Some time ago, we changed the hardware of our VM server. We replaced the RAID controller with an Adaptec 6805 because the old controller had some problems. The server run with ESXi 5.1.

• Adaptec Raid 6805/6805q Driver Installer
• Adaptec Raid 6805/6805q Driver Win 10

The problem with our Adaptec controller was that ESXi didn't support it out-of-the-box. It was supported in general but the driver was not included. We thought that the new ESXi 6 could contain the driver, but it didn't. So we had to create our own ESXi image with the Adaptec driver.

We thought it shouldn't be a problem because there was much documentation about custom images:

Home Support RAID Adaptec RAID 6805E Adaptec RAID 6805E 8 internal port, low-profile MD2 with PCIe x4, SAS 2.0 and Gen 2 PCI-Express (PCIe) Unified Serial RAID adapter with On-Board DRAM and Intelligent Power Management delivers the ideal price/performance and connectivity solution for entry-level server platforms, workstations and desktop systems. ADAPTEC RAID 6805 WINDOWS 10 DRIVER DOWNLOAD. Os microsoft windows vista. Raid controller installation user, installation user manual. Quick start manual. Adaptec support knowledgebase. Raid configuration utility, pcie unified serial, zero maintenance cache protection. Enabled command line interface, drivers installer adaptec. Description: AACRAID driver files v7.5.0.52013 for 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012/R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, Windows Small Business Server 2011 (Standard and Essentials), Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, WinPE 8.1. Adaptec RAID Controller - Installation And User's Guide 5/2012 (PDF 3.4MB) Command Line Interface v7.31.18856 - User's Guide (PDF 469KB) Adaptec RAID Controller - Quick Install Guide 5/2012 (Multi Language) (PDF 3.4MB) Adaptec Storage Manager v7.30.18837 - User's Guide (PDF 2.7MB) Adaptec RAID Controller - Installation And User's Guide 12/2011. A 'Yes' in this column indicates that Adaptec plans to release a driver for this product. This driver will be available for download from the Adaptec web site in the future. A 'NO' in this column indicates that this product will not be supported for use with systems running Windows 10.

https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/04/using-the-vsphere-esxi-image-builder-cli.html
http://www.virten.net/2015/03/esxi-6-0-image-for-intel-nuc/
(DE) https://www.thomas- krenn.com/de/wiki/Individuelles_ESXi_5....

Some problems:

• We tried to create an image for version 6
• We used the free version of ESXi with all its limitations

A problem was that the documentation references an 'offline software depot'. You can download the offline depot for the paid version but it's not available for the free version - not as simple download. No offline deplot means no custom image - right? Not right, because it's also possible to use an online depot.

The problem was that the documentation didn't contain a full description. We found some hints in different blogs but no complete description.

Here are the steps how we created our custom ESXi 6 image with Adaptec 6805 driver:

Downloads

• ESXi
• PowerCLI 6
• Adaptec driver

Useful PowerCLI Documentation:
https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-55/index.jsp#...ve-EsxSoftwarePackage.html

Adaptec Raid 6805/6805q Driver Installer

Image creation

• Install PowerCLI 6 (and all required dependencies)
• Unzip the Adaptec driver to e.g. C:tempVMServer6
• Run PowerCLI as Administrator (sometimes, first launch of PowerCLI isn't working - simply close/run again)
• Execute following commands
  # Preconfigure
  Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
  cd c:tempVMServer6

  # Use online depot
  Add-EsxSoftwareDepot https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
  # Add offline bundle for adaptec driver
  Add-EsxSoftwareDepot aacraid-6.0.6.2.1.41024-offline_bundle-2915492.zip

  # Check added depots
  $DefaultSoftwareDepots

  # Lists all ESXi-6.* profiles
  Get-EsxImageProfile -Name'ESXi-6.*'

  # Sets the base profile
  New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile'ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard'-name'ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec'-Vendor'rjahn@SIB'-AcceptanceLevel'CommunitySupported'

  # Lists all included drivers
  Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Name'*aacraid*'

  # Adds adaptec driver from offline bundle
  Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile'ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec'-SoftwarePackage scsi-aacraid

  # Creates boot image
  Export-ESXImageProfile -ImageProfile'ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec'-ExportToISO-filepath C:tempVMServer6buildESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec.iso

  # Creates Bundle
  Export-ESXImageProfile -ImageProfile'ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec'-ExportToBundle-filepath C:tempVMServer6buildESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard-Adaptec.zip

Version numbers may be different, but the procedure should work for you as well. The online depot:
https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

was the most important thing. All other steps can be found in the standard documentation.

Adaptec Raid 6805/6805q Driver Win 10