Installing, Upgrading, Or Migrating Hosts Using A Script - VMware VS4-ENT-PL-A - vSphere Enterprise Plus Setup Manual

vSphere Installation and Setup
5 In the host BIOS settings, enter the iBFT adapter BIOS configuration, and change the adapter parameter
to boot from the iSCSI target.
See the vendor documentation for your system.
What to do next
On your iBFT adapter, reenable the option to boot to the iSCSI target, so the system will boot from the LUN
you installled ESXi on.

Installing, Upgrading, or Migrating Hosts Using a Script

You can quickly deploy ESXi hosts using scripted, unattended installations or upgrades. Scripted
installations, upgrades, or migrations provide an efficient way to deploy multiple hosts.
The installation or upgrade script contains the installation settings for ESXi. You can apply the script to all
hosts that you want to have a similar configuration.
For a scripted installation, upgrade, or migration, you must use the supported commands to create a script.
and edit the script to change settings that are unique for each host.
The installation or upgrade script can reside in one of the following locations:
FTP
n
HTTP/HTTPS
n
NFS
n
USB flash drive
n
CDROM
n
Approaches for Scripted Installation
You can install ESXi on multiple machines using a single script for all of them or a separate script for each
machine.
For example, because disk names vary from machine to machine, one of the settings that you might want to
configure in a script is the selection for the disk to install ESXi on.
Table 7‑1. Scripted Installation Choices
Option
Always install on the first disk on multiple machines.
Install ESXi on a different disk for each machine.
For information about the commands required to specify the disk to install on, see
Upgrade Script Commands,"
Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
You can start an installation or upgrade script by typing boot command-line options at the ESXi installer
boot command line.
At boot time you might need to specify options to access the kickstart file. You can enter boot options by
pressing Shift+O in the boot loader. For a PXE boot installation, you can pass options through the
line of the
kernelopts
Installer," on page 129.
A option must be given, to specify the location of the installation script. Otherwise, a scripted
ks=...
installation or upgrade will not start. If
142
on page 145.
file. See "About the boot.cfg File,"
boot.cfg
is omitted, the text installer will proceed.
ks=...
Action
Create one script.
Create multiple scripts.
on page 154 and
"Installation and
"PXE Booting the ESXi
VMware, Inc.