• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.
  • The forums have been upgraded with support for dark mode. By default it will follow the setting on your system/browser. You may override it by scrolling to the end of the page and clicking the gears icon.

Server Project

Installing ESXi 6.7 on the Threadripper is proving to be a hitch. Getting nothing but black screen whenever I attempt it. Will have to try again once I'm home...
 
The new node has ESXi 6.7u3 installed. Connecting to vCenter tomorrow, when time permits. Had to swap out the SolarFlare 9021-r7 4a for a SolarFlare SFN5322F that I had sitting in the spare parts inventory. The previous NIC kept getting the server either stuck at POST code 92 (PCI init, iirc) or at SolarFlare Boot Manager screen (with no way to skip to OS). After enabling PCI passthrough on the Titan V and the swapped NIC, the new host had an issue rebooting on its own. Had to hit the Reset switch in order to get back into ESXi. Will have to look out for that if I ever add any new devices. But, adding new devices requires me to be in the same room as the server, so not that problematic. This is the first 24/7 ESXi host that I'll run.

Screenshot_311.png
 
Last edited:
The new node has a name! :)

Screenshot_312.png
 
The new Ethernet bridge is in, but I need some more SFP+ cables to hook it in properly...

P_20211203_174519.jpg
 
The plans have changed for the Linux VM. Nextcloud's built-in apps and services are making previous plans a bit redundant. ejabberd (and XMPP in general) will probably get jettisoned from the project in its entirety. The hunt for a decent PBX+SMS container solution still rages on, and interest in YouPHPTube has waned, due to a lack of potential userbase. Unless there are any people interested in starting a new video platform. YaCy_Grid may end up being the last container deployed before moving on to the macOS VM.

On a side note, it looks as though Nextcloud has SMS apps that can remove the need for Google Voice/Hangouts as well. Only missing the VoIP/PBX functionality at this point.
 
P_20211220_202701.jpg

The rack drawer is here!
 
Just bought:
  • 8x HGST HUSMM8040ASS200* MLC 400GB SSDs

* / HUSMM8040ASS201
 
P_20211229_113720.jpg


P_20211229_114259.jpg
 
I guess this counts as multitasking?
The Titan V is also giving me trouble on ESXi 6.7, so looks like Threadripper will have to wait. On a side note, also trying to setup a KMS server, since Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC (Titan Xp) appears to require KMS, and won't activate via Microsoft servers. Perhaps I need to log a Microsoft account into that VM sometime today...
 
Resolved the Nextcloud issue, the other issues still remain. Focusing on macOS VM and KMS for now...
 
Last edited:
So, there's good news and bad news. Good news is, the Titan Z works on the macOS VM and I got to see it in action with Remotix. The bad news is, I can't change the display resolution. Also can't format or use the raw disks that I passed to the VM. Disk Utility and diskutil appear to throw the same error(s):

Code: 
➜  ~ diskutil list                         
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *297.9 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         297.7 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +297.7 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            45.8 GB    disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 23.3 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                507.6 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      20.5 KB    disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                                                   *4.0 TB     disk2

/dev/disk3 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                                                   *7.9 TB     disk3

➜  ~ sudo diskutil unmountdisk disk2
Password:
Unmount of all volumes on disk2 was successful
➜  ~ sudo gpt destroy disk2
gpt destroy: disk2: error: device doesn't contain a GPT
➜  ~ sudo gpt create -f disk2
➜  ~ sudo diskutil partitiondisk disk2 1 gpt apfs "SmallDisk" R
Started partitioning on disk2
Unmounting disk
Creating the partition map
Error: 5: Input/output error
➜  ~
 
Screenshot (383).png
 
I decided to give Paragon's software (https://www.paragon-software.com/hdm-mac/) a trial tonight. First, had it initialise the HDDs, GPT. Then, created HFS+ volumes (since Paragon's software couldn't make APFS volumes). Then, had Disk Utility convert the HFS+ volumes to APFS volumes. Now the raw disks appear to work! Coming back tomorrow to start installing PleX...

Screenshot_385.png
 
Screenshot_387.png
 
Considering virtual audio devices for both Linux and macOS, since the GPU's audio device didn't work well with PCI Passthrough. Still need to install DaVinci Resolve to macOS and move the previous PleX Media Library to macOS. Then, focusing on xBrowserSync and NGINX Revers Proxy Manager. YouPHPTube will undergo a final validation/testing phase after this. If the MariaDB issue can't be resolved, I'll just rely on LBRY and other existing alternatives and shift focus to YaCy Grid as the final Docker container instance. Still need to setup Windows 10 Enterprise VM (Titan Xp) for daily use. Also still troubleshooting the Titan V issue...
 
Last edited:
I've decided to merge the Win10 and Remote Dev VMs. I've worked in this environment before, and it hasn't been an issue for me in the past. Saves time and resources in my case. Also, the macOS VM appears to be nearly ready for prime time...

Screenshot_394.png
 
Finished initial setup for xBrowserSync last night. Now looking to attack the last container - YaCy...

*YouPHPTube is being delayed until the rest of the server project is finished, to avoid unnecessary delays.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top