With USB devices the scratch partition is not created on the device

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Installing ESXi 5.x on a supported USB flash drive or SD flash card (2004784)

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2004784

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Limitation when installing on USB flash drive or SD flash card:

When installing ESXi onto a SD flash card, if the drive contains less than 8 GB of space, this prevents the allocation of a scratch partition onto the flash device. With USB devices the scratch partition is not created on the device during installation and will need to be configured after.  For more information, see Creating a persistent scratch location for ESXi 4.x and 5.x (1033696). VMware recommends using a retail purchased USB flash drive of 16 GB or larger so that the "extra" flash cells can prolong the life of the boot media but high quality parts of 4 GB or larger are sufficient to hold the extended coredump partition. 

To workaround this limitation:

1. Connect to the ESXi host via SSH. For more information, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x (1017910).
2. Back up the existing boot.cfg file, located in /bootbank/, using this command:
   
   cp /bootbank/boot.cfg /bootbank/boot.bkp
   
   
3. Open the boot.cfg file using VI editor. For more information, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302).
4. Modify the following line:
   
   kernelopt=no-auto-partition
   
   to 
   
   kernelopt=autoPartition=TRUE skipPartitioningSsds=TRUE autoPartitionCreateUSBCoreDumpPartition=TRUE
   
   
5. Save and close the boot.cfg file.
6. Restart the ESXi host.

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installed:

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bootstate=0
kernel=tboot.b00
title=Loading VMware ESXi
kernelopt= installerDiskDumpSlotSize=2560 no-auto-partition
modules=b.b00 --- jumpstrt.gz --- useropts.gz --- k.b00 --- chardevs.b00 --- a.b
build=6.0.0-3380124
updated=1
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- /bootbank/boot.cfg 1/7 14%

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modiff_to:
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bootstate=0
kernel=tboot.b00
title=Loading VMware ESXi
kernelopt=autoPartition=TRUE skipPartitioningSsds=TRUE autoPartitionCreateUSBCoreDumpPartition=TRUE
modules=b.b00 --- jumpstrt.gz --- useropts.gz --- k.b00 --- chardevs.b00 --- a.b00 --- user.b00 --- uc_intel.b00 --- uc_amd.b00 --- sb
build=6.0.0-3380124
updated=1
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I /bootbank/boot.cfg [Modified] 4/7 57%

===ESC : wq ENTER
[root@esxi:~] cat /bootbank/boot.cfg
bootstate=0
kernel=tboot.b00
title=Loading VMware ESXi
kernelopt=autoPartition=TRUE skipPartitioningSsds=TRUE autoPartitionCreateUSBCoreDumpPartition=TRUE
modules=b.b00 --- jumpstrt.gz --- useropts.gz --- k.b00 --- chardevs.b00 --- a.b00 --- user.b00 --- uc_intel.b00 --- uc_amd.b00 --- sb.v00 --- s.v00 --- mtip32xx.v00 --- ata_pata.v00 --- ata_pata.v01 --- ata_pata.v02 --- ata_pata.v03 --- ata_pata.v04 --- ata_pata.v05 --- ata_pata.v06 --- ata_pata.v07 --- block_cc.v00 --- ehci_ehc.v00 --- elxnet.v00 --- emulex_e.v00 --- weaselin.t00 --- esx_dvfi.v00 --- ima_qla4.v00 --- ipmi_ipm.v00 --- ipmi_ipm.v01 --- ipmi_ipm.v02 --- lpfc.v00 --- lsi_mr3.v00 --- lsi_msgp.v00 --- lsu_hp_h.v00 --- lsu_lsi_.v00 --- lsu_lsi_.v01 --- lsu_lsi_.v02 --- lsu_lsi_.v03 --- lsu_lsi_.v04 --- misc_cni.v00 --- misc_dri.v00 --- net_bnx2.v00 --- net_bnx2.v01 --- net_cnic.v00 --- net_e100.v00 --- net_e100.v01 --- net_enic.v00 --- net_forc.v00 --- net_igb.v00 --- net_ixgb.v00 --- net_mlx4.v00 --- net_mlx4.v01 --- net_nx_n.v00 --- net_tg3.v00 --- net_vmxn.v00 --- nmlx4_co.v00 --- nmlx4_en.v00 --- nmlx4_rd.v00 --- nvme.v00 --- ohci_usb.v00 --- qlnative.v00 --- rste.v00 --- sata_ahc.v00 --- sata_ata.v00 --- sata_sat.v00 --- sata_sat.v01 --- sata_sat.v02 --- sata_sat.v03 --- sata_sat.v04 --- scsi_aac.v00 --- scsi_adp.v00 --- scsi_aic.v00 --- scsi_bnx.v00 --- scsi_bnx.v01 --- scsi_fni.v00 --- scsi_hps.v00 --- scsi_ips.v00 --- scsi_meg.v00 --- scsi_meg.v01 --- scsi_meg.v02 --- scsi_mpt.v00 --- scsi_mpt.v01 --- scsi_mpt.v02 --- scsi_qla.v00 --- uhci_usb.v00 --- xhci_xhc.v00 --- xorg.v00 --- vsanheal.v00 --- imgdb.tgz --- state.tgz
build=6.0.0-3380124
updated=1
[root@esxi:~]

reboot

-- nothing changed :(



[root@esxi:~] df
Filesystem     Bytes      Used Available Use% Mounted on
vfat       261853184 169873408  91979776  65% /vmfs/volumes/1e7934e3-47d70b38-1615-5dbf5e04c594
vfat       261853184      8192 261844992   0% /vmfs/volumes/f3716ce3-2e47c11d-b1ff-40e92ad34166
vfat       299712512 211386368  88326144  71% /vmfs/volumes/56a610da-cc6be0e4-7bfa-101f744c0550
[root@esxi:~]