Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

vSphere ESXi 4.0 on a USB memory stick

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One of the articles which has always been in my top 10 most read(with most hits coming from google) is “ESXi 3.5 Update 2 on a USB memory key“. I have always used win image and 7-zip to get the job done. Basically you are cloning the image to a USB drive, which is fairly easy but we could use less tools and use a fully supported method:


  1. Download VMware Player (it’s free and it rocks!)
    Of course VMware Workstation also works.
  2. Download ESXi from VMware here
  3. Install VMware Player (next / next / finish)
  4. Create new VM and connect to ESXi iso
  5. Insert a USB flash drive
  6. Boot from the ESXi ISO image
  7. Connect the USB device to the VM and select “mass storage device”
  8. Select the USB drive when the “Select a Disk” screen is shown
  9. Next, Next, Finish
  10. Now your USB drive is ready to go

Keep in mind, although you install ESXi there’s no server name or IP-address assigned to the installation. This is a generic USB install which can be used in any server or easily be cloned. But then again why would you clone it when you can install it in less time.

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Comments

  1. Why not using much less tools (no vmware Player) and install directly (USB Stick and CD / mounted ISO connected to the the Server?

    1rst reason i thought of is remote deployment (building Sticks on Central site and sending them to Branch offices/ Datacentre.
    But as you say you create a unconfigured ESXi host – so this is no reason.

    2nd reason: build the stick in your warm and comfortable office and spending less time between the racks in the loud and cold Datacentre to configure the Server?

    It is a serious question, please dont hesitate to answer

  2. “(with most hits coming from goolge)”

    what exactly is “goolge” ??

    /curse my fat sausage fingers!!

  5. What do you mean when you say that this method is “fully supported?” My understanding on the supportability of this is that it is not supported for production use. That is, the only supported way to run ESXi on a USB stick was to purchase it OEM from a vendor like Dell or HP.

    Scott Lowe’s book Mastering vSphere 4 mentions that this is unsupported. I’ve also followed up with my local VMware rep who confirmed that this is possible but unsupported.

    Do you have any better documentation that states that this is actually a supported configuration? If so I’d love to see it..

  6. Even though it is very easy to recreate (creating a backup or copy takes almost as mucht time as reinstalling it on a stick) the real question is how do you get your config (back) on it? Especially with the free version.

  8. Thanks for the reply regarding supportability. That link doesn’t seem to work. It goes to the right site but isn’t bringing up the content you’re referencing.

    I’d love for this to be a fully supported configuration. I’d just prefer to see it in writing considering my local VMware rep specifically told me it wasn’t supported.

  11. Thanks Duncan, that link worked and the all important sentence is here:

    USB devices – Supported for installing ESXi 4.0. For a list of supported USB devices, see the Hardware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

    The good news is that you’re right and that it is supported. Now for the bad news – following that link and actually finding supported USB devices is another exercise altogether. Just as a quick example, I tried look for both Kingston and SanDisk since they are both well known USB stick vendors and there was no support listed for either.

    I think that it may be supported in certain configurations but, at least from what I’m seeing, you would have a hard time finding a completely VMware supported configuration based on what I see on the HCL. Again I’d love to be proven wrong if you can find info saying otherwise.

    Thanks as always for the great blog…

    Matt

  12. Just a heads up for those of you trying to use workstation to perform this method of ESXi on usb key trickery. The default ESX4 install profile in VMware workstation (at least in my Workstation 7 for Linux) does not add a usb controller thus making the usb device unavailable to select as a mass usb disk for the selection as an install device. Had me laughing and hanging my head in shame that it took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck was going on. After I powered down the VM and added the usb ctrl the USB mass storage device was recognized and attachable to the VM and the installer went off w/out a hitch. After solving this also read the post over on vcritical and noticed that Eric mentions this in his steps.

    Overall this approach seems a tad easier than my old method located here:
    http://www.virtguru.com/index.php?q=node/4

    Thanks for the tip Duncan. Now my boss wont hand me his USB stick and ask me to perform my magic to get his a ESXi usb boot stick for demo purposes 😀

  13. On the machine you are installing from, you need:
    1) 2048 mb dedicated to the VM
    2) USB controller installed.

    Yes, obvious really, but these points could go into the sequence…

    Martin.