How to install ESX4.0 inside of VMware workstation 6.5.2

Pre-requisites:

VMware Workstation 6.5.2 or newer.

VMware ESX Server 4.0 ISO image

Minimum hardware requirements:

2GB RAM

a 64 bit x86 Intel VT-x or AMD-V capable processor (with the feature

enabled in the BIOS)

1 Ethernet NIC

16GB hard disk space

Installation guide:

VMware Workstation Configuration

1. Start VMware Workstation and go to Edit > Preferences. Select to

the Memory tab, select the Allow most virtual machine memory to be

swapped radio button. Click OK.

Define the VMware ESX 4.0 Virtual Machine

1. Start VMware Workstation and go File > New > Virtual Machine.

Select the ‘Custom’ radio button and click ‘Next’.

2. Choose the Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility. Ensure that VMware

Workstation 6.5 is selected in the Hardware Compatibility field. Click

Next.

3. Guest Operating System Installation. Select I will install the

operating system later option. Click ‘Next’.

4. Select a Guest Operating System. Select Linux, then in the Version

field select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 64-bit. Click ‘Next’.

5. Name the Virtual Machine. Enter a VM name and specify a location to

store VM files. Click ‘Next’.

6. Processor Configuration. Select One. Click ‘Next’.

7. Memory for the Virtual Machine. Select a minimum of 2048MB. Click

‘Next’.

8. Network Type. For this example the Use bridged networking option was

selected. Click ‘Next’.

9. Select I/O Adapter Types. Select ‘LSI Logic’. Click ‘Next’.

10. Select a Disk. Select Create a new virtual disk. Click ‘Next’.

11. Select a Disk Type. Select ‘SCSI’. Click ‘Next’.

12. Specify Disk Capacity. 16GB was used in this example. Select the

Allocate all disk space now check-box and also select Store virtual disk

as a single file. Click ‘Next’.

13. Specify Disk File. Rename the disk file if required. Click ‘Next’.

14. Ready to Create Virtual Machine. De-select the Power on this virtual

machine after creation check-box. Click ‘Customize Hardware’.

15. Hardware. Remove the following hardware: Floppy, USB Controller,

Sound Card.

16. Hardware. Select CD/DVD (IDE). Select Connect at power on and in the

Use ISO image file field, browse to the location of the VMware ESX 4.0

ISO previously downloaded. Click ‘OK’.

17. Hardware. Select Network Adapter. Tick Replicate physical network

connection state.

18. Hardware. Select Display. Deselect the Accelerate 3D graphics

checkbox.

19. Hardware. Select Processors. In the Preferred Mode field select the

Intel-VTx or AMD-V option. Click OK.

20. Click Finish. The virtual disk will be allocated. This step may take

some time.

21. To enable nested VMs, a line needs to be added to the .vmx file for

this virtual machine. Without it, you won’t be able to power on a VM

under VMware ESX4 and will see the following message:

22. The name and location of the .vmx file is show in the VMware

Workstation GUI. Edit the .vmx file using Notepad. Add the following

line, monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = “TRUE”. Save the file and

close.

23. Just turn it on.

Source:

This is the best document to install esx4 in VMware workstation, i have ever seen. Enjoy Installing. . .