ESXi – new VM

After the ESXi is installed and running, it’s time to Add some virtual machines. Adding virtual machines can be done by creating new ones, deploy VM from OVF or OVA files or just register an existing virtual machine. Let’s start, right click on Virtual Machines and choose “Create/Register VM”.

  • Next page if to choose if the VM will be a new one or just register an existing VM. My option here is to choose a New VM.
  • Select a name for your VM and choose which OS will you use for the new VM.
  • Select the storage disk. Make sure you choose the correct one if you have more drives.
  • Next step is for customize settings, you can choose how many CPU you will use with the new VM, how much memory, hard disk space (you can use Thin Provisioned and will not allocate the whole space that you choose to be maximum space. The space allocated is at the time when need more space)
  • Click Finish on the last page and the new VM will be created.
  • After the VM is created we need to install the OS. First step is to add an ISO image to the VM and boot from that image to install the OS. Right click on the VM name and choose Edit Settings. When the new window opens, go to CD/DVD and change it from “Host Device” to “Datastore ISO file”, then click on Browse.
  • A new window will open for you to Browse the Datastore disk. Choose where you will Upload the ISO image and then click on Upload.
  • After you click on Upload another window will open, this time is a window with your own computer. Find the ISO file that you want to use to install the OS. After you found the ISO file, click on Open. It starts the upload of the ISO file.
  • You will see the percentage on the uploaded file and also the location where the new file is saved on Datastore disk.
  • After the image was uploaded from your computer into the ESXi Datastore disk, click on the file and then Select.
  • After you selected the image file, it will be attached to the CD/DVD. Make sure is the correct file, otherwise click on Browse and add the correct file. After you are done, click on Save.
  • Next step is to change the boot options. Click on the tab on the top (the Edit Settings window) where it says: VM Options. Go to Boot Options and expand it, then change the Firmware to BIOS and click on Save.
  • Before Power On the VM, double check all the settings. If you need to change any of the settings click on Edit. After all the settings are OK, click on Power On.
  • With this tutorial we will install Windows 10. After you click on Power On click on Console and choose Open Browser Console.
  • The installation is the same like a physical machine, just follow the steps.
  • After the installation is done, login into the new Windows. If you put on a domain, you can connect remotely, but first you need to connect thru the Console window. After the VM is power on, if for any reasons you cannot login into the Console to reboot or shutdown, you can actually use the Top buttons to Power off (Shutdown) or Reset (Reboot).