Users Guide

vFlash is capable of performing fast partition creation when there is no other on-going vFlash operation such as formatting,
attaching partitions, and so on. Therefore, it is recommended to first create all partitions before performing other individual partition
operations.
Creating an empty partition
An empty partition, when attached to the system, is similar to an empty USB flash drive. You can create empty partitions on a
vFlash SD card. You can create partitions of type Floppy or Hard Disk. The partition type CD is supported only while creating
partitions using images.
Before creating an empty partition, make sure that:
• You have Access Virtual Media privilege.
• The card is initialized.
• The card is not write-protected.
• An initialize operation is not being performed on the card.
Creating an empty partition using the web interface
To create an empty vFlash partition:
1. In iDRAC Web interface, go to Overview → Server → vFlash → Create Empty Partition.
The Create Empty Partition page is displayed.
2. Specify the required information and click Apply. For information about the options, see the iDRAC Online Help.
A new unformatted empty partition is created that is read-only by default. A page indicating the progress percentage is
displayed. An error message is displayed if:
• The card is write-protected.
• The label name matches the label of an existing partition.
• A non-integer value is entered for the partition size, the value exceeds the available space on the card, or the partition size
is greater than 4 GB.
• An initialize operation is being performed on the card.
Creating an empty partition using RACADM
To create an empty partition:
1. Log in to the system using telnet, SSH, or Serial console.
2. Enter the command:
racadm vflashpartition create -i 1 -o drive1 -t empty -e HDD -f fat16 -s [n]
where [n] is the partition size.
By default, an empty partition is created as read-write.
Creating a partition using an image file
You can create a new partition on the vFlash SD card using an image file (available in the .img or .iso format.) The partitions are of
emulation types: Floppy (.img), Hard Disk (.img), or CD (.iso). The created partition size is equal to the image file size.
Before creating a partition from an image file, make sure that:
• You have Access Virtual Media privilege.
• The card is initialized.
• The card is not write-protected.
• An initialize operation is not being performed on the card.
• The image type and the emulation type match.
NOTE: The uploaded image and the emulation type must match. There are issues when iDRAC emulates a device
with incorrect image type. For example, if the partition is created using an ISO image and the emulation type is
specified as Hard Disk, then the BIOS cannot boot from this image.
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