Booting VM to CD, no drives present | Nutanix Community
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Hello, we have only recently implemented Nutanix in our environment so apologies if this is a noob question. My issue is this:



I have a 2012 Server VM that I need to repair using the CMD prompt. I am adding a CDROM with the Server 2012 ISO mounted and set to boot. After Windows setup loads I open CMD prompt but the disk where the OS is installed can't be found. Its as if only the ISO is being seen and no other drives. What am I doing wrong?
have you installed the VirtIO drivers on the vm OS disk?
have you installed the VirtIO drivers on the vm OS disk?



Are you referring to the Guest Tools? If so yes, that is installed
Ok.

Some questions:



why do you have to repair the disk?

The VM is migrated or is a new one?



Could you please share the result of this command?

from a CVM:

code:
acli vm.get  --include_vmdisk_paths=true






change the value for VMName with the name of your VM.



If you need a list of your VMs try with the command

code:
acli vm.list
UPX Thanks for responding



I need to get CMD access to the Windows OS installation

The VM was migrated from VMWare



Could you please explain the process of running those console commands? I'm a bit lost on where/how to run them.



I've only been working in Nutanix for about two days so I have a lot to learn about this environment
No problem, you have to connect in SSH to one of the CVMs, if you have not changed the default credentials should be:

code:
nutanix
nutanix/4u


from that shell launch the commands above
UPX, here is the output I received from that command. Thanks



HQ-P-SCCM1 {

config {

agent_vm: False

allow_live_migrate: True

annotation: "Data mover VM"

boot {

device {

disk_addr {

bus: "scsi"

index: 0

}

}

}

disk_list {

addr {

bus: "scsi"

index: 0

}

container_id: 11142

container_uuid: "33420cfa-a01d-45f0-ab9a-702aea5de4b1"

device_uuid: "de86d5d8-9c55-4cbd-8483-075ef182f529"

naa_id: "naa.6506b8d6c643b7b718b1812af3d1e713"

source_nfs_path: "/HQ-P-NX-Bronze/xtract-vm//3369e350-217c-44a6-885d-8903ec5245ec/503ad936-2731-e0ac-6416-41afb9788b22/2000_HQ-P-SCCM1.vmdk"

vmdisk_nfs_path: "/HQ-P-NX-Bronze/.acropolis/vmdisk/bac9e71e-1745-4e63-a981-2b32c766305d"

vmdisk_size: 107374182400

vmdisk_uuid: "bac9e71e-1745-4e63-a981-2b32c766305d"

}

disk_list {

addr {

bus: "scsi"

index: 1

}

container_id: 11142

container_uuid: "33420cfa-a01d-45f0-ab9a-702aea5de4b1"

device_uuid: "1732c80a-c705-4ca7-9f93-46f43043b023"

naa_id: "naa.6506b8d7b4a524548459df844baa8e1c"

source_nfs_path: "/HQ-P-NX-Bronze/xtract-vm//3369e350-217c-44a6-885d-8903ec5245ec/503ad936-2731-e0ac-6416-41afb9788b22/2001_HQ-P-SCCM1_1.vmdk"

vmdisk_nfs_path: "/HQ-P-NX-Bronze/.acropolis/vmdisk/8f3aec1d-14e5-4a4a-9ef5-ac1f13515538"

vmdisk_size: 268435456000

vmdisk_uuid: "8f3aec1d-14e5-4a4a-9ef5-ac1f13515538"

}

disk_list {

addr {

bus: "sata"

index: 0

}

cdrom: True

device_uuid: "2a1f07ad-f872-4489-86b3-e4cbcf4b69f0"

empty: True

naa_id: "naa.6506b8d0ccbb59125b618f57632bdbec"

}

hwclock_timezone: "America/Los_Angeles"

machine_type: "pc"

memory_mb: 8192

name: "HQ-P-SCCM1"

nic_list {

connected: True

mac_addr: "50:6b:8d:c5:be:a1"

network_name: "VLAN5"

network_type: "kNativeNetwork"

network_uuid: "4949a033-dc85-470b-904f-e9ec422f37a2"

type: "kNormalNic"

uuid: "391c049e-e20c-414e-99b2-b9e85a2f7451"

vlan_mode: "kAccess"

}

num_cores_per_vcpu: 4

num_threads_per_core: 1

num_vcpus: 1

num_vnuma_nodes: 0

vga_console: True

vm_type: "kGuestVM"

}

host_name: "hq-p-nx1a.************.***"

host_uuid: "e928aa22-ad52-4814-ac58-cd33a3769a72"

logical_timestamp: 43

state: "kOn"

uuid: "26210392-4b70-4077-8e38-5303d7a7e9dc"

}
I guess that, when you boot from a cdrom, the VitrIO driver doesnt load so you cant see the disk attached to the vm.

I guess there is a way to load the VirtIO drivers during boot (like during a setup for example) but if there is not, you should make a Windows boot ISO with the VirtIO drivers included.
As a quick workaround you can attach the VirtIO ISO as a second cdrom and manually load the storage driver from there as soon as the VM has booted from the 2012 ISO. When done, open your CMD prompt and the vdisk(s) will be there.
Thanks, I will try these things
Hi @ANiel



Let us know if any of the suggestions above worked or if you needed to call support.



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For any other user browsing this page, here is how to solve this problem (this can work with other OSes, such as Windows 10). As you are going, it may not make sense at first, but at the end, it'll all make sense.




  1. Mount Windows setup ISO as the first CD/DVD.
  2. Mount NutanixVirtIO as the second CD/DVD.
  3. Power on the VM and press any key to boot into the setup.
  4. Once it loads into the Windows Server 2012 setup, select the language/keyboard and press Next.
  5. It will give you the option to repair or install. Press on "Install". (Once again, it doesn't make sense right now, but continue with these steps. We actually won't be installing Windows, but need to navigate that way for a specific step)
  6. It'll say "Setup is starting" and then give you the option to select the OS. Select the OS that is currently installed already that you want to repair and press "Next".
  7. Accept the terms and conditions and press next.
  8. Now this is the step that is important. You can see right now that the hard drives are not being recognized. We will use this step to load the drivers, for us to be able to go into the repair mode.
  9. Click on Load Driver and you will get a popup.
  10. Navigate to the Windows Server 2012 R2 folder in NutanixVirtIO drive, and then select AMD64 subfolder if original OS is 64 bit, or x86 if 32bit OS (this step is written off the top of my head).
  11. It will now give you few drivers. You can select the SCSI driver and press Next. (If you also want network drivers, you can press "Load Driver" again, and follow the steps, but select the Network Driver) and press the "Next". The popup will close and now you should see the drives are being recognized.
  12. At this point, you will hit the "X" button on top right and it will ask you to cancel the installation. You allow it.
  13. It will now take you back to the main page where it will ask you if you want to install Windows or repair. You will click on "Repair Your Computer".
  14. You can now open up Command Prompt, and it will recognize the drives.
Change the bus CDROOM, as it comes from VMWARE by default leave the CDROOM in BUS sata, delete it and create a new one with ide BUS .
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