Install ESXi Using the VMware Imaging Appliance

You can use the VMware Imaging Appliance service (VIA) included with the VMware Cloud Builder appliance to image servers for use in the management domain and VI workload domains.

You must have access to the VMware Cloud Builder appliance to use the VMware Imaging Appliance service. If you deleted the VMware Cloud Builder after bring-up, you can redeploy it as described in "Deploy Cloud Foundation Builder Appliance" in the VMware Cloud Foundation Deployment Guide.

The default root credentials for servers imaged with VIA are user root, password EvoSddc!2016.

Prerequisites

For the supported ESXi versions, see the BOM section of the VMware Cloud Foundation Release Notes and the list of supported async patches in KB 88287.

Note: If you are preparing hosts for a VI workload domain where the ESXi hosts have been async patched to a later version of ESXi than the version listed in the BOM, the new hosts must use the later version of ESXi.