There are several ways of installing ESXi 6.0 on a node:
- burn the installer iso to a bootable disc
- create an installable USB stick (using unetbootin)
As I have a lot of empty discs collecting dust, I opt for burning the image :-). Either way is fine.
- Insert the USB stick or connect an external CD drive and let’s get started
- The first couple of screens are self-explanatory
- After accepting the EULA, you’ll see the freshly mounted LUN on which we will install ESXi 6.0. If you are booting from USB stick, that media will also show up here under ‘local’
The screenshot on the left is optional and only comes up if you are re-using an existing iSCSI Boot LUN.
I’ve included this for reference so if your LUN is new then you won’t see this screen.
- Select the correct keyboard layout or just go with the default
- Make sure you create a good complex password. This password is used for initial configuration after which you store it somewhere safe for emergencies
- After verifying you really really want to install on this LUN, press F11
- Installation does not take long after which a reboot is required
- Make sure you remove the CD or USB stick!
…. and there you have it: a spiffy new ESXi 6.0 install
First things first: local settings on the node
- Now that the installation is finished, press F2 to logon to the local node
As the node has three NIC’s, we need to make sure the correct one is selected as our management interface. So first, go into Network Adapters
- In the 3rd screenshot you see my three NIC’s, initially the onboard NIC was selected which, in my case, is incorrect
- Press “D” to see more information on the selected NIC
- Put a tickmark in front of the correct NIC with the “spacebar“
Call me old-fashioned but I always use static IP addresses for my important components. This reduces dependencies on other components, for instance DHCP. In case of a failure or power outage and reboot. If DHCP doesnt come up, but the switches/routers/ESXi do, I can always reach them.
- Go back one menu page and select the IPv4 Configuration page
- Change the tickmark to “Static“
- Add the IP address, subnet and gateway of the host, according to the Network Design
- Go back one menu page and select the IPv6 Configuration page
- Disable IPv6 (I don’t use it internally so why keep it on)
- Setting the DNS Configuration my DNS server
- Setting the DNS suffix, makes it easier to use just hostnames, the suffix will be appended automatically
- Lastly, we need to restart the management network to apply all the changes we made
In case of trouble
Sometimes you need to access the CLI, for instance for partutil or for driver injection. SSH is disabled by default.
- You can find this feature under Troubleshooting Options
- Enable SSH
One node done, two to go.