VMware ESXi Installation and Setup

1 VMware esxi Installationand Setup17 APR 2018 VMware vsphere esxi esxi Installation and SetupVMware, Inc. 2 You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback 2018 VMware , Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark , Hillview Alto, CA 1 About VMware esxi Installation and Setup 4 2 Introduction to vsphere Installation and Setup 5 3 Overview of the vsphere Installation and Setup Process 6 4 About esxi Evaluation and Licensed Modes 9 5 Installing and Setting Up esxi 10 esxi Requirements 10 Preparing for Installing esxi 19 Installing esxi 70 Setting Up esxi 188 After You Install and Set Up esxi 208 6 Troubleshooting esxi Booting 212 Host Stops Unexpectedly at Bootup When Sharing a Boot Disk with Another Host 212 Host Fails to Boot After You Install esxi in UEFI

2 Mode 213 7 Decommission an esxi Host 214 VMware , Inc. 3 About VMware esxi Installationand Setup1 VMware esxi Installation and Setup describes how to install and configure VMware esxi .Intended AudienceVMware esxi Installation and Setup is intended for experienced administrators who want to install andconfigure information is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar withvirtual machine technology and data center operations. The information about using the Image Builderand VMware vsphere Auto Deploy is written for administrators who have experience with MicrosoftPowerShell and VMware vsphere PowerCLI.

3 vsphere Web Client and vsphere ClientTask instructions in this guide are based on the vsphere Web Client. You can also perform most of thetasks in this guide by using the new vsphere Client. The new vsphere Client user interface terminology,topology, and workflow are closely aligned with the same aspects and elements of thevSphere Web Client user interface. You can apply the vsphere Web Client instructions to the newvSphere Client unless otherwise In vsphere , most of the vsphere Web Client functionality is implemented in the vsphere an up-to-date list of the unsupported functionality, see Functionality Updates for the vsphere Technical Publications GlossaryVMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you.

4 Fordefinitions of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to , Inc. 4 Introduction to vSphereInstallation and Setup2vSphere provides various options for Installation and Setup . To ensure a successful vSpheredeployment, understand the Installation and Setup options, and the sequence of two core components of vsphere are esxi and vCenter Server. esxi is the virtualization platform onwhich you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is a service thatacts as a central administrator for esxi hosts connected in a network.

5 VCenter Server lets you pool andmanage the resources of multiple can install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, or deploy thevCenter Server Appliance. The vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machineoptimized for running vCenter Server and the vCenter Server components. You can deploy thevCenter Server Appliance on esxi hosts or later, or on vCenter Server instances or with vsphere , all prerequisite services for running vCenter Server and the vCenter Servercomponents are bundled in the VMware Platform Services Controller.

6 You can deploy vCenter Serverwith an embedded or external Platform Services Controller, but you must always install or deploy thePlatform Services Controller before installing or deploying vCenter detailed information about the vCenter Server Installation process, see vCenter Server Installationand , Inc. 5 Overview of the vSphereInstallation and Setup Process3vSphere is a sophisticated product with multiple components to install and set up. To ensure a successfulvSphere deployment, understand the sequence of tasks vsphere includes the following tasks: VMware , Inc.

7 6 Figure 3 1. vsphere Installation and Setup WorkflowStart the vSphereinstallation and setupEnd of the vSphereinstallation and setupSmall envrionment with onevCenter Server InstanceLarge envrionment with multiplevCenter Server InstancesInstall ESXion at least one hostSet up ESXiDeploy or install vCenter Serverwith an embedded PlatformServices ControllerLog in to the vsphere WebClient to create and organizeyour vCenter Server inventoryLog in to the vsphere WebClient to create and organizeyour vCenter Server inventoriesStart the vSphereinstallation and

8 SetupEnd of the vSphereinstallation and setupInstall ESXion at least one hostSet up ESXiDeploy or install the PlatformServices Controller instancesin a sequenceDeploy or install the vCenter Serverinstances and register them with theexternal Platform Services Controller instances1 Read the vsphere release Install Verify that your system meets the minimum hardware requirements. See esxi Determine the esxi Installation option to use. See Options for Installing esxi Installation and SetupVMware, Inc. 7c Determine where you want to locate and boot the esxi installer.

9 See Media Options for Bootingthe esxi Installer. If you are using PXE to boot the installer, verify that your network PXEinfrastructure is properly set up. See PXE Booting the esxi Create a worksheet with the information you will need when you install esxi . See RequiredInformation for esxi Install esxi InteractivelynInstalling or Upgrading Hosts by Using a ScriptNote You can also provision esxi hosts by using vsphere Auto Deploy, but vsphere AutoDeploy is installed together with vCenter Server. To provision esxi hosts by using Auto Deploy,you must deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or install vCenter Configure the esxi boot and network settings, the direct console, and other settings.

10 See Setting UpESXi and After You Install and Set Up Consider setting up a syslog server for remote logging, to ensure sufficient disk storage for log up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage. See Required Free Space for System Logging and Configure Syslog on esxi Determine the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller deployment model that is suitable foryour Deploy or install vCenter Server and Platform Services detailed information, see the vCenter Server Installation and Setup esxi Installation and SetupVMware, Inc.