Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7 through PXE boot

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VMware ESXi 6.7 has just been released and in this blog post I’m going to show you how to Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7 through PXE boot. There’s also a small change in boot.cfg compared to prior versions which needs to be address for a successful deployment (the kernel).

Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7

Download the VMware ESXi 6.7 ISO image and copy the content to C:\TFTP\TFTP\ESX. Open the file boot.cfg and change the paths or just copy/paste the code:

Create the folder C:\TFTP\TFTP\pxelinux.cfg and a file inside it named 01-THE-MAC-ADRESS-OF-HYPERVISOR like this 01-00-1F-C6-9B-D9-4C. Copy/paste the code:

As you can see below we have a boot menu that automatically boots to the Local OS or we can select to install either Citrix XenServer or VMware ESXi.

Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7

Create the folder C:\FTP\KS and a file inside it named nuc06.cfg and copy/paste the code:

My kickstarter file above does a lot of stuff, but it’s a great example to get you started with Hypervisor automation.

Finally you’ll need a TFTP/FTP program, I’m using Serva Community.

Make sure to use the GUI or edit the Serva.ini file to specify the TFTP and FTP folder location.

Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7

If you want to learn how to deploy hundreds of Hypervisor fully automated and other cool automation stuff make sure to check out my 3 day Automation Framework Master Class.

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Friday 30th of September 2022

9 thoughts on “Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7 through PXE boot”

  1. Ah wow not only is this is useful post to begin with but the example kickstart file with all the extra stuff in it is super duper useful, thanks.

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  2. The information on this page is very helpful and useful.

    Any idea what would cause the kickstart file to not execute an ovftool command that works perfectly on command line?

    i.e. the ovftool is correctly installed, and the command I pass to it in the kickstart file does not work and after the installation is complete, the VM has not been installed. I can then ssh to the box and run the exact same line and the VM is registered correctly.

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  3. I have a kickstart config file created and it works great…however I cannot for the life of me get the NTP Configuration to work at all. DO you have any secret or advice as the GUI shows no configuration and the service is off.

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      • Tried running them manually. I get no error and the service does not start. I issues the NTPD start command and still nothing. I can manually edit in the UI and no issues…just not via CLI.

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