This tutorial contains step-by-step instructions to install VMware ESXi vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 on a VMWARE Workstation Player. The purpose of installing ESXi on a VMware Workstation, is for testing and experiment with the vSphere ESXi Server features.
- Related Article: How to Install vSphere ESXi 6.7 on a Bare Metal Server.
Hardware Requirements to install ESXi VSphere Hypervisor on VMWare Workstation:
CPU: The host machine must have at least two CPU cores and the CPU must support hardware virtualization features (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI). To check if your system supports virtualization use the CPUID CPU-Z utility.
* Notes:
1. To enable the virtualization support, navigate to your BIOS settings and Enable the Intel-VD (Intel VT-x) or the AMD VT technology/feature.2. if you running Windows 10, and you receive that "VT-x is not available" error in VirtualBox, and the VT setting is enabled in BIOS, then navigate in Control Panel > Programs and features > Turn Windows Features on or off > and disable the Hyper-V feature.
RAM: ESXi requires a minimum of 2GB of physical RAM. To install ESXi on VMware Workstation you need to allocate at least 4GB (4096MB) of RAM.
Software Requirements to install ESXi VSphere Hypervisor 6.7 on VMware Workstation.
1. Navigate to this link and Create a VMware account (If you haven't already have one).
2. Download the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image (Includes VMware Tools) image.3. Note and record the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6 License key, because you 'll need it at the end of the trial period, to convert the Evaluation License (60-days) to Free (Never expires). (see the end of the article).
4. To install ESXi VSphere on a VMware Workstation Player, you have to download and install the latest release of VMware Workstation Player for Windows hosts. (if it is not already installed)
How to Install VMware ESXi 6.x on VMware Workstation Player Host.
Step 1. Create a New Virtual Machine to install VMware ESXI.
1. Launch VMware Workstation and click Create a New Virtual Machine.
2. Select Installer disc image file and then click Browse and select the 'VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO)' image you downloaded. When done, click Next.
3. At the next screen, type (if you want) a different name for the VMware machine and click Next.
4. At Disk Capacity options, specify 40GB as disk size, select "Store virtual disk as a single file" and press Next.
5. At the last screen click Finish and continue to step-2 to install ESXi.
Step 2. Install ESXi Server on the VMware Player VM Machine.
1. Press Enter at the first screen to start the installation.
2. The VMware ESXI installer should start…
3. Press Enter at the Welcome screen.
4. Press F11 to accept the license agreement.
5. At Disk Selection options press Enter.
6. Select your preferred keyboard layout or leave the default (US) and press Enter.
7. Now type twice a desired password* and press Enter.
* Note: Password must be at least 7 characters long and a combination of normal and capital letters, symbols and numbers.
8. If you receive a CPU SUPPORT WARNING ("the CPU may be not supported in future ESXi releases."), press Enter to continue.
9. Finally press F11 to stall the installation.
10. When the installation is complete, press Enter to reboot the machine. *
11. When the ESXi VM machine starts, notice the IP address of the VMware ESXi host server. *
* Note: When the VMware ESXi server starts, it "takes" an IP address assigned from DHCP. You can use this IP address for the ESXi server, or to set a new static IP address, by following the instructions below.
12. To change the IP address, on ESXi, press F2 at the above screen.
13. Type the root password and press Enter.
14. By using the arrows keys, navigate to Configure Management Network and press Enter.
15. Navigate to IPv4 Configuration and press Enter.
16. Navigate to Set static IPv4 address and network configuration and hit Space to select it.
17. Type the static IP Address, the Subnet mask and the Gateway and press Enter.
18. Then select the DNS Configuration and hit Enter.
19. Navigate to Use the following DNS server addresses and hostname and hit Space to select it.
20. Type the DNS server address and optionally specify a different Hostname. Press Enter when done.
21. Press ESC to exit, and then press Y to apply changes and to restart the management network.
22. Press ESC to Logout and then press F12 and Shutdown (F2) the ESXi server.
23. At VMware Workstation, highlight the VMare ESXi machine and then click Edit Virtual Machine settings.
24. Click Network Adapter on the left, and then select Bridged: Connected directly to the physical network and click OK.
25. Now start the VM ESXi machine and when the server starts, open a web browser (on the host computer) and navigate to the ESXi server's IP address to start managing your VMWare ESXi vShere server.
Additional help: To convert the VMware ESXi Hypervisor Evaluation License to FREE.
* Note: You can explore and test all the features of ESXi for 60-days (until the Evaluation period ends). So, do not convert the Evaluation license to Free, before the evaluation period ends.
1. Go to Manage -> Licensing and then click Assign license.
2. Copy and paste the vSphere Hypervisor 6 License key and then click Check License
3. Finally click Assign License
4. Now, you should see on the screen that the 'Expiration date' status is "Never".
That's it!
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