I have been working with VMware for several years in terms of virtualization solutions and I decided to prepare a small ESXi HomeLab on which I will run a few Windows servers.
In order not to consume too much energy or take up too much space in my 2-room apartment, I opted for an Intel NUC on which I will install ESXI.
More information on the choice of material here:
and there:
Prerequisites:
A fairly powerful Intel NUC (mine is an Intel NUC10i7FNK2 bought second-hand on Galaxus.ch to which I added 64GB of RAM and 1TB of M2 SSD)
The ESXI installation iso (download here: https ://www.vmware.com/go/get-free-esxi)
A USB key on which we will burn the ESXi iso with a tool such as Rufus.ie
Take a free license of ESXi https://www.vmware. com/go/get-free-esxi
Installing ESXi
Start by plugging your USB key, start the machine and finally, boot from the key (ESXi-7.your-version) by pressing "Enter".
Loading the ESXi installer
Loading modules and starting services necessary for installation
Choose "Continue" by pressing "Enter"
Accept the license agreement by pressing F11 (read the full license agreement 😜)
Choose which disk to install it on:
As you can see, the disk is named "VMware", and it's because I've redone the installation on purpose for this article. But all in all, I'm installing ESXi on the NUC, except that it's an ESXi'nception. ESXi installed on a VM running on ESXi installed on the NUC. Do you follow? If you didn't manage to follow, don't worry, it's not important, just remember that I've redone the installation for this article on a VM and that it's exactly the same steps to install ESXi. 😉
Then you must select the keyboard and press Enter:
Choose a root password (it will also be used on the web interface):
F11 to install
Reboot with Enter
The installation is complete, you can access the web app by typing your IP in a browser or access the settings by pressing F2. To access the settings you will need to enter your root credentials. The settings allow for example to manage the network part by changing your IP or VLAN, etc...
The web console looks like this:
Type your "root" to log in.
Welcome to VMware ESXi and enjoy! 😎