Specifications

2 On the Linux machine, install PXELINUX.

PXELINUX is included in the SYSLINUX package. Extract the files, locate the pxelinux.0 file and copy

it to the /tftpboot directory on your TFTP server.

3 Configure the DHCP server to send the following information to each client host:

The name or IP address of your TFTP server.

The name of your initial boot file. This is pxelinux.0.

4 Copy the contents of the ESXi installer image to the /var/lib/tftpboot directory on the TFTP server.

5 (Optional) For a scripted installation, in the boot.cfg file, add the kernelopt option on the line

following the kernel command, to specify the location of the installation script.

Use the following code as a model, where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address of the server where the

installation script resides, and esxi_ksFiles is the directory containing the ks.cfg file.

kernelopt=ks=http://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/esxi_ksFiles/ks.cfg

6 Create a PXE configuration file.

This file defines how the host boots when no operating system is present. The PXE configuration file

references the boot files. Use the following code as a model, where XXXXXX is the build number of the

ESXi installer image.

DEFAULT menu.c32

MENU TITLE ESXi-5.0.0-XXXXXX-full Boot Menu

NOHALT 1

PROMPT 0

TIMEOUT 80

LABEL install

KERNEL mboot.c32

APPEND -c location of boot.cfg

MENU LABEL ESXi-5.0.0-XXXXXX-full ^Installer

LABEL hddboot

LOCALBOOT 0x80

MENU LABEL ^Boot from local disk

7 Name the file with the MAC address of the target host machine: 01-mac_address_of_target_ESXi_host.

For example, 01-23-45-67-89-0a-bc.

8 Save the PXE configuration file in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg on the TFTP server.

9 Boot the machine with the network adapter.

PXE Boot the ESXi Installer by Using PXELINUX and an isolinux.cfg PXE Configuration File

You can PXE boot the ESXi installer using PXELINUX, and use the isolinux.cfg file as the PXE configuration

file.

See also “About Installation and Upgrade Scripts,” on page 117 and “About the boot.cfg File,” on page 125

Prerequisites

Verify that your environment has the following components:

The ESXi installer ISO image downloaded from the VMware Web site.

TFTP server that supports PXE booting with PXELINUX. See “About the TFTP Server, PXELINUX, and

gPXE,” on page 92.

DHCP server configured for PXE booting. See “Sample DHCP Configuration,” on page 93.

PXELINUX

vSphere Upgrade

96 VMware, Inc.