So instead I used Rufus to create bootable media that would work for installing to the drive you just booted from, using the HTML5 iKVM to do the install. Not a fan of Java for massive security reasons, and unfortunate that Windows 10 has broken HTML5 iKVM mounting of network shares, also due to security issues.
Supermicro SYS-5028D-TN4T mini-tower/Wiredzone Bundles are now on the VCG for ESXi 7.0 and 7.0U1, full VMware support resumed!įollowing along, you will learn some stuff even if you've done this before, as I do my usual voice-over.The days of the inaccurate RPM and temperature readings are long behind us now too for Xeon D, with everything looking good there as well, no kludgy " fixes" required. I'm not sure a separate article like this is even necessary on this now very mature Xeon D-1500 platform, and my testing on the Xeon D-2100 is also going very well as well.
This requires a careful look at recommended firmware levels and driver VIBs, but the default inbox (native) drivers do seem to function fine. More extensive testing with native drivers, firmware, and Intel VIBs is still underway, on both my Bundle 1 Xeon D-1567, and my Bundle 2 Xeon D-1541 system. The Xeon D-1500's included Intel I350 1GbE RJ45 network connections seems to work fine, and the Xeon D-1500's Intel X552/X557 10GbE RJ45 network connections seem to work fine as well.
On the Intel Xeon D-1500 systems I'm testing this fresh install procedure on, I'm delighted to say that it went well. Note, ESXi runs in RAM, so while boot times will be slightly slower off USB, once ESXi is booted, the operational speed won't be any different than if you installed to SATA, SAS, or even NVMe SSD.
Once you're on this fresh install of 7.0 Update 1, I'd still recommend using vLCM to launch your ESXi host updates though, and if that doesn't work for you, there's always the old-standy-by single-liner ESXCLI update method. Also handy in single-host situations, where you might not even have the strongly-recommended VMware vSphere VCSA appliance with built-in vLCM (vSphere Lifecycle Manager) which currently supports Dell, HPE, and Lenovo firmware updates. This is particular important in a home lab environment where you might not have any VMware official support should things go sideways. One advantage of this USB approach is that you can easily image the drive before doing upgrades, allowing you a robust easy way to fall back should anything go wrong. This is a basic overview document of the fresh install process, highlighting the steps that I walk you right through in the accompanying video below, should work on any supported VMware ESXi server. This article is still undergoing minor refinement based on further testing. In addition the usual troubleshooting options in the ESXi console (ESXi shell / SSH access) can also be switched on to allow command line access.Posted by Paul Braren on (updated on Oct 19 2020) in The host client allows simplified access to most functions – however these are in the context of the ESXi host and does not give the full VirtualCentre feature set:Īs per the pictures above my Mac Mini has both a smaller 256Gb SSD disk and a 1TB SATA disk – the latter was formatted and configured as a VMFS volume direction from the host client, with no need to drop down to esxcli / command line. The ESXi embedded host client has been included in the ESXi installation since version 6.0.x, hence the ESXi installation gives direct access to the GUI after install. The ESXi 6.7 installation is the standard installation procedure – please check the vSphere 6.7 installation documentation. As soon as you hear the startup chime press and hold the option / alt button until the OSX boot manager displays a list of devices – then select the “EFI boot” option. Once the USB key is prepared plug it in to the Mac Mini and reboot this. Once the ISO file is available simply follow the instructions on the TechRepublic article to create the bootable USB media (alternatively do it the old fashioned way with a bootable physical CD/DVD). The VMUG Advantage EvalExperience is a good starting point for access to the full licensed suite for a reasonable cost for home lab usage. Prepare install USB mediaįirst of all download the ESXi 6.7 install ISO from the VMware site. The process of installing ESXi 6.7 on the Mac Mini turned out to be very straight forward.
There’s a number of good blog posts out there on how to install ESXi 5.x / 6.x on the Mac Mini, with William Lam’s summarising these.
With the release of the 2019 Mac Mini the old 2012 quad core Intel workhorse found itself heading for retirement, however with hardware having been upgraded a few times over the years it should still work as a good little ESXi host.