ESXi-Arm Fling

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  • 1.  Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Posted Dec 12, 2020 04:52 PM

    I'm thinking of switching my 8-node Raspberry Pi home lab to the ESXi-Arm Fling so I can play with Rancher Server and Terraform. The Rancher Server site says "The free ESXi license does not support API access. The vSphere servers must have a valid or evaluation ESXi license." 

    Does this mean the VMWare ESXi-Arm Fling will or won't work with the Rancher Server? 

    I blog about my Raspberry Pi home lab here: https://smitchell.github.io/ 

     



  • 2.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?
    Best Answer

    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:20 PM

    Hi,

    I've never checked this but I suspect it's true when you plan to use free ESXi license. However, it's still possible to use vSphere on 180 days evaluation license. Be careful, because after this period you will have to reinstall ESXi hosts or provide a valid license.

     



  • 3.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:52 PM

    Yeah, sounds like it will complicate my life as I plan to operate my home lab indefinitely. On the other hand, 180-days would give me plenty of time to take a deep dive into Terraform, and afterward, I would still be able to use Rancher and Terraform to spin up temporary clusters in the cloud. Can you hear me talking myself into it? 



  • 4.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:57 PM

    In the worst case you only need to reinstall ESXi-Arm to have another 180 days evaluation license.

    But please note that ESXi-Arm is not a product.



  • 5.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Posted Dec 12, 2020 06:03 PM

    Understood. Once I've learned what I want to learn about VSphere and Terraform, and I have Rancher Server scripts to deploy to the Cloud, it will be easier to rebuild the cluster with Ubuntu ARM 64 and not mess with renewing ESXi-Arm Fling licenses. Still, it is a great opportunity to use VSphere in my home lab, which is important since I have clients that use VSphere.



  • 6.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Posted Dec 13, 2020 03:01 PM

    ESXi-Arm fling is a hot topic these days.

    Look at this very fresh article written by William Lam:

    https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2020/12/esxi-arm-licensing-options.html

     



  • 7.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?
    Best Answer

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:49 PM

    The full sentence reads: "The free ESXi license does not support API access. The vSphere servers must have a valid or evaluation ESXi license."

    ESXi-Arm comes with a 180-days evaluation license, so the APIs should be available during that duration.



  • 8.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:56 PM

    I think I will give it a try. I'm going to pick up some new 8-GB Raspberri Pis to use for the ESXi-Arm Fling. If I manage to get it working (always a question with me), then I'll migrate the rest of the cluster and play with it for 180-days. 

    Thank you for the quick response.



  • 9.  RE: Are the ESXi APIs enabled?

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted Dec 12, 2020 05:57 PM

    Have fun