6.5.1

The interaction between the ESXi host and other servers proceeds as follows:
1 The user boots the target ESXi host.
2 The target ESXi host makes a DHCP request.
3 The DHCP server responds with the IP information and the location of the TFTP server.
4 The ESXi host contacts the TFTP server and requests the file that the DHCP server specified.
5 The TFTP server sends the network boot loader, and the ESXi host executes it. The initial boot loader
might load additional boot loader components from the TFTP server.
6 The boot loader searches for a configuration file on the TFTP server, downloads the kernel and other
ESXi components from the HTTP server or the TFTP server and boots the kernel on the ESXi host.
7 The installer runs interactively or using a kickstart script, as specified in the configuration file.
PXE Boot the ESXi Installer Using TFTP
You can use a TFTP server to PXE boot the ESXi installer. The process differs slightly depending on
whether you use UEFI or boot from a legacy BIOS. Because most environments include ESXi hosts that
support UEFI boot and hosts that support only legacy BIOS, this topic discusses prerequisites and steps
for both types of hosts.
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For legacy BIOS machines, the procedure supports booting multiple different versions of the ESXi
installer by using the same pxelinux.0 or gpxelinux.0 initial boot loader for all target machines,
but potentially different PXELINUX configuration files depending on the target machine's MAC
address.
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For UEFI machines, the procedure supports booting multiple different versions of the ESXi installer by
using the same mboot.efi initial boot loader for all target machines, but potentially different
boot.cfg files depending on the target machine's MAC address.
Prerequisites
Verify that your environment meets the following prerequisites.
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ESXi installer ISO image, downloaded from the VMware Web site.
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Target host with a hardware configuration that is supported for your version of ESXi. See the VMware
Compatibility Guide.
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Network adapter with PXE support on the target ESXi host.
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DHCP server configured for PXE booting. See Sample DHCP Configurations.
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TFTP server.
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Network security policies to allow TFTP traffic (UDP port 69).
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For legacy BIOS, you can use only IPv4 networking. For UEFI PXE boot, you can use IPv4 or IPv6
networking.
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(Optional) Installation script (kickstart file).
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