HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)VMware and Virtualization Consultant
CERTIFIED EXPERT
EE Fellow, MVE, Expert of the Year 2021,2017-11, Scribe 2016-2012, Author of the Year 2018-6,2013-2012 VMware vExpert Pro, vExpert 2022-2011
Published:
Updated:
Edited by: Andrew Leniart
HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7), Step by Step Tutorial with screenshots. From Download, Checking Media, to Completed Hypervisor Installation.

In my previous Experts Exchange Articles, most have featured Basic and Intermediate VMware and Virtualisation Topics. 


If you would like to read my Basic VMware articles, they are listed at the end of this article for your convenience.


This article will show you how to install and configure the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 on a computer. VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 is also known as ESXi 6.7.


A full list of the ESXi 6.7 Hardware Requirements can be found in the VMware ESXi 6.7 Install Guide.


Check the VMware Hardware Compatibility Lists (HCL), to discover if your computer is certified for use with ESXi 6.7.


If your computer is not listed on the VMware HCL, it may still be possible to install and run VMware ESXi 6.7 on your laptop, desktop, or server. The HCL exists because the server vendor and VMware have certified and tested ESXi 6.7 will function correctly, on the servers listed on the HCL.


Andy's Golden Nugget - Many of the older processors, e.g. Xeons 5 series have been removed from ESXi 6.7. So ESXi will not even install now, try ESXi 6.5.

 

1. Register with VMware.com and Download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7


Open the following link in your web browser Download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7



Click the License and Download Tab. 


Click Create an Account, to Create an Account and Login to the VMware Download Center. VMware will email you an Activation link which needs to be opened to create the account.

The following page will be displayed when you have successfully logged into the VMware Download Center.



Pay special attention to the FREE License information which is displayed, and record this License Number, this will be required in a later article.


Click the download link for VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image (Includes VMware Tools) to download the software required to install ESXi 6.7. The filename you want to download is called VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso, The clue is in the word VMvisor installer, many questions get posted to Experts Exchange because the wrong file has been downloaded and burnt to a CDROM!


The seven digit number 8169922 indicates the Build number of ESXi, this number will increase if your patch your host ESXi server. Build 8169922 is the GA release of ESXi 6.7.0. GA - General availability or general acceptance (GA) release. The first release of ESXi 6.7. If you use an OEM (HPE, Dell, Fujitsu etc) vendor release of ESXi 6.7 recommended for vendor servers, your build number may be different. At time or writing this article the latest build is Build 9484548, patching will be covered later in a new article.


Either use the Download Manager or Manually Download button (which uses your web browser). The CD ISO is only 330MB so should not take too long to download. We now have a very fast internet connection, but on our slow internet connection at approx 350 kB/sec, and it takes us approximately 10 minutes to download.


Once the downloads have been completed using your favourite MD5 and SHA1 checksum utility, confirm the downloads have been downloaded correctly, using the published MD5 and SHA1 checksums from the VMware website.  We use the MD5 & SHA-1 Checksum Utility 2.1 from http://raylin.wordpress.com/downloads/md5-sha-1-checksum-utility/


Many VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 installations fail due to corrupt downloads.


MD5SUM(¹): bd218f0f26510e690695116d8628e4af
SHA1SUM(¹): 332731ffb6715cd7a469ce0f6b81aeda6f624be7
SHA256SUM(¹): 884ead30532f4a5c2152e4ac450839a0062aba3ae859b5fa5e233ce4275c8cb6


2. Installing VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)


Write (Burn) the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso downloaded in Step 1, to a blank CDROM, using your favourite CD writing software. We use ISO Recorder (http://alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm). If you are using remote server utilities, e.g. HP iLo or Dell iDRAC,. you can attach the virtual CDROM drive in the server to the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0-8169922.x86_64.iso ISO, so there is no requirement to write a CDROM.


This is a step which is often missed, ensure the BIOS BOOT order is set to BOOT from the CDROM Device or ATAPI device in the server, otherwise the computer will not BOOT from the CDROM.


Power on the Computer, the computer will BOOT from the CDROM, and the following BOOT screen will be displayed



The default option is to BOOT ESXi-6.7.0-8169922-standard Installer after 10 seconds, hitting any key will pause the BOOT process. The number 8169922 is the Build Version of the software.



At the Welcome to the VMware ESXi 6.7.0 Installation screen Hit Enter to Continue the installation.



Press F11 (Function Key 11) to Accept the VMware End User License Agreement (EULA)



The ESXi installer will scan the computer storage controller for available devices to install ESXi.



ESXi can be installed on a USB flash drive, SD card attached to the server, local SATA, local RAID Array, or Fibre Channel or iSCSI LUNs. All these are supported options. As the footprint for ESXi is very small only 1GB is required for the ESXi OS installation.


When prompted select a disk to install ESXi on, in the following example, we have two disks connected to this computer, a single 1GB disk, and a 120GB disk. We are going to use the small disk for the OS. (this simulates the USB flash drive!). The larger 120GB disk will be used later for the storage of virtual machines later in another article.



When prompted, select the keyboard layout and hit Enter to continue. The default keyboard layout is US Default. As I am based in the United Kingdom, I am going to select United Kingdom.



When prompted enter a root password, confirm the password and hit Enter to continue. Please ensure the password is complex, and the root password is recorded. There is no password recovery, if the password is forgotten there is no method to recover, other than re-install ESXi.



The following will be displayed



When prompted Confirm the Installation on the selected disk and press F11 (Install)

 - Function Key 11


All data will be erased, as the disk will be formatted and partitioned.



The Progress Bar will confirm installation progress.



The installation only takes approximately 5-10 minutes, depending upon the speed of storage. When the installation has completed the following screen will be displayed.



Remove the CDROM installation disk before rebooting. Hit Enter to Reboot. After hitting Enter the following screen will be displayed and the computer will reboot.


ESXi 6.7 will operate in evaluation mode for 60 days. This is the same mode as a FULLY LICENSED ESXi 6.7 server. If you wish to evaluate all the bells and whistles that ESXi 6.7 has to offer, do not register your FREE license on the server for 60 days, this will allow you to evaluate ESXi 6.7 server fully. On day 59/60, Apply your FREE license to continue using the product, or you will not be able to power on any virtual machines.


3. Configuring VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)


The following screen is displayed when VMware ESXi 6.7 first boots. Please note the recovery options. It auto-boots after 5 seconds.



Modules and drivers are loaded into ram.



The modules are initialised



The startup sequence...if using a secure boot UEFI server, the bottom colour is cyan, not yellow!







The server is fully booted when it displays the following screen



The default server configuration is to use DHCP, if you do not have a DHCP server issuing IP Addresses on your network you will need to assign an IP Address. We recommend you use a static IP Address for your ESXi Host Server and make sure that this IP Address is registered against a DNS A record in DNS.

Press F2 to Customize System, you will be prompted to enter the root username and password. (that you recorded earlier in Step 1.)



Select Configure Management Network to change Network Parameters.


Select IPv4 Configuration



Set the Static IPv4 address and network configuration, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway, it's important to set the correct Default Gateway, as this will be used later. Hit Enter to confirm and save the configuration. 



Select DNS Configuration, enter the correct DNS information for your network, and enter a hostname for your server. Hit Enter to save the configuration. Pay particular attention to DNS when installing VMware vSphere, many issues are posted to Experts Exchange because there is no DNS, or hostnames are not registered in DNS. Ensure you have a good working DNS before you start an installation.



Select Custom DNS Suffixes


Enter your DNS suffix (the domain name for your network). Make sure you have created a DNS A Record in your DNS, so that this server can be resolved correctly through forward and reverse lookups.



Hit Enter to save your configuration.

Press Escape. The following screen will appear, select <Y> Yes to apply changes.



Press Escape to Logout and return to the console screen.

You will notice on the console screen, the server now has a hostname configured, and correct static IP Address.



Congratulations you have successfully installed and configured VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7. 

In the next article in the series, we will connect and continue to configure the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7.


Basic VMware Articles Series:


These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0, 5.5, 6.0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


These articles are applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5.










If you found this tutorial helpful, please do click the Thumbs-Up icon below. This lets me know what is valuable for EE members and provides direction for future articles. Thank you very much! Regards, Andy



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Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)VMware and Virtualization Consultant
CERTIFIED EXPERT
EE Fellow, MVE, Expert of the Year 2021,2017-11, Scribe 2016-2012, Author of the Year 2018-6,2013-2012 VMware vExpert Pro, vExpert 2022-2011

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