Install vSphere 7.0

How to Install VMware vSphere 7.0

In this article I will show you how to install VMware vSphere 7.0. If you are looking for instructions about how to install the older version vSphere 6.7, you can find them here.

To begin with, you need an installation iso for vSphere 7.0, which you can download from your My.VMware account. I downloaded VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0-15843807.x86_64.iso (vSphere 7.0 build 15843807). I will install vSphere into a virtual machine (don’t do this in production, this is a configuration unsupported by VMware, but often seen in home labs), so I will just mount the iso file into the CD drive and power on the VM.

Install VMware vSphere 7.0

As soon as the VM boots, you will see a “Loading ESXi installer” screen:

Install vSphere 7.0 - Loading ESXi installer

You can see now the well-known yellow screen. vSphere version and build are mentioned on the screen. Nothing to do, just wait:

Install vSphere 7.0 - Loading

Few moments later we need to confirm the operation. Press Enter to continue, or Cancel to abort:

Install vSphere 7.0 - Welcome

Read and accept the End User License Agreement. Press F11 to accept EULA and continue the installation or Escape to abort it.

Install vSphere 7.0 - EULA

Next phase is a short one, vSphere is scanning our storage devices for few seconds to find available devices.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Scanning

We now have to make our first decision: where do we install vSphere. In my case I have a single 40 GB disk so I will just press Enter to continue. You may have multiple devices listed here, make sure you plan where do you want to install vSphere and make the choice accordingly.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Select Disk

Next we have to select the desired keyboard layout. I will keep the default one (US Default). I will press Enter to continue.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Select Keyboard Layout

We now need to enter the secret root password twice. You can move from “Root password” field to “Confirm password” field using down arrow key from your keyboard. Check this article for ESXi password requirements. Press Enter to continue.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Enter Root Password

vSphere 7.0 stopped supporting two Intel processor families (Intel Family 6, Model = 2C, Westmere-EP, and Intel Family 6, Model = 2F, Westmere-EX), so if you have one the old processors you will receive now an error and your installation will fail. Press F11 to reboot, your installation stops here.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Unsupported Processors

Hopefully you have a supported processor and you can proceed with the next step. We need now to confirm the installation. This is the last wizard step where you can cancel the installation. Press F11 to proceed.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Confirm Installation

Installation starts immediately:

Install vSphere 7.0 - Installing

Installation process is pretty quick. In few minutes you will see the “Installation Complete” message! As instructed on-screen, remove the installation kit you used to boot the server up, then press Enter to reboot.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Installation Complete

vSphere starts the reboot process. In few minutes, VMware vSphere 7.0 will be up and running!

Install vSphere 7.0 - All Done

vSphere 7.0 – Configure Network and DNS

As you can see in above image, vSphere obtained a DHCP allocated IP address. In order to change this to a manually configured IP address, press F2 to customize the system. After login, go to “Configure Management Network” and press Enter. Go to “IPv4 Configuration” and press Enter. Check “Set static IPv4 address…” and configure IPv4 address, subnet mask and the default gateway. Press Enter.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Configure Static IP Address

We will now change the DNS configuration, go to “DNS Configuration” and press Enter. Configure your DNS server details and the hostname. Press Enter. Press Escape to exit the Management Network Configuration. Press Y to restart the network services.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Configure DNS

Go back to login screen, you should confirm now the hostname and the static IPv4 address configured before.

Install vSphere 7.0 - Confirm Details

Enjoy your new vSphere 7.0 server, release build 15843807!

Constantin Ghioc

I usually play with vSphere API, Ansible, vRealize Automation, vRealize Orchestrator, and different AWS tools. In my other life I’m a husband and a father, an amateur photographer and a Go enthusiast.

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