Because VMware ESXi is now available for free, you will likely see a greater adoption of VMware's small-footprint hypervisor. ESXi is a stripped-down version of ESX without the service console. Once ESXi has been installed, there are two ways to configure it. You can configure via the ESXi console or from the VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client).
ESXi Server basics
The free version of ESXi can be either embedded on a server (boot from flash) or installed on existing servers using the Installable version. The free version of ESXi only includes support for VMFS and vSMP, no additional features are included. You can license ESXi as one of the VI3 editions that are available and you then are able to use the features that come with the edition you license with it.
The ESXi install takes about 5 GB of space on whatever drive you install it on. Remaining space it automatically formatted as a VMFS partition. The hypervisor only needs roughly 32 MB, the additional space is used for VMware tool installs, swap and core dump partitions.
There are four versions of ESXi: the ESXi base, which includes VMFS and vSMP; ESXi Foundation, which adds Virtual Center Agent, Update Manager and Consolidated Backup; ESXi Standard, which adds High Availability; and ESXi Enterprise, which adds VMotion, Storage VMotion, DRS and DPM functionality.
[IMAGE]
If you already have existing licenses for ESX, you can also choose to deploy ESXi in place of ESX on a server. Simply download ESXi installable, install it and then license it with VirtualCenter as you would a traditional ESX server.
Other useful ESXi facts:
Installing ESXi installable version
Installation is fairly easy. To download and install VMware ESXi, follow the steps below.
Configuring ESXi from the console
After installing ESXi, you will want to configure it. To do this, use the built-in console. Press F2 once the server boots. After you configur
To continue reading for free, register below or login
To read more you must become a member of SearchVMware.com
e networking for ESXi, you can also configure it via the VI Client. Here is how to configure networking:
There is also an option to display the server's serial number, the license serial number and the SSH thumbprint. To do this, select View Support Information. To display VMkernel and hostd log files, select the View System Logs option. Finally, the Restart Management Agents option offers the same functionality as restarting the mgmt-vmware service in ESX.
Configuring ESXi from the VI Client
Once networking is configured, if you have not yet set a root password connect to the host using the VI Client by logging in using the root account with no password. To set the password, click on the Users & Groups tab, right-click on the root user, select Edit, select Change Password and enter a password.
You should install your free license key next. In the VI Client, go to Configuration, Licensed Features. Edit the License Source and change it from Evaluation to Use Serial Number and input the serial number that was emailed to you when you registered.
That's it for the basic configuration, from this point the configuration is much the same as a regular ESX server. One additional step you should take for security purposes is to disable the special "Tech Support mode" which is enabled by default. This mode provides access to a limited number of console commands through the Busybox shell and is intended to be used by VMware support to help with troubleshooting and resolving problems. By default, this mode is only active through the physical console but can also be enabled for use with SSH by editing a configuration file.
To disable it, connect the VI Client to an ESX Server 3i host or a VirtualCenter Server. Browse to a host in the inventory list and click the Configuration tab. Then click Advanced Settings. In the list of parameters, deselect VMkernel.Boot.techSupportMode. Finally, restart the ESXI Server 3i host. Before restarting the host, shut down the host's virtual machines or migrated them to another host using VMotion or via cold migration.
In the next tip we will cover methods for patching your ESXi host which is important to ensure you are running the latest most secure build possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eric Siebert is a 25-year IT veteran with experience in programming, networking, telecom and systems administration. He is a guru-status moderator on the VMware community VMTN forums and maintains VMware-land.com, a VI3 information site.
