VmWare ESXi Installation Lab

Important Note

This lab is still being updated as of now! It is strongly suggested that you wait to complete this lab until this notice is removed.

Instructions

1. Open your network adapter properties on your host system and right click to "Disable" any VirtualBox network adapters such as the VirtualBox Host Only Adapter.
2. Create a new VM in VMware Workstation with the following specifications. Be sure to save the VM to a location on the D drive outside of the CNT Files folder.
   • 24GB RAM
   • 350GB Hard Drive
   • 2 CPUs
3. Locate the ESXi Install ISO file (VMvisor Installer) in the D:\CNT Files\ITC 2300 directory and use it to start the installation
4. Set the networking to "Bridged" and make sure you are connected to the ITC network.
5. Set the root password on your ESXi system during the installation, it needs to be at least 7 characters. Be sure to write it down!
6. Create another new VM in VMware Workstation with the following specifications. Be sure to save the VM to a location on the D drive outside of the CNT Files folder.
   • 3GB RAM
   • 25GB Hard Drive
   • 2 CPUs
7. Locate the Windows 7 Enterprise ISO file in the D:\CNT Files directory and use it to start the installation
8. Set the networking to "Bridged" and make sure you are connected to the ITC network.
9. Set the Administrative password on your Windows 7 Client system during the installation, be sure to write it down!
10. Verify you have network connectivity between the Windows client system and all your ESXi systems.
11. Shut down your Windows 7 Client, this will be used in a future lab.
12. Browse to the ESXi system in a web browser on your host system.
13. Login as the root user.
14. Add a new account and give it administrative permissions to the ESXi system. Log out of the root account and in with the new user account.
15. Create a new folder on the ESXi datastore for ISO files.
16. Use a web browser on your host system to access the ESXi server's web interface.
17. Log in to the "VMware Host Client" through the web interface using your new login credentials (not the root account)
18. Upload the Linux Mint ISO file from the D:\CNT Files directory on your host system to the new ISO folder on the ESXi server datastore.
19. Create a new VM on the ESXi system (not in VMware Workstation) where you can install the Linux Mint system.
20. Complete the installation of Linux Mint as a VM on the ESXi host
21. Safely shut down your ESXi server VM.
22. Ensure all your network connections are back to normal and you are connected to the campus network.
23. Remind your instructor to download a new VCSA image file to the CNT Files directory before next week, they expire every year!