Get Around Custom initrd that VMware Tools breaks

[tmunn]

I've got an application vendor who uses a custom initrd to install a custom CentOS image and their software when updates are applied.

Installing VMware Tools breaks this and ends in a kernel panic on the next reboot. I can provide more details if that is helpful.

The vendor isn't being terribly flexible about their install process. I wonder if anyone has run into something similar that precludes installing VMware tools. It is putting a bit of a hitch in our plan to virtualize some physical boxes.

Are there any mechanism for manually injecting the VMware tools components in a fashion that won't break an existing boot process?

-

Tim

[zXi_Gamer]

Well, if you are going by the traditional method of installing the vmware tools, then the modules are compiled at runtime and hence the need for re-initrd imaging happens. You can work around by

1. Giving -p while giving vmware-config-tools.pl

-p, --prebuilt

Force the use of pre-built kernel modules.

	--preserve	Always preserve user-modified configuration
	files.

	--overwrite	Always overwrite user-modified configuration
	files.

2. Installing OSP http://packages.vmware.com/tools/docs/manuals/osp-esxi-51-install-guide.pdf

[tmunn]

Unfortunately all the mechanisms seem to insist on rewriting the initrd and changing the boot sequence

Message appears during execution of vmware-config-tools.pl with --preserve option: Creating a new initrd boot image for the kernel.

The problem comes in the init script. (I'm leaving out the VMware-related device driver modules which seem to load without a problem)

The original is:

echo Scanning and configuring dmraid supported devices

echo Scanning logical volumes

lvm vgscan --ignorelockingfailure

echo Activating logical volumes

lvm vgchange -ay --ignorelockingfailure  LearningSpace0

resume LABEL=Swap00

echo Creating root device.

mkrootdev -t ext3 -o defaults,ro /dev/LearningSpace0/RootB

echo Mounting root filesystem.

mount /sysroot

echo Setting up other filesystems.

setuproot

echo Switching to new root and running init.

switchroot

This gets changed by the VMware tool script to:

echo Scanning and configuring dmraid supported devices

resume LABEL=Swap00

echo Creating root device.

mkrootdev -t ext3 -o defaults,ro /dev/root

echo Mounting root filesystem.

mount /sysroot

echo Setting up other filesystems.

setuproot

echo Switching to new root and running init.

switchroot

and, on next restart of the system, I end up with a failed boot  and a kernel panic.

In case it is helfpul/relevant, grub.conf is:

title CentOS (2.6.18-371.1.2.el5)

        root (hd0,0)

        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-371.1.2.el5 ro root=/dev/LearningSpace0/RootB

        initrd /initrd-2.6.18-371.1.2.el5.img

-

Tim