them.
In the Progress page, click Next.
Note: Click More Information for more progress details. If a problem occurs while you are connecting a disk, an error message appears along with options to resume or roll back the process. After the error is resolved, click Resume to resume the process. Click Rollback to revert to the previously executed step.
In the Summary page, click Finish.
