Category Archives: Deployment methods for ESXi

Deployment methods for ESXi 5.5 – Part 3

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Automated provisioning of ESXi via vSphere Auto Deploy

vSphere Auto Deploy operational modes:

  • Stateless – ESXi is directly loaded in host memory while booting.
  • Stateless Caching – ESXi is directly loaded in host memory while booting + image is cached on hosts local disk, remote disk or USB drive. In a case Auto Deploy infrastructure goes down host will boot from cached image.
  • Stateful Install – ESXi is directly loaded in host memory while booting + image is cached on hosts local disk, remote disk or USB drive. Difference between stateless caching and stateful install is that in stateful deployed host will boot from local disk first, and network second.

Stateless mode will be used by default. Other modes can be defined through Host Profiles. Read more on how to create Host Profiles in Create and Attach Host Profiles in vSphere Web Client.

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Deployment methods for ESXi 5.5 – Part 2

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Scripted (unattended) ESXi installation

Performing a Scripted Install with ESXi 5.x requires:

  • Creating/customizing installation script (also known as kickstart script – KS.CFG).
  • Starting the scripted installation process: automatically using PXE boot or by specifying boot options.

The installation script file can be provided via:

  • HTTP/HTTPS
  • NFS Share
  • FTP
  • CD/DVD device
  • USB flash drive

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