Install and Configure VMware ESXi 7 on a Dedicated Server

Overview

In this project, I installed and configured VMware ESXi 7 on a dedicated server to provide an additional virtualization host alongside the company's existing HPE servers. I configured the management network, created a datastore for virtual machines, enabled automatic VM startup and graceful shutdown, configured time synchronization and swap settings, and installed the latest applicable patches. Finally, I prepared the server for integration into the company's vCenter environment.

Objectives

• Install VMware ESXi 7 on a dedicated server.

• Configure the management network with a static IP address, VLAN, hostname, and DNS settings.

• Create a VMFS datastore using the server's internal SSD.

• Configure automatic VM startup and graceful shutdown.

• Configure swap space and time synchronization.

• Install ESXi patches to improve security and stability.

• Prepare the ESXi host for integration into the existing vCenter environment.

• Document the server's configuration and hand over the required access details to the IT team.

Technologies Used

Hardware:

• Dedicated server case with an ASUS motherboard designed for continuous operation

• Power supply suitable for 24/7 operation

• Intel Core i7 8th-generation processor

• 32 GB RAM (4 × 8 GB modules)

• 512 GB SSD

• USB flash drive with sufficient capacity and read/write performance for the ESXi installation

Software:

• VMware ESXi 70

• VMware vSphere Host Client (ESXi web interface)

• ESXi Direct Console User Interface (DCUI)

• SSH and ESXCLI

• VMFS datastore

• Windows Server DNS

• VMware vCenter Server

Configurations

Server Preparation and ESXi Installation

The company needed an additional server to host virtual machines alongside its existing HPE servers. A dedicated server with a motherboard and power supply suitable for continuous operation was available. After checking the manufacturer's website, I found no customized virtualization operating system available for the server, so I decided to install VMware ESXi 7.

To reserve the internal SSD for virtual machine storage, I installed ESXi on a USB flash drive with suitable read/write performance. This also provided a convenient way to reinstall ESXi using replacement installation media if necessary.

Below, I recreated the project in a virtualized environment to document the tasks I performed.

Install ESXi

I followed these steps to install ESXi on the server:

After preparing the USB installation media and powering on the server booted with USB device, I accepted the end-user license agreement.

Next, I selected the USB flash drive as the installation destination from the list of available storage devices.

Then, I assigned a password for the ESXi root account. This password was used to access the host's management interface and configure the hypervisor.

Finally, I pressed F11 to confirm the installation settings. After the installation completed, I removed the installation media containing the ESXi ISO image and restarted the server.

Initial Configurations

DCUI Menu

After the server restarted, the ESXi Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) appeared. I used this interface to configure the initial management settings before accessing the web interface.

I pressed F2 to open the System Customization menu.

The first step was to configure the management network so that the server could connect to the network and be managed remotely. I opened Configure Management Network and configured the following settings:

• Network Adapters: I selected one of the two available network adapters for the management network.

• VLAN: The servers connected to the switch used a dedicated VLAN to isolate their traffic from other devices. I assigned the corresponding VLAN ID to the management network.

• IPv4: The host was configured to obtain an IP address through DHCP by default. Since this server would host virtual machines providing network services, I assigned it a static IP address to ensure consistent access.

• DNS Configuration: I configured the IP address of the local DNS server provided by Windows Server. I also assigned a hostname so that the ESXi host could be registered in DNS and accessed using its fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

• DNS Suffix: I configured the domain suffix used by the network, allowing the host to resolve domain-based names without requiring the full domain name in every case.

After applying the settings, I selected Restart Management Network to apply the network changes. I then used Test Management Network to verify network connectivity and confirm that the ESXi host could communicate with the configured network services.

Web Configuration Interface

To continue configuring the host, I opened the ESXi web interface using its FQDN. For example, esxi7.servers.xco.com.

I logged in using the root username and the password assigned during installation.

Storage Configuration

First, I configured the server's internal SSD as a datastore for virtual machines. I selected Storage from the left pane and clicked New Datastore.

I chose Create new VMFS Datastore because I wanted to create a new datastore on the available disk.

Next, I selected the available disk and assigned a name to the datastore.

Since the disk was available for use, I allocated the entire disk capacity to the datastore.

Finally, I reviewed the configuration and clicked Finish to create the datastore.

System Configuration

From the left pane, I selected Manage and configured the following options under the System tab.

Autostart

I configured the autostart settings to control how virtual machines behaved when the ESXi host started up or shut down.

I enabled this feature because the services hosted on this server needed to become available automatically after a restart. I configured the startup delay and shutdown delay to one minute for each virtual machine.

I also selected Shutdown as the stop action so that virtual machines could shut down gracefully rather than being stopped abruptly, helping reduce the risk of data loss.

Swap

Since the server had limited RAM and used an SSD, I configured the swap settings to provide additional memory-management flexibility. I selected the available datastore for swap storage.

As no shared storage was attached to this server, I disabled Local Swap and kept Host Cache enabled.

Time & Date

I configured a time server for the ESXi host to maintain accurate system time. Since the NTP service's startup policy was configured to take effect after a host restart, I rebooted the server to apply the settings.

Licensing

I left the licensing settings unchanged because the license was to be managed through the existing vCenter environment.

Upgrades and Offline Bundles

To improve the host's security and stability, I installed the applicable ESXi patches.

First, I downloaded the appropriate patch package for the installed ESXi version and build. I then uploaded the ZIP file to the datastore so that it could be referenced during the update process.

Next, I enabled SSH through the ESXi services configuration. SSH can be enabled through either the web interface or the DCUI menu.

Then I enabled SSH from Manage > Services. SSH also can be enabled from DCUI menu:

I connected to the ESXi host using SSH from a terminal:

Then I ran the following command to apply the patch package:

esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/Disk-0/Patches/VMware-ESXi-7.0U1c-17325551-depot.zip

I waited for the update process to complete. The command used the downloaded offline depot ZIP file as its update source.

Finally, I rebooted the host to complete the update process using the standard reboot command:

reboot

After the server restarted, I disabled SSH because it was no longer required for routine administration, reducing the host's exposure to remote access.

Handover and vCenter Integration

At the end of the project, I documented the changes and configurations applied to the ESXi host. I provided the required connection details, including the hostname, FQDN, IP address, and administrative access information, to the IT team so that they could add the host to the appropriate datacenter in the existing vCenter environment.