Deploying ESXi with Satellite 6

Deploy the files to the Satellite server

• Download the latest ISO from VMware (e.g. VMware-ESXi-5.5U2-RollupISO2.iso).
• Transfer to the satellite server
• Run some code

# mount -o loop VMware-ESXi-5.5U2-RollupISO2.iso /mnt # mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/boot/esxi55u2 # cd /mnt # cp -a * /var/lib/tftpboot/boot/esxi55u2 # cd /var/lib/tftpboot/boot/esxi55u2 # sed -i 's#/#/boot/esxi55u2/#g' boot.cfg # cd .. # restorecon -R esxi55u2

Create the Operating System inside Satellite

Hosts -> Operating Systems

• Click New Operating System
  • Operating System
    • Name: ESXi
    • Major version: 5
    • Minor version: 5
    • Description: ESXi 5.5U2
    • OS Family: Red Hat
    • Arch: x86_64
  • Partition Table
    • Kickstart Default
  • Installation Media
    • Any Mirror – Can create a esxi mirror if desired.

Hosts -> Provisioning Templates

• Click New Template
  • Provisioning Template
    • Name: ESXi OCP PXELinux

      SERIAL 0 115200n8
      DEFAULT esxi5.serial
      PROMPT 0
      MENU TITLE PXE Boot
      LABEL esxi5.serial
           MENU LABEL ^4) ESXi55_Serial
           KERNEL boot/esxi55u2/mboot.c32
           APPEND -c boot/esxi55u2/boot.cfg text com1_Port=0x3f8 gdbPort=none logPort=none tty2Port=com1 ks=<%=foreman_url("provision")%>; ignoreHeadless="True"
      LABEL hddboot
      LOCALBOOT 0x80
      MENU LABEL ^Boot from local disk
      

  • Type: PXELinux
  • Association:
  • ESXi 5.5
• Click New Template
  • Provisioning Template
    • Name: ESXi OCP Kickstart

      vmaccepteula
      
      install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs
      rootpw --iscrypted <%= root_pass %>
      network --bootproto=dhcp
      reboot
      
      %post --interpreter=busybox --ignorefailure=true
      # Add temporary DNS resolution so the foreman call works
      echo "nameserver <%= @host.subnet.dns_primary %>" >> /etc/resolv.conf
      echo "nameserver <%= @host.subnet.dns_secondary %>" >> /etc/resolv.conf
      wget -O /dev/null <%= foreman_url %>
      echo "Done with Foreman call"
      
      esxcfg-advcfg -k none gdbPort
      esxcfg-advcfg -k none logPort
      esxcfg-advcfg -k com1 tty2Port
      
      #script to set first boot options
      %firstboot --interpreter=busybox
      
      # enable VHV (Virtual Hardware Virtualization to run nested 64bit Guests + Hyper-V VM)
      grep -i "vhv.enable" /etc/vmware/config || echo "vhv.enable = \"TRUE\"" >> /etc/vmware/config
      
      # enable & start remote ESXi Shell (SSH)
      vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh
      vim-cmd hostsvc/start_ssh
      
      # enable & start ESXi Shell (TSM)
      vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_esx_shell
      vim-cmd hostsvc/start_esx_shell
      
      # supress ESXi Shell shell warning
      esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning -i 1
      
      # ESXi Shell interactive idle time logout
      esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/ESXiShellInteractiveTimeOut -i 3600
      
      # Disable IPv6 for VMkernel interfaces
      esxcli system module parameters set -m tcpip3 -p ipv6=0
      
      ### FIREWALL CONFIGURATION ###
      # enable firewall
      esxcli network firewall set --default-action false --enabled yes
      
      # services to enable by default
      FIREWALL_SERVICES="syslog sshClient ntpClient updateManager httpClient netdump"
      for SERVICE in ${FIREWALL_SERVICES}
      do
      esxcli network firewall ruleset set --ruleset-id ${SERVICE} --enabled yes
      done
      
      # enter maintenance mode
      esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e true
      
      # Needed for configuration changes that could not be performed in esxcli
      esxcfg-advcfg -k none gdbPort
      esxcfg-advcfg -k none logPort
      esxcfg-advcfg -k com1 tty2Port
      esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 60 -r "rebooting after host configurations"

    • Type: provision
    • Association:
      • ESXi 5.5

Hosts -> Operating Systems

• Select ESXi 5.5
  • Templates
    • provision: ESXi OCP Kickstart
    • PXELinux: ESXi OCP PXELinux