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USB Installer for esxi

Assumptions​

  • You are a linux nerd. Your desktop for doing this is a Linux system (pop is used in the example).
  • You have an external USB stick
  • This is a basic installer, it does not have the community network driver because we are hoping that our network hardware is recognized by esxi8

syslinux​

sudo apt install syslinux
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

image-20221118100814903

DataTraveler USB has an OS on it already, I'll wipe it

unmount​

image-20221118101025967

fdisk​

delete partitions if any​

image-20221118101230247

new partition​

image-20221118103050921

fat32​

sudo /sbin/mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n ESXI8USB /dev/sda1

image-20221118103359034

adding syslinux​

sudo -i
syslinux /dev/sda1
cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr/mbr.bin > /dev/sda

mkdir /usb
mount /dev/sda1 /usb
mkdir /esxi
mount -o loop /home/devin/Desktop/vmug/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-8.0-20513097.x86_64.iso /esxi
cp -r /esxi/* /usb
mv /usb/isolinux.cfg /usb/syslinux.cfg

/usb/sysconfig.cfg

image-20221118104146339 

sync
umount {/usb,/esxi}
rm -rf {/usb,/esxi}