Installed ESXi 5.0 U3, can it be managed from OS X?

[tmoldovan]

Hello All,

I am new to the ESXi family, so forgive my ignorance.

I've installed ESXi 5.0 U3, as that seems to be the latest version supported for my Apple XServe.

When I visit the page for it, it directs me to download a client, which is an .exe file, so am assuming the only client is for Windows?

Is that correct? (The only way to manage the hypervisor is from windows?)

If there is at least a linux or a web client, that would be workable, but I really don't wish to run a virtual windows machine on my client mac just to manage the hypervisor.

(I have searched through the boards, and there seems to be no solution for managing 5.0 from OS X or via Web from OS X/Linux, so I am trying to confirm whether that is right, or am I misunderstanding it.)

TIA...

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - If it is a lone ESXi host you will need a windows machine to install the client on - if you have virtual center you will then be able to use a web client -

[tmoldovan]

Thank you.

What exactly is a virtual center (vCenter, I assume)?

Is that a platform that manages multiple ESXi hosts? (And if so, can at least that run on Linux?)

[junian_dani]

Yes it is. Last time I checked, vCenter Server distribution file can only run on top of Windows OS. But, you can use vCenter Server Virtual Appliance (vCSA) which is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machine that is optimized for running vCenter Server.