One common task I have when setting up an ESXi host is to get the LSI MegaRAID configuration to show up both on the host server and in the Windows (whatever flavor) OS – MegaRAID Storage Manager.

VMware really could try to make this easier.

The first steps is to download the software you need.
1. MegaRAID Storage Manager – here
2. Latest SMIS Provider (VMware 5.5 & 6.0) – here

Basically it’s the same place.  When I did the search I got 527 results.  You have to sift through to find what you’re looking for.

The install of the MegaRAID Storage Manager on Windows is standard.  The only difference is you configure the discovery to pick out ESXi hosts specifically.

For the ESXi host to respond to requests this is where the SMIS Provider has to be installed.  And this can be the tricky part.

I suggest creating a folder in your datastore that you can keep stuff like this.  Call it whatever you like as long as you can identify this folder from among your VM’s.  Such as ‘drivers’.

Upload the file you got from Broadcom to this folder using WinSCP then open an SSH session (I use Putty).  Log in as root.

This is where I got a lot of push-back from ESXi.  The command is pretty straightforward:

esxcli software vib install -d /path/to/filename.zip

However, I kept getting errors about the filename.zip?index.xml is missing.

  1. The path to the filename must be exact:  /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/drivers//VMW-ESX-5.5.0
    -lsiprovider-500.04.V0.61-0007-offline_bundle-4555634.zip
  2. Sometimes ‘esxcli’ will fail no matter what you try – switch to ‘localcli’

I actually unpacked the original ZIP file so I didn’t have to try to remember (or type out) these ridiculously long file names but you can skip unzipping the files by separating the target with a ‘/’.

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/VMW-ESX-5.5.0-lsiprovider-500.04.V0.61-0007-4
555634.zip/VMW-ESX-5.5.0-lsiprovider-500.04.V0.61-0007-offline_bundle-4555634.zip

You should put the ESXi host in maintenance mode prior to installing the SMIS Provider but I haven’t found that it’s strictly necessary.  A reboot after the install is necessary though.

Once the VIB is installed you can then install the MegaRAID Storage Manager to your Windows Server.  It should be a server on the ESXi host you want to link to the controller with but I found that’s not strictly necessary.

First update your hosts file:

notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Add an entry that looks like this:  192.168.1.10 esxi-host.local esxi-host  (obviously substitute with the IP and name of your ESXi host)

Open the MegaRAID Storage Manager and click on Configure Host
Select “Display all the ESXi-CIMOM server in the network of local server.”
Click on Save Settings

Click on Discover Host – your ESXi host server IP shold now show up showing an Unknown operating system and health status of “Needs Login”.
Select your host server and use your VMware (root or equivalent) credentials to log in.

Be patient.  I found this rarely loads in under a minute.  A window will open and a big circle will swirl around for quite a while before the controller is contacted and all the relevant data is pumped back into the browser.