ESXi FreeNAS VM will not boot

3JL

Cadet
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
9
Dear all,
I have an ESXi 6.7 server running and wanted to try out FreeNAS (version 11.2 U1). However, after installation, the VM does not boot. I followed these instructions: https://www.ixsystems.com/documentation/freenas/11.2/install.html#vmware-esxi

My Hardware: Fujitsu D3417-B2 MB C236-AMT; Intel Xeon E3-1245 v6; 32 GB ECC RAM; 2 HDDs and 3 NVMe drives. I was planning to run FreeNAS on one of the NVMe drives and RDM the HDDs.

The error I get is: "Operating Sytem not found". It seems there is something wrong with the boot instructions. (I have tried both the UEFI and BIOS boot options during the installation process.)

Screenshot 2019-02-17 at 21.35.36.png


Weirdness: FreeNAS did boot, but only once out of multiple attempts and I cannot replicate... :s

Do you have any clue what could be wrong? Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks, J
 

Chris Moore

Hall of Famer
Joined
May 2, 2015
Messages
10,080
We have a few guides that might give you some help finding a solution, but I they were created with FreeNAS version 11.1 or earlier. The big difference being that prior to FreeNAS 11.2, they were using GRUB for the boot loader and they are using the native BSD boot loader now. This has caused some trouble even for people that are trying to install on bare metal. You might want to try to use the previous version to get started.
Here are some links to explore:

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ide-to-not-completely-losing-your-data.12714/

Virtually FreeNAS ... an alternative for those seeking virtualization
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ative-for-those-seeking-virtualization.26095/

and a build log where the forum user goes into quite a lot of detail on the setup and configuration of FreeNAS and the other virtual machines they are running on the ESXi system that they built.

Build Report: Node 304 + X10SDV-TLN4F [ESXi/FreeNAS AIO]
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/
 

l@e

Contributor
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
143
check the boot order on the vm bios is it is correct after removing the installation media
 

3JL

Cadet
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
9
Thanks both! I tried again, based on the posts you are referring to: bios boot install and NOT setting hpet0.present to false did work. Not sure for how long and not sure whether this affects anything down the road. Thanks again! I am now ready for some more experimenting :)
 

melloa

Wizard
Joined
May 22, 2016
Messages
1,749
Make sure to lock the assigned memory if you are planning, and after you do, pass through any PCI device, i.e. your HBA. Otherwise your VM won't boot again.

1550441687792.png
 

Heracles

Wizard
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Messages
1,401
Hey 3JL,

Another thing you can check is boot mode : BIOS vs UEFI. From your error message, I doubt it is related to the required memory not being locked as Meolla proposed, but it is always good to double check that too. Usually, when it is about that memory not being reserved, you receive an error from ESXi and about memory instead of being from inside the VM and about missing OS like yours.

Good luck troubleshooting,
 
Top