by Arjan | Apr 25, 2011 | VMware
In the last blog post we’ve installed VMware Workstation. Now we’ll install VMware ESXi within workstation.
Make sure you’ve downloaded the ESXi ISO file HERE
If you’re done downloading lets jump right into installing:
Open Workstation and go to File –> New –> Virtual Machine the next screen will show:
Choose Custom and click next. The following screen will show:
Make sure Workstation 6.5-7.x is selected and click Next. The following screen will show:
Choose “Installer disc image file (iso):” and browse to the downloaded ISO file and select it. Click Next and the following screen will show:
Make sure VMware ESX –> ESX Server 4 and click Next. The following screen will show:
Provide a name and location for the Virtual Machine and click Next. The following screen will show:
Select the right processor configuration and click Next (Most of the time default is OK). The following screen will show:
Select the amount of memory available for the Virtual Machine and click Next. The following screen will show:
Choose the network connection you want to use and click Next. The following screen will show:
Select the I/O comtroller you want to use (in most cases the recommended) and click Next. The following screen will show:
Select a Disk (Create a new virtual disk) and click Next. The following screen will show:
Select the Virtual disk type (SCSI) and click Next. The following screen will show:
Specify Disk Capacity and Click Next. The following screen will show:
Specify the Disk File and click Next. The following screen will show:
Check the Virtual Machine settings and click Finish. The following screen will show:
Click with the mouse in the VM Screen an press Enter. The following screen will show:
Press Enter to Install. The following screen will show:
Press F11 to Accept and Continue. The following screen will show:
Press Enter to Continue. The following screen will show:
Press F11 to Install. The following screen will show:
After Install The following screen will show:
Press Enter to Reboot. After Reboot the following screen will show:
Press F2 to customize the system. The following screen will show:
The default Root password is blank, so just press enter. The following screen will show:
Press Enter to configure a new Root Password. The following screen will show:
Put the new Password in twice, and press enter. The following screen will show:
Select Configure Management Network and press Enter. The following screen will show:
Go to IP Configuration and press Enter. The following screen will show:
Input the right IP Address, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway and press Enter. Select DNS config and press Enter the following screen will show:
Put in the right DNS Settings and press enter and then Esc. to exit the Configure Management Network settings. The following screen will show:
Press Y (Yes) to confirm. The following screen will show:
Open a webbrowser and surf to the provided site http://entered-ip-address(DNS). The following screen will show:
Press Continue to this website (not recommended). The following screen will show:
Click Download the vSphere Client and install the client. After install the following screen will show:
Put in the settings just set for the ESXi server and Login. The following screen will show:
Check the Install this certificate… box and press Ignore. The following screen will show:
Congratulations your done installing ESXi. Here –>ESXi Install Guide (PDF) is the guide for download
Be sure to look at the documentation provided by VMware..
by Arjan | Apr 25, 2011 | VMware
In this post I’ll be covering the installation of VMware Workstation 7.1.4. Through installing Workstation it’s possible to install VMware ESXi on almost every 64-bit hardware. There are only a couple of things needed to install ESXi within Workstation. There must be enough RAM (3 GB a minimum but 4 GB and more is preferable) You’ll need a couple of GB’s of HDD (see this post for VMware ESXi recommendations) and the processor must be Intel VT/AMD-V compatible.
First we’ll need to download the VMware Workstation software, which can be done here:
http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_downloads/vmware_workstation/7_0
If downloaded we can begin the installation:
Double click the downloaded exe file, the following screen will popup:
Click Next, the following screen will popup:
Click Typical, the following screen will show:
Provide the destination folder in which you want workstation to be installed and click Next. The following screen will show:
Leave the default setting (Check for updates) and click Next. The following screen will show:
Choose if you want to help improve Workstation (or not) and click Next, the following screen will show:
Choose the shortcuts you want to create and click Next, the following screen will show:
Press Continue to start the installation, the following screen will show:
After a while the installation will ask you to provide a License Key. Provide the license key (Trial needs a key too), the following screen will show:
Click Restart Now to restart the computer.
Depending on your choice where to install the shortcuts just find one and open workstation. The following screen will show:
Accept the license agrreement and click OK. The following screen will show:
The installation of VMware Workstation is done. Take a look around all the options provided (make sure to check Edit –> Virtual Network Editor to see the network options) and get familiar with VMware Workstation.
The Guide can be downloaded as a PDF here.
Also take a look at the documentation provided by VMware:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/ws_pubs.html
When your familiar with Workstation it’s time to install ESXi. For the Step by Step installation of VMware ESXi 4.1 U1 click HERE
by Arjan | Apr 25, 2011 | VCAP-DCA, VCAP-DCD, VMware
It was a cold dark night in the winter of 2005 when I screamed myself awake out of a horrible nightmare. For over 7 years I was knocking on the Microsoft gate, but no one ever opened. It became clear Microsoft just would take another 2 years of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and their “award winning” Virtual Server 2005, before Server 2008 and Hyper-V would be released….. It became clear to me I was in desperate need of some innovative new IT solutions. I needed change, and I needed it right now….
After a hot shower (getting rid of the the cold sweats). I started surfing the internet, searching for that one product that would change my IT life. Looking at the trends to come, and the innovators of the past, there was one company ranking number 1 on all searches: VMware. Why didn’t I know about them? Where had they been my begone IT life? But more important, How could I get educated in the Holy Grail of virtualization products….
After reading multiple sites and books, a second chance for my IT life unfolded for my eyes that night. The next morning I registered for the: VMware infrastructure 3: Install and configure course. Only my job as an IT administrator claimed to much time to get certified. Suffering a severe Spinal disc herniation (and operation) in 2009, my main focus was on getting my life back the last 2 years. In 2010 I followed the VMware vSphere: What’s New? course and did the exam, becoming a VMware Certified Professional 4 (VCP4). Now everything is slowly going to “normal” again, I’m aiming on becoming a VCAP-DCA and VCAP-DCD before VMworld Europe 2011. The world changed, the IT changed (it’s getting more Cloudy every day ;-)) but VMware still is the holy grail in virtualization, and they will be for many years to come.
Although VCP is a great certification, it’s not enough for the virtualized environments build these days. Sure, it provides a very solid foundation in the virtualization world, but to build a complete infrastructure you’ll need more. A lot of issues are being discussed briefly or even left open. Troubleshooting, Security, PowerCLI, Performance, Design and Disaster Recovery are discussed in depth in the courses provided by VMware Educational services (just click the links for more info).
For me the VCAP Quest begins with installing ESXi in my Home lab all over again. And it made me realize it would be a good thing to write everything down step by step and put them on this blog. Although there are several very good guides and blogs online covering the installation of the vSphere software, I noticed my learning curve spikes when I’m writing down the stuff I’m learning about. Everything will be done in step by step guides.
One last thing: Only VMware ESXi will be allowed in my home lab. Why? VMware announced all upcoming products will be ESXi only…. Sure ESX has the Service Console and is the product which made VMware the Holy Grail, but it’s also extra bagage that needs to be protected and administrated…. Added to that, ESXi is as good and maintainable as ESX and learning how to install and maintain ESXi will be affordable in all years to come.
In the next posts we’ll begin the installation of ESXi. To make a screenshots for the step by step guide I used the opportunity to install ESXi within workstation. This is a great and easy way to get started with VMware ESXi and with “normal” (non Hardware Compatibilty List) hardware. Don’t think ESXi will only install on expensive “server”hardware, though. There are plenty of guides online which show how to install ESXi on normal “client”hardware (just search on ESXi on a whitebox). This is a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago on hardware for my ESXi host.
For installing VMware ESXi in VMware Workstation you’ll need to download the following products:
Workstation 7.1.4 (30 day trial): http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_downloads/vmware_workstation/7_0
ESXi 4.1 U1 (60 day trial): http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vsphere_hypervisor_esxi/4_0
As said We’ll start with the installation of VMware workstation 7.1.4. Go to the first guide by clicking HERE
