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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

How to install ESXi on a new PowerEdge Server with no OS

I downloaded a copy of ESXi ISO image and burned it to a CD ROM. I wanted to install it into a new server with no OS. I thought that the ISO image would be detected automatically by the server as it's booting up. Can someone help with this if I'm missing any step in installing the ESXi on the server. In reading the ESXi document, it appears that it can be installed on the hardware prior to OS installation. Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

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runclear
Expert
Expert

Id check your boot order in the BIOS other than that, make sure when you burned the ISO to set it as bootable...

-------------------- What the f* is the cloud?!
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AntonVZhbankov
Immortal
Immortal

To be exact, you install ESXi not prior OS installation, you install it instead OS.

As Edward said, check boot order and make sure CD is first.


---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

EMCCAe, HPE ASE, MCITP: SA+VA, VCP 3/4/5, VMware vExpert XO (14 stars)
VMUG Russia Leader
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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

The boot order shows floopy, CD Rom and then hard disk. When I mount OS CD rom it immediately detects it. So I know boot order is fine.

My server is DELL PowerEdge 2650. Does ESXi not supported on older servers?

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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

Boot order appear to be fine.

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AntonVZhbankov
Immortal
Immortal

There is no 2650 in HCL for ESXi.

Check yourself


---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

EMCCAe, HPE ASE, MCITP: SA+VA, VCP 3/4/5, VMware vExpert XO (14 stars)
VMUG Russia Leader
http://t.me/beerpanda
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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

When you open the CD on another PC do you see about 7 files and one folder or just the ISO file?

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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

CD is first; I checked HCL and found out that DELL PowerEdge 2650 is not on the list of supported hardware. I'm wondering if this is the reason why it is not able to detect the ISO on CD.

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Sanjana
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

kohaeri01,

welcome to the forums,

If you look at the compatibility guide search [here|http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=server&productId=1&advancedORbasic=advanced&maxDisplayRows=50&key=2650&release[], you will notice that esx35i isn't officially supported on the Dell 2650. The poster on this thread indicated that one of his 2650s ran just fine and the other was having issues booting off the cdrom.Could you try this with the usb way instead?

And as others have mentioned, ESX is a hypervisor, which means it is the OS. (Not to be confused with guest OS which are the virtual machine OSes that run on the hypervisor).

--sanjana

edit -- edited the hyperlink

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AntonVZhbankov
Immortal
Immortal

And what exactly do you see on console while booting from CD?


---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

EMCCAe, HPE ASE, MCITP: SA+VA, VCP 3/4/5, VMware vExpert XO (14 stars)
VMUG Russia Leader
http://t.me/beerpanda
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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

I tried booting from usb, but it is not reading it. any

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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

The screen is blank, the system says, there is no bootable device on the system.

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AntonVZhbankov
Immortal
Immortal

So your CD is not bootable.


---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

EMCCAe, HPE ASE, MCITP: SA+VA, VCP 3/4/5, VMware vExpert XO (14 stars)
VMUG Russia Leader
http://t.me/beerpanda
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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, my CD and by USB are not bootable. Any other ideas on how to get this to boot would be appreciated.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Does the CD boot OK on another system? If you have a PXE server you can install from it - www.vm-help.com.

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kohaeri01
Contributor
Contributor

The server is PXE capable but I don't know how to enable it. Any ideas you can share about this would be appreciated.

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dcjman
Contributor
Contributor

Installed on a PE 2950 no problem. It's been running non-stop for 8 months with no problems but I do need to upgrade....I used the ISO image.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Do you have a PXE server on your network. Sorry to repeat the question but have you verified that you can boot on another PC / server / VM with the CD that you burnt?

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dcjman
Contributor
Contributor

PXE is not used.

I built 2 ESXi hosts using the same CD created from the ISO image. I remember how easy it was (took about 5 mins per server) to install. This is the iso I used:

VMware-VMvisor-InstallerCD-3.5.0_Update_2-110271.i386.iso

Like I said they both need to be updated.

Don

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