Specifications

For a scripted installation, upgrade, or migration, you must use the supported commands to create a script.
and edit the script to change settings that are unique for each host.
The installation or upgrade script can reside in one of the following locations:
n
FTP
n
HTTP/HTTPS
n
NFS
n
USB flash drive
n
CDROM
Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
You can start an installation or upgrade script by typing boot command-line options at the boot command
line.
At boot time you might need to specify options to access the kickstart file. You can enter boot options by
pressing Shift+O in the boot loader. For a PXE boot installation, you can pass options through the
kernelopts line of the boot.cfg file. See “About the boot.cfg File,” on page 125 and “PXE Booting the ESXi
Installer,” on page 91.
A ks=... option must be given, to specify the location of the installation script. Otherwise, a scripted
installation or upgrade will not start. If ks=... is omitted, the text installer will proceed.
Supported boot options are listed in “Boot Options,” on page 116.
IMPORTANT After you upgrade or migrate your host to ESXi 5.0, you cannot roll back to your version 4.x
ESX or ESXi software. Back up your host before you perform an upgrade or migration, so that, if the
upgrade or migration fails, you can restore your 4.x host.
Procedure
1 Start the host.
2 When the ESXi installer window appears, press Shift+O to edit boot options.
3 At the runweasel command prompt, type
ks=location of installation script plus boot command line options
Chapter 6 Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts
VMware, Inc. 115