Bootable Custom ESXi iso works in fusion, but not vSphere...

[Zsoldier]

So little weirded out here.  I created a custom ESXi 6.5U1 iso w/ a KS.CFG and modified BOOT.CFG using the below command:

mkisofs -relaxed-filenames -J -R -o ~/Desktop/esxi65u1auto.iso -b ISOLINUX.BIN -c BOOT.CAT -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table ~/Desktop/ESXiDefaultInstall/

It boots off the CD just fine in VMware Fusion, but when attempted on a VM hosted on 6.5U1 ESXi host, it acts as though the iso is not bootable.  Anyone else run into this?

[Zsoldier · Accepted solution]

BIOS is one way to solve, but updated command to create UEFI bootable iso is here:

Create an Installer ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script

mkisofs -relaxed-filenames -J -R -o ~/Desktop/custom_esxi.iso -b ISOLINUX.BIN -c BOOT.CAT -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-alt-boot -eltorito-platform efi -b EFIBOOT.IMG -no-emul-boot ~/Desktop/ESXiDefaultInstall

Also,  you have to modify both BOOT.CFG files (one in root directory and one in EFI directory) so that it will boot w/ your customized ks file.