You use the ESXi CD/DVD or a USB flash drive to install the ESXi software onto a SAS, SATA, SCSI hard drive, or USB drive.
Prerequisites
- You must have the ESXi installer ISO in one of the following locations:
- On CD or DVD. If you do not have the installation CD/DVD, you can create one. See Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
- On a USB flash drive. See Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade.
Note: You can also PXE boot the ESXi installer to run an interactive installation or a scripted installation. See PXE Booting the ESXi Installer. - Verify that the server hardware clock is set to UTC. This setting is in the system BIOS.
- Verify that a keyboard and monitor are attached to the machine on which the ESXi software is installed. Alternatively, use a remote management application. See Using Remote Management Applications.
- Consider disconnecting your network storage. This action decreases the time it takes the installer to search for available disk drives. When you disconnect network storage, any files on the disconnected disks are unavailable at installation.
Do not disconnect a LUN that contains an existing ESX or ESXi installation. Do not disconnect a VMFS datastore that contains the Service Console of an existing ESX installation. These actions can affect the outcome of the installation.
- Gather the information required by the ESXi installation wizard. See Required Information for ESXi Installation.
- Verify that ESXi Embedded is not present on the host machine. ESXi Installable and ESXi Embedded cannot exist on the same host.
Procedure
Results
You can boot a single machine from each ESXi image. Booting multiple devices from a single shared ESXi image is not supported.
What to do next
Set up basic administration and network configuration for ESXi. See After You Install and Set Up ESXi.