You may have heard that VMware released a docker plugin. This plugin allows the developers use persistent storage and store it in the VMware datastore while allowing IT Administrators the capability to manage their environment their way.
In this post I will go thru the steps to add the all the components to the ESXi server and to the VM's
Download Binaries
To download the binaries I used a Ubuntu machine.
1. create a folder to download the files. ex: mkdir vmware
2. change to the directory. cd vmware
3. download the files:
ubuntu package: https://github.com/vmware/docker-volume-vsphere/releases/download/1.0.beta/docker-volume-vsphere_1.0.beta_amd64.deb
ESXi vib package: https://github.com/vmware/docker-volume-vsphere/releases/download/1.0.beta/vmware-esx-vmdkops-1.0.beta.vib
Optional: I created a script that you can use to download all the files directly to your Linux Machine Download the Script from GitLab
Example: curl https://gitlab.com/carlosvargas/devops/raw/master/ubuntu/downvmdockplugin | sh
Copy the VIB to your ESXi server
To copy the VIB file you can follow these steps
scp vmware-esx-vmdkops-1.0.beta.vib root@1.2.3.4:/vmfs/volume/datastorename/foldername/vmware-esx-vmdkops-1.0.beta.vib
Enable Community Support for VIB
Connect to your ESXi host: ssh root@1.2.3.4
Enable community support for VIB files: esxcli software acceptance set –level communitysupported
Install the VMware Plugin VIB: esxcli software vip install –no-sig-check -v /vmfs/…./vmware-esx-vmdkops-1.0.beta.vip
Copy VMware Docker Plugin to your Docker VM
scp docker-volume-vsphere_1.0.beta_amd64.deb user@1.2.3.4:/home/user/docker-volume-vsphere_1.0.beta_amd64.deb
Install the VMware Plugin in your Ubuntu VM
Login to your VM and install the plugin. Ex: sudo dpkg -i docker-volume-vsphere_1.0.beta_amd64.deb
Reboot your node: sudo reboot
Create Docker Volume with the VMware Plugin
To create the volume you need to use the –driver=vmdk parameter. here is an example: docker volume create –driver=vmdk –name=MyVolume -o size 10gb
To check your volumes execute: docker volume ls
Where are this volumes stored?
Go to to your vsanDatastore, you will see a new folder called docksvols. There you will find your new volume created.
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