Enable virtualization inside ESXi virtual machine¶

Introduction¶

One day I got a task to implement a Vagrant-based scenario for my client. For quite a long time, I’ve been using free VMWare ESX-i hypervisor for my experiments, as it allows up to 4 virtual boxes to be run in parallel for my labs experience.

The first issue I spotted, once I installed Oracle Virtual Box & Vagrant on my ESXi box, is its inability to start a Vagrant-controlled image due to the lack of virtualization support. There were no options to turn it on via the ESXi GUI client, so I have started to look for a solution

Enabling the ssh access on your ESXi host¶

Please follow the steps below in succession:

1. Start the vSphere client
2. Select ESXi’s host configuration tab
3. Select security profile from the list on a left
4. Click properties on the upper right corner, and you will get the a popup with all the services on this ESXi box. Select the SSH service and press the Options button.
5. Start the SSH service - you are now prepared for the most important step

Enabling VT-x / AMD-V virtualization inside ESXi virtual machine¶

The most tricky part. Make sure to check your steps

1. Shutdown your virtual machine inside ESXi
2. SSH to your ESXi:

ssh -lroot your.esxi.box.address

3. Run df - to locate the address of your mounted drive with VMs

 df
Filesystem        Bytes         Used    Available Use% Mounted on
VMFS-5     999922073600 539996717056 459925356544  54% /vmfs/volumes/WDC1TB

4. Locate the location of your’s vmx

find / -name *.vmx | grep HUM
/vmfs/volumes/54183927-04f91918-a72a-6805ca147c55/W-NodeBox-HUM/W-NodeBox-HUM.vmx

5. Put setting vhv.enable=TRUE at the bottom of your box’s vmx file

 echo 'vhv.enable = "TRUE"' >> /vmfs/volumes/54183927-04f91918-a72a-6805ca147c55/W-NodeBox-HUM/
W-NodeBox-HUM.vmx

You are done! Start your machine normally and enjoy the possibility to run vagrant&virtual-box controlled boxes inside your ESXi host. (Hopefully you need it as me just to test the vagrant setup)

Points of Interest¶

This tip allows you to enable virtualization inside nested virtual machines under ESXi hypervisor.