Installing ESXi 6.5.0a

In this article I will be going over how to install ESXi 6.5.0a, obtain the free license key for it and to install the license key.

First you need to download ESXi 6.5.0a from the VMware web site. Go to http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor [1] .  Then from here click on Download Now

Login with you vmware account or create a new account. 

And then log in.

After you login it should forward you to the
“License and Download” page

Now right down this license number  (this is for the free version of the esxi server and vSphere client).

Click on “Manual Download” and download the ESX 6.5.0a (CD ISO)

My plan is to just burn this ISO to a CD and use that for a manual install.   There are methods to put this on a usb stick, but I am not going to be going over that in this document.

Put in a blank CD and on Win-10 right click on the downloaded iso and select Burn disc to image.

Then click burn

Checkbox the verify disc after burning and then click burn.

Installation

After the machine starts up you should see this screen.

Click Enter to continue

Click on F11 to accept license

Scanning…

Select which drive to install on and click enter.

Select US Default keyboard and click enter

Enter a password, confirm it and click enter

If your hardware does not support on-chip virtualization you may get this screen.  You have a few options here, if your CPU does have VT technology you need to reboot, get into the BIOS settings and turn on the VT-technology.  Or if it does not you could get a new chip that does have VT-technology and install it or Just click Enter to continue, this usually limits you to 32-bit virtual machines.  Plus they will run a little bit faster if you have vt magic on your chip

Confirm install and click F11

Now wait for the install.

Success, click Enter to reboot

     

After a reboot you will see this.

Click on F2 to customize… I am going to set a static IP address for this machine.

Enter your password and click OK

Select Configure Management Network and click enter

Here you can set up your specific network information

Click on IPv4 Configuration

Checkbox the "Set Static IP IPv4 address" by pressing the space bar.  Set the IP address to what you want it to be.  In my case I set it to 192.168.0.242  Then press enter.

Once you are done with this you need to click esc

Which brings up this screen

Press Y

Press Esc to get back to the main screen

From here you can see the IP address has been updated.

To make sure its all working correctly reboot.  To do this click F12

Enter your username/password and click OK

Click F11

Wait for the restart to take place.

After a reboot it all looks good.

Log onto the web client and register

The server displays a web page to download the VShpere client from

Open this page up in a web browser, in my case  https://192.168.0.242/

Open up a web browser on a system it will immediately forward you to https version of the site.

From Google Chrome you will see this

 

Click “Advanced”

Then proceeed.

Login with username root and your password

You will see this interface and the note that the license will expire in 60 days.

Click on Navigator

Click on Host and then Manage

Click License then Assign License.

Enter your license and click Check License.

If its valid you should get this checkmark.

Now click the Assign License button.

Now you should see the license expires Never J

References

[1]       VMWare vSphere Hypervisor

            http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor

               Accessed 10/2017