6.7
Table Of Contents
- VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
- Contents
- About VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
- Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup
- Overview of the vSphere Installation and Setup Process
- About ESXi Evaluation and Licensed Modes
- Installing and Setting Up ESXi
- ESXi Requirements
- Preparing for Installing ESXi
- Download the ESXi Installer
- Options for Installing ESXi
- Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer
- Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
- Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade
- Create a USB Flash Drive to Store the ESXi Installation Script or Upgrade Script
- Create an Installer ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script
- PXE Booting the ESXi Installer
- Installing and Booting ESXi with Software FCoE
- Using Remote Management Applications
- Customizing Installations with vSphere ESXi Image Builder
- Required Information for ESXi Installation
- Installing ESXi
- Installing ESXi Interactively
- Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script
- Approaches for Scripted Installation
- Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
- About Installation and Upgrade Scripts
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a CD or DVD by Using a Script
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a USB Flash Drive by Using a Script
- Performing a Scripted Installation or Upgrade of ESXi by Using PXE to Boot the Installer
- PXE Booting the ESXi Installer
- Installing ESXi Using vSphere Auto Deploy
- Understanding vSphere Auto Deploy
- Preparing for vSphere Auto Deploy
- Managing vSphere Auto Deploy with PowerCLI Cmdlets
- vSphere Auto Deploy PowerCLI Cmdlet Overview
- Assign an Image Profile to Hosts
- Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts
- Write a Rule and Assign a Host to a Folder or Cluster
- Configure a Stateless System by Running a Custom Script
- Test and Repair Rule Compliance
- Register a Caching Proxy Server Address with vSphere Auto Deploy
- Managing vSphere Auto Deploy with the vSphere Web Client
- Create a Deploy Rule
- Start the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- Name the Rule and Define Matching Criteria in the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select an Image Profile in the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select a Host Profile in the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select Host Location in the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- View the Summary of the New Deploy Rule Wizard
- Clone a Deploy Rule
- Start the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard
- Name the Rule and Define Matching Criteria in the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select an Image Profile in the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select a Host Profile in the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard
- Select Host Location in the Clone Deploy Rule
- View the Summary of the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard
- Editing a Deploy Rule
- Activate, Deactivate, and Reorder Deploy Rules
- View Host Associations
- Edit the Image Profile Association of a Host
- Remediate a Non-compliant Host
- Add a Host to the vSphere Auto Deploy Inventory
- Create a Deploy Rule
- Provisioning ESXi Systems with vSphere Auto Deploy
- Using vSphere Auto Deploy for Stateless Caching and Stateful Installs
- Setting Up a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host
- Understanding Reference Host Setup
- Options for Configuration of a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host
- Configure ESXi Dump Collector with ESXCLI
- Configure ESXi Dump Collector from the Host Profiles Feature in the vSphere Web Client
- Configure Syslog from the Host Profiles Feature in the vSphere Web Client
- Enable NTP Client on a Reference Host in the vSphere Web Client
- Configure Networking for Your vSphere Auto Deploy Host in the vSphere Web Client
- Configure a Reference Host for Auto-Partitioning
- vSphere Auto Deploy Best Practices and Security Consideration
- Set Up vSphere Auto Deploy and Provision Hosts with vSphere PowerCLI
- vSphere Auto Deploy Preinstallation Checklist
- Install the TFTP Server
- Install PowerCLI
- Prepare the vSphere Auto Deploy Target Hosts
- Prepare the DHCP Server for vSphere Auto Deploy Provisioning
- Configure the vSphere Auto Deploy and TFTP Environment in the vSphere Web Client
- Prepare the ESXi Software Depot and Write a Rule
- Provision the First Host with vSphere Auto Deploy
- Extract and Configure a Host Profile from the Reference Host
- Create a Rule that Provisions Hosts from a Specific IP Range
- Provision Hosts and Set Up Host Customizations
- Troubleshooting vSphere Auto Deploy
- vSphere Auto Deploy TFTP Timeout Error at Boot Time
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Boots with Wrong Configuration
- Host Is Not Redirected to vSphere Auto Deploy Server
- Package Warning Message When You Assign an Image Profile to a vSphere Auto Deploy Host
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host with a Built-In USB Flash Drive Does Not Send Coredumps to Local Disk
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Reboots After Five Minutes
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Cannot Contact TFTP Server
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Cannot Retrieve ESXi Image from vSphere Auto Deploy Server
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Does Not Get a DHCP Assigned Address
- vSphere Auto Deploy Host Does Not Network Boot
- Recovering from Database Corruption on the vSphere Auto Deploy Server
- Setting Up ESXi
- ESXi Autoconfiguration
- About the Direct Console ESXi Interface
- Enable ESXi Shell and SSH Access with the Direct Console User Interface
- Managing ESXi Remotely
- Set the Password for the Administrator Account
- Configuring the BIOS Boot Settings
- Configuring Network Settings
- Network Access to Your ESXi Host
- ESXi Networking Security Recommendations
- Choose Network Adapters for the Management Network
- Set the VLAN ID
- Configuring IP Settings for ESXi
- Configuring DNS for ESXi
- Configure the Network Settings on a Host That Is Not Attached to the Network
- Test the Management Network
- Restart the Management Agents
- Restart the Management Network
- Test Connectivity to Devices and Networks
- Restoring the Standard Switch
- Storage Behavior
- Configuring System Logging
- Set the Host Image Profile Acceptance Level
- Remove All Custom Packages on ESXi
- Disable Support for Non-ASCII Characters in Virtual Machine File and Directory Names
- Reset the System Configuration
- After You Install and Set Up ESXi
- Troubleshooting ESXi Booting
- Decommission an ESXi Host
Using vSphere Auto Deploy in a Production Environment
When you move from a proof of concept setup to a production environment, take care to make the
environment resilient.
n
Protect the vSphere Auto Deploy server. See vSphere Auto Deploy and vSphere HA Best Practices.
n
Protect all other servers in your environment, including the DHCP server and the TFTP server.
n
Follow VMware security guidelines, including those outlined in vSphere Auto Deploy Security
Considerations.
Set Up Highly Available vSphere Auto Deploy Infrastructure
In many production situations, a highly available vSphere Auto Deploy infrastructure is required to prevent
data loss. Such infrastructure is also a prerequisite for using vSphere Auto Deploy with stateless caching.
Highly Available vSphere Auto Deploy Infrastructure
(http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2296383276001?
bctid=ref:video_ha_auto_deploy_infrastructure)
Figure 5‑8. Highly Available vSphere Auto Deploy Infrastructure
ESXi
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SAN
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VM VM VM
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VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
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