Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.1:
Boot options for an unattended ESXi installation
(continued)
Boot Option
Brief Description
Uses the installation script at the specifi ed
path
on an attached USB device. h is
allows you to use a diff erent fi lename or location for the installation script.
ks=
usb
:/
path
ks=
protocol
:/
serverpath
Uses the installation script found at the specifi ed network location. h e protocol
can be NFS, HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP.
ip=
XX
.
XX
.
XX
.
XX
Specifi es a static IP address for downloading the installation script and the
installation media.
nameserver=
XX
.
XX.XX.XX
Provides the IP address of a Domain Name System (DNS) server to use for name
resolution when downloading the installation script or the installation media.
gateway=
XX.XX.XX
.XX
Provides the network gateway to be used as the default gateway for downloading
the installation script and the installation media.
netmask=
XX.XX XX
.XX
Specifi es the network mask for the network interface used to download the
installation script or the installation media.
vlanid=
XX
Confi gures the network interface to be on the specifi ed VLAN when download-
ing the installation script or the installation media.
Not a Comprehensive List of Boot Options
h e list found in Table 2.1 includes only some of the more commonly used boot options for perform-
ing a scripted installation of ESXi. For the complete list of supported boot options, refer to the
vSphere
Installation
and
Setup
Guide
, available from
www.vmware.com/go/support-pubs-vsphere.
To use one or more of these boot options during the installation, you'll need to specify them
at the boot screen for the ESXi installer. The bottom of the installer boot screen states that you
can press Shift+O to edit the boot options.
The following code line is an example that could be used to retrieve the installation script
from an HTTP URL; this would be entered at the prompt at the bottom of the installer boot
screen:
<ENTER: Apply options and boot> <ESC: Cancel>
> runweasel ks
=http://192.168.1.1/scripts/ks.cfg i
p=192.168.1.200
netmask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.1.254
Using an installation script to install ESXi not only speeds up the installation process but also
helps to ensure the consistent coni guration of all your ESXi hosts.
