If you have DHCP configured on your network, then your ESXi server will be assigned an IP automatically. When the VMware ESXi host machine starts, notice the IP address of the VMware ESXi server. When the installation is done, remove the installation media and click Enter to reboot.ġ3. You will then see the following progress screen, which should take 2 – 5 minutes to complete.ġ2. ESXi is now ready to start the installation.
* Note: Password must be at least 7 characters long and a combination of normal and capital letters, symbols and numbersġ0. Type a password for the root account* and then click Enter. Select your keyboard layout then click Enter to continue.ĩ. USB drives will also be available for use in this step.Ĩ. If you have SAN volumes, they will also be discovered and can be used as the installation disk. If not, you can cancel the installation, configure RAID and start over.Ģ. If you server supports RAID, then you have to configure the RAID before the installation. Select the disk and press Enter to continue. On the next screen, you will be prompted to choose a disk for installing ESXi. Accept the license agreement by clicking F11.ħ. Once the installer loads, you will get the following prompt. At the first screen that appears after booting, press Enter.ĥ. Attach and select the ESXi installation media (USB or DVD) as the boot device.Īt this example, we have selected the CD-ROM Drive, since we are going to perform the installation from DVD.ģ. Power on your server and press the corresponding 'Boot options' function key (Fn).Ģ. Once we have copied/burned our ESXi image to our installation media, we can finally proceed with the installation.ġ. How to Setup vSphere ESXi Hypervisor 6.7 on your Bare Metal Server.
* Note: If you want to convert the vSphere ESXi Evaluation License (after the 60-days trial period) to Free, record the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6 License key.ģ. VMware ESXi Image: This can be downloaded from VMware’s website * (you have to create a VMware account), and can be used for a nested environment or any hardware without a custom image. If you are installing ESXi on a branded bare metal server, then this is the option you should opt for during your installation.īelow are links to custom images for some of the common hardware manufacturers:Ģ.
These images have software and drivers specific to the hardware. Custom ESXi Images: These are provided by most hardware manufacturers like HP, DELL, CISCO, and Lenovo. There are two types of images available for ESXi installation.ġ. Once we have confirmed the ESXi version supported on our server, we will proceed to download the image we are going to use for the installation.ĮSXi is distributed as a bootable ISO image, which you can burn to a DVD or to copy to a USB, according your needs. Download the ESXi vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 image.
Click update results to view a list of all supported configurations under the options you have selected. You can select any additional options to filter the results.ģ. Choose your server vendor under partner name.
Select the ESXi version you wish to install on your server.Ģ. To verify your server’s compatibility, go to VMware Compatibility Guide and select the options that match your server.ġ. VMware also will not be able to support you if your ESXi is running on hardware that is not supported If skipped, you may be unable to install ESXi, or you may encounter some significant issues in case you are running ESXi on incompatible hardware. This is probably the most critical step, and it will save you a lot of troubleshooting pain if followed. Verify hardware compatibility before installing vSphere ESXi Hypervisor. Verify Hardware Requirements for ESXi vSphere. Below is a summary of the steps we will be going through: Step 1. In this article, we are going to review the steps you will need to follow to install VMware vSphere ESXi on a bare metal server successfully. How to Install ESXi vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 on a Bare Metal Server. It can be installed on the server’s local hard disks, USB devices, SAN LUNs, SD cards, and diskless hosts. VMware vSphere Hypervisor is available for purchase with vSphere or can be downloaded as a free version for testing or to cover basic needs in small business. The VMware vSphere ESXi hypervisor provides a layer of virtualization that abstract the physical server's hardware resources like the CPU, memory, network, and storage, and allocates them to multiple virtual machines. We are currently at VMware vSphere ESXi version 7. The hypervisor has matured over the years with multiple feature enhancements. VMware vSphere ESXi is a hypervisor that has been around since the year 2009 when VMware released ESX 4.