Scripted ESXi Installation

Scripted installation is an efficient way to provision multiple ESXi host. This video explains how to use a kickstart file to install or upgrade ESXi. Both Shift-O invocation and PXE boot are supported.

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Hi, I'm Ashutosh Agharkar, Senior Manager
R and D at VMware. In this video, I'll talk
about scripted installation, an efficient
way to deploy multiple ESXi hosts. Instead
of answering installer prompts, you pre-specify
the answers in an installation script.
First, you create an installation script,
also called a kickstart file. A sample kickstart
file named ks.cfg is available at
/etc/vmware/weasel/ks.cfg on the host.
At a bare minimum, a kickstart file must have
an entry with one of these three options:
install, upgrade, or installorupgrade
It should also have an entry for Vmaccepteula
to signify acceptance of the end user license
agreement and an entry for rootpw, the root
password for the host.
You can use the %pre- section in the kickstart
file to install additional drivers required
by the host, for example, to add the custom
10GB NIC driver. And you can use the %post-
section to configure the hosts - for example,
to add vSwitches or port groups, set advanced
settings, and so on.
After you create the kickstart file, you place
this file on a medium that the host can access
on a CD, on a USB Flash drive, or on a networked
drive accessible via FTP, HTTP or HTTPS.
There are two ways for scripted installation
to consume this kickstart file.
You can either boot the host in the Installer,
and while the host is booting up, interrupt
the boot process to run a command that directs
the boot process to the kickstart file.
Or you can PXE boot and have the PXE infrastructure
direct the booting host to use the kickstart
file.
For simple scripted installation, Boot the
ESXi host and immediately type Shift-O to
interrupt the boot process.
Type a command that includes the location
of the kickstart file and optionally other
boot options. When you press Enter, the host
uses the script at the location you specified.
You can also set up a PXE boot environment
to automate the installation. ESXi 5.0 supports
Using gPXE, Using PXELINUX and an isolinux.cfg
file and using PXELINUX and a PXE configuration
file
Set up your environment and boot the ESXi
host, which sends a DHCP request.
The DHCP server responds with the IP information
and the location of a TFTP server.
The ESXi host requests the network boot loader
from the TFTP server.
The TFTP server sends the network boot loader.
The host executes the boot loader, downloads
the
files it needs, and boots the installer.
The installer picks up the kickstart file
and the installation media at the specified
locations to complete the boot process.
For details about vSphere scripted installation,
including script commands, visit pubs.vmware.com.