Build a Home VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1(ESXi 5.1)

* Model: HP h8-1420t from Costco.
* CPU: Intel i7-3770 3.40 GHz
* Hyperthreading: Enabled (Enabled from BIOS setup. Hit F10 right after power on for BIOS setup)
* Memory: 16 GB
* Storage: 1TB 7200 rpm
* NIC (separate purchase): Intel Gigabit CT PCI-E Network Adapter EXPI9301CTBLK from Amazon.

I’m thinking getting a raid card for SATA drives. Here are some of candidate cards:
* LSI MegaRAID Internal Low-Power SATA/SAS 9240-8i 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 RAID Controller Card, Kit
* HP Smart Array P800
* HP Smart Array P400 SAS RAID Controller With Heat Sink 507808B21
– Bought this card, now need to buy SFF 8484 to 4 X SATA cable

* Download the following ESXi 5.1 components from VMware download site. You’ll need to login in order to download.
– VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5 License: needed to unlock the free features of ESXi once the initial 60 day trial period expires.
– VMware ESXi 5.1 (CD ISO) Installable 2012-09-10 | 5.1.0 | 301M | Binary (.iso)
– VMware vSphere Client 5.1
* Burn the downloaded CD ISO image to a CD disk.

* Boot into BIO setup.
* Enable VT (Virtualization Technology) Support.
* Enable boot from CD/DVD ROM.

* Boot from ESXi 5.1 CD
* Accept EULA
* Select disk
* Select OK to overwrite partition
* Select keyboard layout: US Default
* Enter root password
* Confirm install
* Remove CD and reboot

* Start ESXi
* Press F2: Customize system/view logs
* Login as root user
* Select: Configure Management Network
* Select: IP Configuration
* Select: Set Static IP address and network config and enter, for example:
– IP: 192.168.1.66
– Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
– Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
* Select: DNS Config and enter:
– Primary DNS: 8.8.8.8
– Alternate DNS: 4.4.4.4
– Host Name: esxi5
* Select Restart Management Network
* Reboot

* Login https://my.vmware.com and download license from: Home > Evaluate VMware Products > VMware vSphere Hypervisor > Download > License & Download
* From vSphere Client, select ESXi server > Configuration > Licensed Features
* Click Edit… link
* Select Assign a new license key to this host
* Click Enter Key…

* Enable ESXi Shell and
Troubleshooting Options > Enable ESXi Shell
Troubleshooting Options > Enable SSH Shell
* Access ESXi shell from remote: use SSH client such as putty
* Access ESXi shell from local: Alt-F1
* NIC commands

# List status for all NICs
esxcfg-nics -l
 
# Bring up vmnic0
esxcli network nic up -n vmnic0
 
# Take down vmnic0
esxcli network nic down -n vmnic0
 
# Set vmnic0  to auto negotiation
esxcfg-nics -a vmnic0
 
# Forc vmnic0 100 Full
esxcfg-nics -s 100 -d full vmnic0

* Shutdown or reboot:
– Note: shutdown all VMs first

# Check maintenance mode
esxcli system maintenanceMode get
 
# Enable maintenance mode
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e true -t 0 
 
# Shutdown
esxcli system shutdown poweroff -d 10 -r "Test shutdown"
 
# Reboot
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 10 -r "Test reboot"

* Bought CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System from B&H.
* Power went out for 10 sec this afternoon (9/10/13) but thanks to this unit my ESXi didn’t go down.

* VMware vSphere ESXi and vCenter Server 5.1 Documentation
* VMWare Compatibility Guide: I/O Device