Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Installing VMware ESXi Interactively
VMware has done a great job of making the interactive installation of ESXi as simple and
straightforward as possible. It takes just minutes to install, so let's walk through the process.
Perform the following steps to interactively install ESXi:
1.
Ensure that your server hardware is coni gured to boot from the CD-ROM drive.
This will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and will also depend on whether you
are installing locally or remotely via an IP-based Keyboard, Video, Mouse (KVM) or other
remote management facility.
2.
Ensure that VMware ESXi installation media are available to the server.
Again, this will vary based on a local installation (which involves simply inserting the
VMware ESXi installation CD into the optical drive) or a remote installation (which typi-
cally involves mapping an image of the installation media, known as an ISO image, to a
virtual optical drive).
Obtaining VMware ESXi Installation Media
You can download the installation fi les from VMware's website at
www.vmware.com/download/.
3.
Power on the server.
Once it boots from the installation media, the initial boot menu screen appears, as shown
in Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2
h e initial ESXi
installation rou-
tine has options
for booting the
installer or booting
from the local disk.
4.
Press Enter to boot the ESXi installer.
