Errors are prompting while installing vWLC on EXSI 6.5

[nips]

Hi All,

I tried to install the OVA file of vWLC v8.10 on VMWare EXSI 6.5. While installing process, below errors were received.

• A required disk image was missing

     After proceed to the next step ignoring above error, below error was received and the import Vapp task also failed.

• failed to deploy vm: postnfcdata failed: cannot post to non-disk files

I tried installing process with vWLC v8.0 also. But failed.

Then I tried to install the ISO file. It was abled to start but stuck in below step.

• press any key to use this terminal as the default terminal

The EXSI was hosted on Cisco UCS240 M4.

Please give me the troubleshoot steps to mitigate above issue

[marce1000]

  - Check this discussion : https://communities.vmware.com/t5/ESXi-Discussions/Deploy-Error-A-required-disk-image-was-missing/td-p/966714

 M.

[Rich R]

What APs do you plan to use with this WLC?
vWLC is effectively end of life. 
If you're using APs which are supported on 9800 series WLC then you should be installing the 9800-CL virtual WLC not vWLC.

[Risat]

Hi, do you remember how you fixed this ?

[vishalbhandari]

@nips 

The errors you encountered suggest issues with the compatibility or method of deployment. Here are troubleshooting steps to help resolve the issue:

1. Check Compatibility: Verify that VMware ESXi 6.5 supports vWLC v8.10 and v8.0. Check Cisco’s compatibility matrix for specific versions of vWLC and ESXi.

2. OVA File Issue:

   • Ensure the OVA file is not corrupted. Re-download it from Cisco’s website and verify the checksum (MD5 or SHA) for integrity.
   • Use the VMware vSphere Web Client to deploy the OVA file. Ensure you select the correct deployment options, especially for the storage and network configurations.

3. ISO Installation Stuck:

   • When prompted to "press any key to use this terminal," ensure your keyboard input is correctly passed to the VM. If using a remote console, switch to a direct console or check if the keyboard mapping is configured properly.
   • If the VM remains unresponsive, check the resource allocation (CPU, RAM, and disk) for the VM. Ensure it meets the minimum requirements for vWLC.

4. ESXi on Cisco UCS:

   • Confirm that the Cisco UCS240 M4 firmware is updated and supports ESXi 6.5.
   • Verify that the datastore used for deploying the vWLC has sufficient space and proper permissions.

5. Logs and Errors:

   • Check the vSphere logs for detailed error messages related to the deployment task.
   • Review vWLC installation guides for any specific deployment considerations.

6. Alternative Approach:

   • If the OVA deployment continues to fail, try extracting the OVA into its components (VMDK and OVF) using tools like ovftool and deploy manually.
   • Alternatively, consider upgrading ESXi to a newer version (if supported by UCS240 M4) and retry the deployment.