In this article, I'll show you how to install a VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 hypervisor on a bare metal server as a real-world example. The bare metal server is simply a server that does not have an OS installed on it.

Hardware Requirements

  • The minimum amount of RAM available is 4 GB, with 8 GB being the highest recommended.
  • A minimum of 2 CPU cores from any 64-bit x86 AMD or Intel processor released after September 2006.

Remember that the specific hardware specifications are, of course, largely dependent on the number and form of VMs that the ESXi host must operate.

Settings for BIOS

  • From a BIOS perspective, the Intel VT-x and AMD RVI hardware virtualization extensions must be allowed to allow you to run 64-bit VMs as normal.
  • You must also allow a NX / XD bit, a short for No Execute (AMD) and an eXecute Disable (Intel) bit. It enforces a security feature that prevents code execution in different memory areas. It creates an additional layer of protection against malicious code and buffer overflows.

Storage

  • A minimum of 1 GB is needed for the boot device and 4 GB for the scratch partition. 5.2 GB is the minimum required for the VMFS volume and scratch partition when booting from the local disk, SAN or iSCSI LUN.
  • The choice of hard drives actually depends on whether or not the local data stores are used, the use of vSAN, and so on. In general servers, SCSI / SATA drives are available. Please also note that SAS drives will be treated as remote storage while supported.
  • You should also reserve at least 200 MB of logging on the basis of a log rotation quota of 10.

Network

  • On the network side of things, make sure the server is equipped with Gigabit nics. 10Gbps is recommended when running features like FT and vSAN.
  • The following network ports should also be accessible.

Compatibility

  • As always, use the VMware Compatibility Guide to double check if your hardware supports ESXi 6.5.
  • You can also use the CPU Identification Tool to check the support for 64-bit VMware. Only download the device and set it up as a drive and boot it off, as shown in Figure 2.
  • Always make sure the server is running the correct time and details.

Type of installation

As well, the installation methods remain pretty much the same.

  • Use the manual approach when you have a single or maybe a number of ESXi hosts to update. The path to the configuration kick-start script can be specified on the boot options screen to automatically provide the information required by the ESXi installer, rather than type it in.
  • If you have a significant number of hosts (> 5), the auto-deployment method is probably the preferred method to see how it fully automates deployment while ensuring that newly commissioned ESXi servers strictly comply with any applicable standards.
  • The PXE boot method is another deployment method that uses DHCP & TFTP to download and install an ESXi image.
  • A final option includes an FCoE (Fiber Channel over Ethernet) LUN. ESXi can be enabled and booted off an FCoE LUN using VMware software FCoE adapters in combination with FCoE offloading network adapters.

Procedure for deployment

Usually, you will first configure ESXi manually before switching to more complex deployment methods. These latter approaches are commonly used in enterprise environments more than anywhere else because of the size and complexity of the systems used.

The following procedure outlines the interactive installation of ESXi on a bare metal server. By interactive I mean one where the information needed by the installer are entered manually by the user as the installation progresses. The measures are as follows;

  • download the ESXi ISO Image Installer (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86 64) from my.vmware.com.
  • Burn an ISO image to a bootable CD / DVD or use Rufus to create a bootable USB stick.
  • Form DNS A and PTR logs for the ESXiserver(s).
  • Attach the bootable media and turn on the server.
  • Enter the BIOS setup and allow both hardware virtualization extensions and the NX / XD bit. Set the boot option of the device to USB or CD / DVD.

Save the changes you made and exit the BIOS configuration. The server will restart and boot from the bootable medium.

  • Press Enter to get started.
  • Click F11 to accept and continue to accept the EULA.
  • Click Enter to mount ESXi on your selected drive.
  • Choose a keyboard layout and press Enter.
  • Type the root password and press Enter.
  • Press F11 to start installation. Alternatively, press F9 to revisit the previous settings or exit Esc.
  • Remove the bootable medium and press Enter to restart the server.
  • After the server is rebooted, press F2 and log in as user.
  • Select Network Management Setup followed by IPv4 Setup. Enable the Set static IPv4 address and network configuration option from the IPv4 Configuration screen and type the IPv4 address, subnet mask and default gateway. Press Enter, please.
  • Choose DNS Setup and enter IP addresses for primary and secondary DNS servers and enter FQDN for the ESXi host. Press Enter, please.
  • Press Esc followed by Y to confirm the changes made and restart the control network.
  • Optionally, you can enable ESXi Shell and/or SSH from the Troubleshooting Mode Options menu.

You can access the VMware ESXi host via SSH and the VMware Host Client

That's all it takes to install ESXi 6.5. I hope you found this post helpful and, as always, feel free to drop me a line in the comments box below.