DIY: Your First VMware Server

Introduction to ESXi, VMWare's free virtualization Operating System

First of all…. VMWare has changed the name of ESXi to vSphere Hypervisor 4.1 But… It is still referred to ESXi.

What is virtualization? Virtualization is the act of running an operating system in an artificial environment. Virtualization products create multiple artificial “computers” on one physical computer.

Benefits of Virtualization 1.Fewer physical servers Less power demands, network connections, cooling requirements, rack space, KVM connections 2.Greater utilization of the physical server 3.The virtual environment is easy to add another server 4.Fairly quick and easy to move a virtual server to a different physical server 5.Allows separation of servers

Disadvantages of Virtualization 1.Physical failures are magnified 2.New skills needed 3.Virtual machine sprawl 4.Not all applications can run in a virtual environment 5.More to keep patched and updated 6.Other vendors using virtualization as an excuse to not provide support

Other virtualization products include: Microsoft Virtual PC or HyperV Oracle VirtualBox or VM VMWare Workstation or vSphere Dozens more latform_virtual_machines

Limitations of ESXi One server – No failover, vMotion, or fault Tolerance. 2.Maximum 256GB Physical RAM 3.No processor Limit, but limited to 6 cores per processor 4.No web GUI uy/small_business_editions_comparison.html

My Scenario 1.Aging hardware that was failing 2.Limited budget 3.Low demands, but still wanted some flexibility 4.Allowed me to repurpose hardware

What you need to get started: 1.A physical computer to be the server 2.Installation media -ESXi Installable ISO (CD Image) -A free license key -vSphere Client* 3.Migration (conversion) software* 4.Something to run virtually * - Optional

Hardware Requirements Verify hardware compatibility Version 4.1 requires 64-bit hardware 2 GB RAM Minimum

My Server For my situation I bought a used Dell PowerEdge 2850 Dual (2) Intel Xeon 3.6 GHz 12 GB RAM 5 x 146GB 10k Hard drives RAID 5 Dual NICs DVD-ROM Redundant power supplies $1050

Installation Media 1.Download from VMWare.COM 2.Requires activated registration 3.Copy the License Number 4.Use Option 2 -Download the Binary -Download VMware vSphere Client* -Optional: VMware Tools CD image for Linux Guest OSes

Migration (conversion) software VMWare vCenter Converter Standalone Creates a virtual machine Transfers all the contents of a physical machine to the VM Shuts down the physical machine 1.Download from VMWare.COM 2.Choose “All Downloads” from Support & Downloads dropdown menu 3.Select “VMWare vCenter Converter Standalone”

Installing ESXi Assumptions : One logical (i.e. RAID 5 array) or physical drive You’ve determined it is alright to erase that drive Install ESXi from CD burned from downloaded ISO

Installing ESXi – First Boot Press to customize system ROOT password is blank. Configure Password Configure Management Network

Install Client 1.Browse to IP address of ESXi server 2.Download vSphere Client 3.Install

vSphere Client 1.Enter IP, Root, & password 2.Check “Install certificate” & Ignore 3.Assign a license (Maximize the window) 1.Click “Inventory” icon 2.Configuration Tab 3.“Licensed features” in software box 4.“Edit” upper-right corner (cannot see “Edit” if not maximized)

Vmware vCenter Converter Convert physical machines to virtual machines Convert virtual machines from other environments to Vmware Duplicate an existing virtual machine

Install VMware Tools Tools include: Drivers (i.e. video driver) Automatic grabbing and releasing of the mouse cursor Copying and pasting between guest and host More 1.Right-Click a running virtual machine that is at the desktop 2.From the “Guest” menu choose “Install/Upgrade VMware tools.

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