VMware VS4-ENT-PL-A Setup Guide - Page 148

vSphere Installation and Setup installorupgrade Either the install, upgrade, or installorupgrade command is required to determine which disk to install or upgrade ESXi on. --disk= or --drive= Specifies the disk to partition. In the command --disk=diskname, the diskname can be in any of the forms shown in the following examples: n Path: --disk=/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 n MPX name: --disk=mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 n VML name: --disk=vml.000000034211234 n vmkLUN UID: --disk=vmkLUN_UID For accepted disk name formats, see "Disk Device Names," on page 154. --firstdisk= disk-type1, [disk-type2,...] --overwritevsan Partitions the first eligible disk found. By default, the eligible disks are set to the following order: 1 Locally attached storage (local) 2 Network storage (remote) 3 USB disks (usb) You can change the order of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument. If you provide a filter list, the default settings are overridden. You can combine filters to specify a particular disk, including esx for the first disk with ESX installed on it, model and vendor information, or the name of the vmkernel device driver. For example, to prefer a disk with the model name ST3120814A and any disk that uses the mptsas driver rather than a normal local disk, the argument is --firstdisk=ST3120814A,mptsas,local. You must use the --overwritevsan option when you install ESXi on a disk, either SSD or HDD (magnetic), that is in a Virtual SAN disk group. If you use this option and there is no Virtual SAN partition on the selected disk, the installation will fail. When you install ESXi on a disk that is in Virtual SAN disk group, the result depends on the disk you select: n If you select an SSD, the SSD and all underlying HDDs in the same disk group will be wiped. n If you select an HDD, and the disk group size is greater than two, only the selected HDD will be wiped. n If you select an HDD disk, and the disk group size is two or less, the SSD and the selected HDD will be wiped. For more information about managing Virtual SAN disk groups, see the vSphere Storage documentation. --overwritevmfs Install ESXi if a VMFS partition exists on the disk, but no ESX or ESXi installation exists. Unless this option is present, the installer will fail if a VMFS partition exists on the disk, but no ESX or ESXi installation exists. --forcemigrate If a version 4.x host contains customizations, such as third-party VIBS or drivers, that are not included in the installer .ISO, the installer exits with an error describing the problem. The forcemigrate option overrides the error and forces the upgrade. 148 VMware, Inc.