Installation

WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Bob Mahar -
Number of replies: 9

Hi,

It seems as if WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova was built to support virtual machine version hardware 14 and below.  VMWARE ESXi version 6.7u2 and newer supports version 15 or some higher version.   On deploying the OVA, I receive error 


Issues detected with selected template. Details:
- -1:-1:VALUE_ILLEGAL: No supported hardware versions among [vmx-15]; 
supported: [vmx-04, vmx-07, vmx-08, vmx-09, vmx-10, vmx-11, vmx-12, 
vmx-13, vmx-14].

There is a lot of "self help" ways to crack open and edit OVA's with mixed results. If this is something easy to for maintainers to rebuild, or there is a new release coming down the road that can address this, let me know.

Thanks.

-- Bob


  
In reply to Bob Mahar

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Arnold Pizer -

Hi,

I am close to releasing a WW 2.16 Amazon Machine Image.  After that I plan to work on an OVA.  I assume using the current version of VMWare Player will produce an OVA supporting vmx-15 (and maybe higher) but I'll have to figure out how to check.


Arnie

In reply to Arnold Pizer

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Bob Mahar -
It should.   Workstation Player 16 should support vmx-18 and prior, so that will cover ESXi 7.0 U1 (7.0.1) and prior, but not ESXi 7.0 U2 (7.0.2) which is the latest.   For me, I'm at ESXi 6.7-ish so I just need vmx-15 supported.   But someone with ESXi 7.0.2 would still have an issue.   If you need a guinea pig, keep me in mind.

-- Bob
In reply to Bob Mahar

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Arnold Pizer -

Hi Bob,

If you want to give it a try, the new version is available. See https://webwork.maa.org/wiki/WeBWorK_2.16_Ubuntu_Server_20.04_LTS_Virtual_Machine_Image

Please feel free to modify or add to the wiki.  I put this together quickly and haven't done a ton of testing but I think everything should be OK. One thing that is different this time is that I set up https access using self signed certificates.  Hopefully this makes things easier, not harder.

Note that so far I have tested the ova only on VMware player.

Arnie


In reply to Arnold Pizer

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Bob Mahar -

Now it requires even newer vmx version ( which means it won't work on ESXi that is currently shipping )

Issues detected with selected template. Details: - -1:-1:VALUE_ILLEGAL: No supported hardware versions among [vmx-18]; supported: [vmx-04, vmx-07, vmx-08, vmx-09, vmx-10, vmx-11, vmx-12, vmx-13, vmx-14].

The OVA needs to be generated so that it supports currently supported versions of ESXi, which is version 6.5 ( which is supported thru 2022 )

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1003746

So vmx-12 would support ESXi 6.5 and should support any version of ESXi / VCENTER that is supported by VMWARE.    IDK if you can instruct Player to save the files so it supports an older version, or if you need to use Workstation v 12.x to generate it.

-- Bob

In reply to Bob Mahar

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Arnold Pizer -
The current version was created on VMware Player 16 and should support vmx-18 and below. See
  https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1003746
For info on the cuuent version see
https://webwork.maa.org/wiki/WeBWorK_2.16_Ubuntu_Server_20.04_LTS_Virtual_Machine_Image

In reply to Arnold Pizer

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Bob Mahar -
That's not what that document means.

In the error message provided you can see the manifest of the OVA indicates vmx-18 as a requirement, a dependency that cannot be satisfied by versions VMWARE ESXi 7.0.0 and prior.

The OVA either needs to be built to specify these older versions also - if that is even possible, or generated using an older version of Workstation that specifies an older vmx version that is forward compatible with newer version of ESXi.

vmx versions are not backwards compatible. They are a specific version of the virtual hardware or, put another way, compatibility levels supported by versions of the host. If you make an OVA that specifically asks for vmx-18 you need that available.
In reply to Bob Mahar

Re: WW2.15_Ubuntu20.04_Server.ova does not deploy on ESX 6.7u2 or newer

by Arnold Pizer -

Hi Bob,

OK. I think I am starting to understand this.  The point is to set the machine level as high as possible but low enough to support all currently supported VMware products.  I think this means version 13.

One of the options available is 
--maxVirtualHardwareVersion : The maximal virtual hardware version to
generate.
which certainly looked like what I want. I'll give it a try.


Not sure what effect, if any, this would have for VirtualBox, etc. but I assume it is just ignored.