VMware  ESXi and  Vcenter Installation on xFusion server

Below queries will be covered

• How to install VMware ESXi
• How to install  VSphere vCenter
• What is hypervisor type 1 & 2
• How to create cluster in VMware vCenter
• How to downlaod VMware ESXi & vCenter

As in our last post of server OS installation I already showed you how to access server iBMC & configure the sever basic setup,today I will continue from next steps that how to install ESXi on server.

Hypervisor Types:

First let me give short definition of Hypervisor. There are two of Hypervisor

Type 1 hypervisor is installed directly on physical hardware no need prior Operating system and type 2 is installed on top of  OS like Window operating system.The difference b/w both is type 1 have high performance & used in live production environment & type 2 is lower performance & used for training purpose.

VMware ESXi Installation:

VMvisor name is also used for EXSI sometime, first download the ESXI or VMvisor file from official website of Broadcom ,may first required support portal account.

After download the ESXI/VMvisor file login to server as below

First access virtual console of server & click on CD/DVD then on three dots to upload ESXI file.

After uploaded the file then click on Connect.

Next go to Boot option & select CD/DVD.

Click on power button & restart then click Ok

EXSI installation has started below

Click enter to continue

Press F11 or some time if F11 not working then press Fn key + F11 together.

The scanning of the device will start then select Disk to install OS , as in our firs post I configured RAID for this AVAGO card just choose that as below.

If want to install OS in different disk just use down arrow key from keyboard to set , Just press enter.

Select keyboard type & enter

Set password  and Enter

Press F11 or Fn key + F11 together to start ESXI 8.0.2 installation.

Installation has started , wait till completion.

ESXI 8.0.2 has been installed successfully , Now remove or disconnect the attach VMvisor file from the top row & press enter it will reboot.

Wait to completed & restart automatically.

Press F2 or Fn key plus F2 together for customize configuration.

Put password  with username is root , we set default Admin@9000

Configure ip address click on Configure Management Network , default ip address is 169.254.106.247.

Check & select Network Adapter

Below are the list of Adapter ports vmnic0,vmnic1/2/3 maybe in your case its different , now all are disconnected.

Now I connect one interface ,

Note: press Spacebar key from board to select other interface.

Lets configure IP Address , select with up/down arrow key & enter.

Use spacebar to select  “set static IPv4 address”.

You can enable ESXI Shell & ssh from troubleshooting option just press enter to enable as per requirement.

After ESXI 8.0.2 instllation & IP address setup press Esc key ,

Now lets access ESXI Host Client to enter the ip address configured above

Write ip address in browser & put the username & password.

Below is the EXSI Host client graphical Interface.

If you want to set Date & time in ESXI client , click on manage then Edit NTP settings.

vCenter Installation:

VMware ESXI Host client installation has been finished now lets start to install Vcenter on Server on ESXI client interface .

Click Virtual machine then select deploy from OVF or OVA file then next.

As I have already downlaoded Vcenter file from offical website  ,

Give name to virtual machine in my case I set vCenter & click on select file.

Upload VMware vCenter Server Appliance OVA extension file.

Select defaul storage & next

Scroll down & accept the License Agreement then Next.

Better to unchecked the power on automatically option & Next.

In Additional settings click & expand Networking configuration to set IP address for vCenter.

 Set host network family to IPv4 & Network mode to static , configure ip address & DNS, in my case I configure the same IP address for DNS, in last set the password.

You can set both Directory & root password.

Review & Finish the Vcenter installation setup.

The VM has been created , wait & Reload/refresh the browser from the top the host name will be change to local-host, as by default its Unknown.

Click on power on if its not power on already.

Now wait from 5 to 10 minutes to get IP Address & check from the Networking.

In my case already got IP address,remember sometime need to wait more just refresh browser again & again.

Now connect laptop with the same port vmnic0 or you can connect through switch as well that I will show in next posts.

Its pingable from my laptop.

Lets access GUI of Vcenter  with 5480 port number    then click to proceed.

Put the credentials : username & password.

vSphere 8.0 has been installed now click on Setup as below.

Next Post Plan:

ESXi & vCenter installation has been completed , next post will discuss how to setup vCenter , create cluster & add host servers.