VMware ESXi Installation and Setup - VMware vSphere 6

1 VMware ESXi Installation and SetupUpdated on 2 APR 2021 VMware vSphere ESXi can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: , Hillview Alto, CA 2018 - 2021 VMware , Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark ESXi Installation and SetupVMware, VMware ESXi Installation and Setup5 Update Information62 Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup 73 Overview of the vSphere Installation and Setup Process84 About ESXi Evaluation and Licensed Modes115 Installing and Setting Up ESXi12 ESXi Requirements12 ESXi Hardware Requirements12 Supported Remote Management Server Models and Firmware Versions14 Recommendations for Enhanced ESXi Performance15 Incoming and Outgoing Firewall Ports for ESXi Hosts16 Required Free Space for System Logging16 VMware Host Client System Requirements17 ESXi Passwords and Account Lockout17 Preparing for Installing ESXi20 Download the ESXi Installer20

2 Options for Installing ESXi 20 Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer22 Using Remote Management Applications32 Customizing Installations with vSphere ESXi Image Builder33 Required Information for ESXi Installation72 Installing ESXi73 Installing ESXi Interactively73 Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script77 PXE Booting the ESXi Installer94 Installing ESXi Using vSphere Auto Deploy 101 Troubleshooting vSphere Auto Deploy187 Setting Up ESXi194 ESXi Autoconfiguration194 About the Direct Console ESXi Interface195 Enable ESXi Shell and SSH Access with the Direct Console User Interface198 Managing ESXi Remotely199 Set the Password for the Administrator Account199 VMware .

3 The BIOS Boot Settings200 Configuring Network Settings201 Storage Behavior208 Configuring System Logging211 Set the Host Image Profile Acceptance Level213 Remove All Custom Packages on ESXi214 Disable Support for Non-ASCII Characters in Virtual Machine File and Directory Names214 Reset the System Configuration215 After You Install and Set Up ESXi216 Managing ESXi Remotely216 Licensing ESXi Hosts 216 View System Logs2186 Troubleshooting ESXi Booting219 Host Stops Unexpectedly at Bootup When Sharing a Boot Disk with Another Host219 Host Fails to Boot After You Install ESXi in UEFI Mode 2207 Decommission an ESXi Host222 VMware ESXi Installation and SetupVMware, VMware ESXi Installation and Setup1 VMware ESXi Installation and Setup describes how to install and configure VMware ESXi.

4 Intended AudienceVMware ESXi Installation and Setup is intended for experienced administrators who want to install and configure information is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and data center operations. The information about using the Image Builder and VMware vSphere Auto Deploy is written for administrators who have experience with Microsoft PowerShell and VMware vSphere PowerCLI . VMware , InformationThe VMware ESXi Installation and Setup guide is updated with each release of the product or when table provides the update history of the VMware ESXi Installation and Setup JUL 2021nUpdated procedure in Download the ESXi procedure in Install APR 2021nVMware has rebranded the My VMware portal as VMware Customer Connect.

5 We updated the VMware ESXi Installation and Setup documentation to reflect this name the Microsoft Internet Explorer reference in VMware Host Client System RequirementsnUpdated the browser support table in VMware Host Client System AUG 2020At VMware , we value inclusion. To foster this principle within our customer, partner, and internal community, we are replacing some of the terminology in our content. We have updated this guide to remove instances of non-inclusive APR 2019 Initial , to vSphere Installation and Setup2vSphere provides various options for Installation and Setup . To ensure a successful vSphere deployment, understand the Installation and Setup options, and the sequence of two core components of vSphere are ESXi and vCenter Server.

6 ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administrator for ESXi hosts connected in a network. vCenter Server lets you pool and manage the resources of multiple can install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance. The vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machine optimized for running vCenter Server and the vCenter Server components. You can deploy the vCenter 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 Server components are bundled in the VMware Platform Services Controller.

7 You can deploy vCenter Server with an embedded or external Platform Services Controller, but you must always install or deploy the Platform Services Controller before installing or deploying vCenter detailed information about the vCenter Server Installation process, see vCenter Server Installation and , of the vSphere Installation and Setup Process3vSphere is a sophisticated product with multiple components to install and set up. To ensure a successful vSphere deployment, understand the sequence of tasks vSphere includes the following tasks: VMware , 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 setupEnd of the vSphereinstallation and setupInstall ESXion at least one hostSet up ESXiDeploy or

8 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 that your system meets the minimum hardware requirements. See ESXi ESXi Installation and SetupVMware, the ESXi Installation option to use. See Options for Installing ESXi .cDetermine where you want to locate and boot the ESXi installer. See Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer. If you are using PXE to boot the installer, verify that your network PXE infrastructure is properly set up. See PXE Booting the ESXi a worksheet with the information you will need when you install ESXi.

9 See Required Information for ESXi ESXi InteractivelynInstalling or Upgrading Hosts by Using a ScriptNote You can also provision ESXi hosts by using vSphere Auto Deploy, but vSphere Auto Deploy is installed together with vCenter Server. To provision ESXi hosts by using Auto Deploy, you must deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or install vCenter the ESXi boot and network settings, the direct console, and other settings. See Setting Up ESXi and After You Install and Set Up setting up a syslog server for remote logging, to ensure sufficient disk storage for log files. Setting up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage.

10 See Required Free Space for System Logging and Configure Syslog on ESXi the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller deployment model that is suitable for your or install vCenter Server and Platform Services detailed information, see the vCenter Server Installation and Setup ESXi Installation and SetupVMware, ESXi Evaluation and Licensed Modes4 You can use evaluation mode to explore the entire set of features for ESXi hosts. The evaluation mode provides the set of features equal to a vSphere Enterprise Plus license. Before the evaluation mode expires, you must assign to your hosts a license that supports all the features in example, in evaluation mode, you can use vSphere vMotion technology, the vSphere HA feature, the vSphere DRS feature, and other features.