WARNING
This is entirely unsupported, and may end up with an unbootable ESXi server. Use entirely at your own risk, and its recommended to only use on non-production servers!
Preamble
The Proliant ML110 G5 makes a great server to use to test ESXi at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately, it is not possible to monitor the drive health of the optional SMART Array controllers you may install, such as the E200 or P400. As this setup is unsupported by VMWare or HP, I've written this guide to show how I overcame this serious limitation.
Prerequisites
Ensure you are familiar with the 'unsupported' local ESXi console:
At the Grey/Yellow ESXi screen, press Alt-F1, type unsupported and press enter, then type your ESXi password when prompted
If not already installed, download the vShere Remote Command Line from the web interface of your ESXi server.
Download the HP CIM agents (currently at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121516&prodNameId=3288134&swEnvOID=4040&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-25f06077ad5541f5a962dd2a69) and print off installation instructions.
Procedure
Install the HP CIM update via the rcli (this takes several minutes), and reboot.
Immediately ESXi has loaded, go to unsupported console as descirbed in Prerequisistes above, log in, and type services.sh stop (this will prevent the PSOD, so this needs to be done immediately the server comes up)
cp /bootbank/oem.tgz /tmp
cd /tmp
gzip -d oem.tgz
mkdir oem
cd oem
tar xvf ../oem.tar
cd /tmp/oem/var/lib/sfcb/registration
Now you need to edit oem-providerRegister to only include the Smart Array details.
vi oem-providerRegister
and remove all sections apart from those that start [SMX_SA
(you may what to google how to use vi if you're unsure, as new people may find it quirky)
cd /tmp/oem
rm ../oem.tar
tar cvf ../oem.tar *
cd ..
gzip -9 oem.tar
mv oem.tar.gz oem.tgz
cp oem.tgz /bootbank
reboot
When its back up, you should see the Smart Array controller under System Health after 3 or 4 mins, and no PSOD
Get free EPoS software at http://www.lettronics.com