Vmware Vsphere Hypervisor 6.7 Iso

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VMware vSphere 6.7 Collection - posted in VMWARE SHARES: VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7.0 build 8169922 ( VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso ) VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7.0 Upgrade depot build 8169922 ( VMware-ESXi-6.7.0-8169922-depot.zip ) VMware vSphere vCenter for Windows 6.7.0 build 8217866 ( VMware-VIM-all-6.7.0-8217866.iso ) VMware. The VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi is a commercial product, but when you create an account you can download a 60 day trial. Go to this page, click on “VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.7” and then download the “VMWare vSphere Hypervisor (ESXI ISO) Image (Includes VMware Tools)”.

with Supremo Remote Desktop
with Supremo Remote Desktop

It is possible to use nested virtualization to run VMware ESXi as a Virtual Machine in Hyper-V. To some, this may be a viable option if you are unable to acquire any new hardware, or if you simply want to test new VMware products on your Windows 10 desktop.

Although this process is not officially supported by VMware or Microsoft, it is possible to get an ESXi environment stood up using Hyper-V. There are a number of prerequisites to adhere to as well as an understanding that following this process may not give a smooth end-to-end user experience.

Before we start we MUST prep the ISO and inject Hyper-V compatible Network drivers. If you do not do this the process will fail and you will be unable to connect to your ESXi server.

VMware PowerCLI is a requirement here. Please see our related post for how to install PowerCLI.

Preparing the ESXi Hypervisor image

  • Download an ESXi customizer tool from http://vibsdepot.v-front.de/tools/ESXi-Customizer-PS-v2.5.1.ps1 and save to your local machine (e.g to C:ESXi).
  • Open PowerShell and typeSet-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypassselect [Y] Yes to enable. This will allow you to execute downloaded scripts:
  • Ensure you are in the same directory as the script that has just been downloaded (e.g C:ESXi).
  • Now type .ESXi-Customizer-PS-v2.5.1.ps1 -v60 -vft -load net-tulip (Net Tulip are Hyper-V compatible network drivers).
  • This process will take several minutes to complete:
  • Now if you go to your folder (e.g C:ESXi) you will see your customized ISO Image. This is the image you will need to use to build your ESXi server in Hyper-V:

    Alternative way to prepare the ESXi Hypervisor image

    Please Note – At the time of writing we experienced issues with the ESXi Online Customizer application. We were getting errors creating the customized ISO suggesting issues with the VMware online repositories – this could be a temporary issue, but here is an alternative way to manually inject the net-tulip drivers:

  • The method DOES NOT work on Windows 10. This was completed on a Windows 7 Laptop
  • Download and install the legacy ESXi Customizer application
  • Download ESXi Hypervisor from MyVmware – I chose version 5.1 as I had it available locally
  • Download the Net-tulip drivers and extract to your computer
  • Run the ESXi-Customizer.cmd (as Administrator):
  • Select the ESXi Hypervisor, Select the Net-Tulip .vib file, and set working directory – then click run:
  • Ignore the warning message – click NO:
  • After a few minutes the custom ISO will be created:

Installing ESXi on Hyper-V

  1. Ensure you have the Hyper-V feature enabled on your Windows 10 or Windows Server product. If not, Hyper-V can be added using the Turn Windows Features on or off from the control Panel:
  2. Launch Hyper-V Manager, right click and select new > Virtual machine:
  3. Click next on the Before you begin screen:
  4. Enter a name for your VM and choose a location to store the VM:
  5. You must now SelectGeneration 1 for type of Virtual Machine generation:
  6. Enter the amount of RAM you wish to use. Ensure Dynamic Memory usage is unticked:
  7. Ensure that there is no connection selected on the Configure Networking Screen – we will come back to this later:
  8. Enter the size of the VM and the name of the vhdx files. 10GB is plenty:
  9. Next, select Intall an operating system from a bootable CD/DVD-ROM and select the VMware ESXi Hypervisor ISO image we created earlier:
  10. On the summary page, check all your settings are correct then select finish:
  11. Before you start the VM, right click and chose Settings:
  12. Allocate the vCPU count applicable to your system:
  13. Remove any pre-existing Network interface(s):
  14. Click add hardware and selectLegacy Network Adapter then Add – This will pick up the NET-TULIP driver injected into the ISO at the beginning:
  15. Ensure the Legacy Network Adapter is connected to your physical network. Press OK to apply changes:
  16. Next we need to prep Windows to allow nested VMs. This is done in PowerShell. There is an opensource script on GitHub which does the hard work for you.
  17. Navigate to https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/Virtualization-Documentation/blob/master/hyperv-tools/Nested/Enable-NestedVm.ps1 and download the Enabled-NestedVM.ps1 PowerShell script. Save it to the same location as your VM.
  18. Open PowerShell (must be run as Administrator) and navigate to the location you saved the Enabled-NestedVM.ps1 (e.g G:ESXi)
  19. Type Set-ExecutionPolicy -scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
  20. This will allow you to run downloaded PowerShell scripts on your system.
  21. Select [Y] Yes to enable the feature.
  22. Now type .Enabled-NestedVM.ps1 -vmname “YOUR VM NAME”:
  23. Answer [Y] when prompted to run an enable MAC Spoofing.
  24. Now you can power on your VM.
  25. It will boot into the ESXi Installer – Press TAB immediatey to edit the boot options.
  26. TypeignoreHeadless=TRUE (Note this is case sensitive):
  27. Follow the onscreen commands to install ESXi. You will need to select the location of the installer files:
  28. Press Enter to continue and accept the licence agreement:
  29. Next select the 10GB partition created earlier:
  30. Enter the Keyboard layout settings and set the root password:
  31. Then press F11 to start the installation process – Install will take a few minutes:
  32. Disconnect the Virtual CD-DVDROM Drive and reboot the server:
  33. The ESXi Server will now boot (This will take a few minutes).
  34. Once VMware has loaded you will see the ESXi shell and you should see an IP address. If you see this the installation and legacy network configuration was successful:
  35. Press F2 and Log in as ROOT:
  36. Now we must make the boot option chosen earlier for “ignoreHeadless=TRUE” permanent. To do this we need to enable the ESXi Shell. Navigate to Troubleshooting options and then Enable ESXi shell:
  37. Now press ALT F1 to enter the ESXi Shell.
  38. Log in with the root credentials.
  39. Typeesxcfg-advcfg –set-kernel “TRUE” ignoredHeadless:
  40. Then reboot the server.
  41. ESXi will now boot without any manual intervention.
  42. Next it is advisable to disable the ESXi Shell for security purposes:
  43. Next you can attempt to connect to the IP address of your newly created ESXi Host. You will most likely NOT be able to ping the ESXi server despite it having a Net-Tulip IP address.
  44. Open Command Prompt (as administrator) and add a static route to your ESXi IP. Type route add -p 192.168.1.240 192.168.1.1 (Substitute for your details).
  45. Now Ping your ESXi Host again and if will reply:
  46. Next Open your web browser and connect to the IP of your ESXi host.
  47. Download the vSphere Client and install:
  48. Open vSphere client and connect to your Esxi server using the root credentials created earlier: The configuration is complete:
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In my previous Experts Exchange Articles, most have featured Basic and Intermediate VMware and Virtualisation Topics.


If you would like to read my Basic VMware articles, they are listed at the end of this article for your convenience.


This article will show you how to install and configure the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 on a computer. VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 is also known as ESXi 6.7.


A full list of the ESXi 6.7 Hardware Requirements can be found in the VMware ESXi 6.7 Install Guide.


Check the VMware Hardware Compatibility Lists (HCL), to discover if your computer is certified for use with ESXi 6.7.


If your computer is not listed on the VMware HCL, it may still be possible to install and run VMware ESXi 6.7 on your laptop, desktop, or server. The HCL exists because the server vendor and VMware have certified and tested ESXi 6.7 will function correctly, on the servers listed on the HCL.


Andy's Golden Nugget - Many of the older processors, e.g. Xeons 5 series have been removed from ESXi 6.7. So ESXi will not even install now, try ESXi 6.5.

1. Register with VMware.com and Download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7


Open the following link in your web browser Download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7



Click the License and Download Tab.


Click Create an Account, to Create an Account and Login to the VMware Download Center. VMware will email you an Activation link which needs to be opened to create the account.
The following page will be displayed when you have successfully logged into the VMware Download Center.



Pay special attention to the FREE License information which is displayed, and record this License Number, this will be required in a later article.


Click the download link for VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image (Includes VMware Tools) to download the software required to install ESXi 6.7. The filename you want to download is called VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso, The clue is in the word VMvisor installer, many questions get posted to Experts Exchange because the wrong file has been downloaded and burnt to a CDROM!


The seven digit number 8169922 indicates the Build number of ESXi, this number will increase if your patch your host ESXi server. Build 8169922 is the GA release of ESXi 6.7.0. GA - General availability or general acceptance (GA) release. The first release of ESXi 6.7. If you use an OEM (HPE, Dell, Fujitsu etc) vendor release of ESXi 6.7 recommended for vendor servers, your build number may be different. At time or writing this article the latest build is Build 9484548, patching will be covered later in a new article.


Either use the Download Manager or Manually Download button (which uses your web browser). The CD ISO is only 330MB so should not take too long to download. We now have a very fast internet connection, but on our slow internet connection at approx 350 kB/sec, and it takes us approximately 10 minutes to download.


Once the downloads have been completed using your favourite MD5 and SHA1 checksum utility, confirm the downloads have been downloaded correctly, using the published MD5 and SHA1 checksums from the VMware website. We use the MD5 & SHA-1 Checksum Utility 2.1 from http://raylin.wordpress.com/downloads/md5-sha-1-checksum-utility/.


Many VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 installations fail due to corrupt downloads.


Wavepad masters edition registration code.

MD5SUM(¹): bd218f0f26510e690695116d8628e4af
SHA1SUM(¹): 332731ffb6715cd7a469ce0f6b81aeda6f624be7
SHA256SUM(¹): 884ead30532f4a5c2152e4ac450839a0062aba3ae859b5fa5e233ce4275c8cb6


2. Installing VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)


Write (Burn) the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso downloaded in Step 1, to a blank CDROM, using your favourite CD writing software. We use ISO Recorder (http://alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm). If you are using remote server utilities, e.g. HP iLo or Dell iDRAC,. you can attach the virtual CDROM drive in the server to the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso ISO, so there is no requirement to write a CDROM.


This is a step which is often missed, ensure the BIOS BOOT order is set to BOOT from the CDROM Device or ATAPI device in the server, otherwise the computer will not BOOT from the CDROM.


Power on the Computer, the computer will BOOT from the CDROM, and the following BOOT screen will be displayed



The default option is to BOOT ESXi-6.7.0-8169922-standard Installer after 10 seconds, hitting any key will pause the BOOT process. The number 8169922 is the Build Version of the software.



At the Welcome to the VMware ESXi 6.7.0 Installation screen Hit Enter to Continue the installation.



Press F11 (Function Key 11) to Accept the VMware End User License Agreement (EULA)



The ESXi installer will scan the computer storage controller for available devices to install ESXi.



ESXi can be installed on a USB flash drive, SD card attached to the server, local SATA, local RAID Array, or Fibre Channel or iSCSI LUNs. All these are supported options. As the footprint for ESXi is very small only 1GB is required for the ESXi OS installation.


When prompted select a disk to install ESXi on, in the following example, we have two disks connected to this computer, a single 1GB disk, and a 120GB disk. We are going to use the small disk for the OS. (this simulates the USB flash drive!). The larger 120GB disk will be used later for the storage of virtual machines later in another article.



When prompted, select the keyboard layout and hit Enter to continue. The default keyboard layout is US Default. As I am based in the United Kingdom, I am going to select United Kingdom.



When prompted enter a root password, confirm the password and hit Enter to continue. Please ensure the password is complex, and the root password is recorded. There is no password recovery, if the password is forgotten there is no method to recover, other than re-install ESXi.



The following will be displayed



When prompted Confirm the Installation on the selected disk and press F11 (Install)

- Function Key 11


All data will be erased, as the disk will be formatted and partitioned.



The Progress Bar will confirm installation progress.



The installation only takes approximately 5-10 minutes, depending upon the speed of storage. When the installation has completed the following screen will be displayed.



Remove the CDROM installation disk before rebooting. Hit Enter to Reboot. After hitting Enter the following screen will be displayed and the computer will reboot.


ESXi 6.7 will operate in evaluation mode for 60 days. This is the same mode as a FULLY LICENSED ESXi 6.7 server. If you wish to evaluate all the bells and whistles that ESXi 6.7 has to offer, do not register your FREE license on the server for 60 days, this will allow you to evaluate ESXi 6.7 server fully. On day 59/60, Apply your FREE license to continue using the product, or you will not be able to power on any virtual machines.


3. Configuring VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)


Vsphere

The following screen is displayed when VMware ESXi 6.7 first boots. Please note the recovery options. It auto-boots after 5 seconds.



Modules and drivers are loaded into ram.



The modules are initialised



The startup sequence..if using a secure boot UEFI server, the bottom colour is cyan, not yellow!







The server is fully booted when it displays the following screen



The default server configuration is to use DHCP, if you do not have a DHCP server issuing IP Addresses on your network you will need to assign an IP Address. We recommend you use a static IP Address for your ESXi Host Server and make sure that this IP Address is registered against a DNS A record in DNS.
Press F2 to Customize System, you will be prompted to enter the root username and password. (that you recorded earlier in Step 1.)



Select Configure Management Network to change Network Parameters.


Select IPv4 Configuration



Set the Static IPv4 address and network configuration, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway, it's important to set the correct Default Gateway, as this will be used later. Hit Enter to confirm and save the configuration.



Select DNS Configuration, enter the correct DNS information for your network, and enter a hostname for your server. Hit Enter to save the configuration. Pay particular attention to DNS when installing VMware vSphere, many issues are posted to Experts Exchange because there is no DNS, or hostnames are not registered in DNS. Ensure you have a good working DNS before you start an installation.



Select Custom DNS Suffixes


Enter your DNS suffix (the domain name for your network). Make sure you have created a DNS A Record in your DNS, so that this server can be resolved correctly through forward and reverse lookups.



Hit Enter to save your configuration.
Press Escape. The following screen will appear, select <Y> Yes to apply changes.



Press Escape to Logout and return to the console screen.
You will notice on the console screen, the server now has a hostname configured, and correct static IP Address.


Esxi 5.5 Download Iso


Congratulations you have successfully installed and configured VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7.
In the next article in the series, we will connect and continue to configure the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7.


Basic VMware Articles Series:


These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0, 5.5, 6.0.


These articles are applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5.









If you found this tutorial helpful, please do click the Thumbs-Up icon below. This lets me know what is valuable for EE members and provides direction for future articles. Thank you very much! Regards, Andy



This entry was posted on 5/20/2019.