How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive.July 12th, 2009 Kiwi Si
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There are a couple of methods to create a VMWare ESXi 3.5 or v
4.0 (vSphere) bootable USB key. Firstly though I should point out
that at this stage you can only buy/create ESXi and not ESX (ie:
the Service Console version) on a memory pen drive or card.
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A Choice of MethodsUPDATE: VMware have now provided a much
simpler method of installing ESXi onto a USB pen drive as outlined
in method 3 below. For step-by-step instructions on how to do this
check out my new post here. As with most things in the world of
computers there are multiple ways of doing the same thing and
creating a bootable ESXi 3.5 or 4.0 USB pen drive is no exception.
The most popular approach to creating a bootable ESXi USB pen drive
is to use WinImage so in this article I will be covering this
method along with using an alternative Windows Command Line based
method (DD for Windows). However with the introduction of VMware
ESXi 4.0 there is an option to select USB pen drive as a target
during the installation process this being the easiest method of
all. I have used both methods successfully but others have reported
some problems when using DD for Windows under x64 Vista. The reason
for showing the DD for Windows method is that most postings youll
come across only show examples of using WinImage to extract the
relevant files from the ESXi ISO and to save the resultant image
onto the USB key. I thought it good to show an alternative as I
have experienced issues when using WinImage under Windows 7 beta
(7000) & RC (7100) x64 though others report that it has run ok
for them. I found that WinImage installed just fine under Windows 7
though when I went to write an image to a USB key I was presented
with a RED X with no description or hint as to what the problem may
be. Also the capacity of my USB key went from 2GB to 4MB something
a normal reformat could not fix ! To get your USB key back to its
original capacity download the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool from
here and run it against your USB key. I tried running WinImage as
an administrator and also tried running it with an XP and Vista
shim under Window 7s compatibility mode ABOUT TECHHEAD My name is
Simon Seagrave and I am a London (UK) based Senior Technology
Consultant and vSpecialist working for EMC. I love my work and
spend most of my time working with and exploring Virtualisation
Technologies in particular VMware products. In my home IT lab I use
VMware vSphere, HP Proliants and various storage products along
with many of Microsoft's back office products. This blog was
created for my own use and as a reference of useful articles, etc
that I came across on my travels. Though as time has progressed it
is good to see that other people are accessing it also. I hope you
find it useful. :) The Disclaimer Bit: Although I work for EMC, my
thoughts and views expressed in this blog are purely my own and are
not those of EMC. I am not a
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11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
still with no luck. Doh! So you may want to consider running
WinImage under Windows XP or Vista.
blogger for EMC and write about topics and products which
interest me, and hopefully you too. Twitter: Kiwi_Si VMware
Community: KiwiSi Email: simon at techhead dot co dot uk
Why create a bootable VMware ESXi USB pen drive?I really like
the idea of having a bootable ESXi USB key around as it is useful
for quickly spinning up an ESXi install on one of my lab machines.
For this project (and also because I didnt have any spare USB keys
or sufficient capacity lying around) I went out yesterday and
bought 2 x 2GB USB keys (for 9.99). In this article I will provide
steps for both ESXi pen drive creation methods so you can take your
pick.
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Two easy methods:1. DD for Windows (Command Line) 2. WinImage
(GUI) 3. ESXi Install CD (ESXi 4.0 Only)
What youll need for todays project is:1 x USB key (>1GB in
capacity). Im using a 2GB Dane-Elec USB key never heard of them to
be honest but 2 for 9.99 I couldnt pass up that deal. I have heard
from some that not all USB keys work though that said I have never
come across one so far that hasnt. Maybe we could start a list of
known USB keys (ie: Manufacturer/Model) that work/dont work at the
bottom of this article in the Comments section. 1 x Copy of the dd
for Windows utility which can be downloaded from here. At the time
of writing this article the latest version is 0.5. After
downloading install/extract it onto your PC and take note of the
location. or 1 x Copy of WinImage, downloaded from here. 1 x VMware
ESX(i) ISO image either on CD or in file format. Just a reminder
that you can download VMware ESXi for free from here. 1 x Copy and
install WinRar (Shareware). If you havent already got this
installed then you should as its very useful. It can be downloaded
from here. 1 x Roll of Cello tape 1 x Pair of Scissors 1 x Clothes
Peg 1 x Squeegee Bottle Ok so ignore the last 4 items
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Location, Location, Location:There arent really any differences
between creating a ESXi 3.5 or 4.0 bootable USB pen drive
RECENT FORUM POSTS ML 110 ESXi 4.1 U1 Nic Hangs Host
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk posted in forum HP ML110 & ML115 by
Centit on 7 March, 2011 at 10:36 pm
apart from the obvious difference between the actual image file
names. Both of the dd image files that you need are located in the
INSTALL.TGZ file when this file is abstracted you will find the
required dd image file in the directories outline below: VMware
ESXi 3.5 (U4)
E200 status posted in forum HP ML110 & ML115 by sc0ttjm on 4
March, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Centos 5.5, ESXI 4.1 and hp nc360t poor net performance posted
in forum VMware ESX & ESXi by lazyllama on 3 March, 2011 at
2:52 pm
Dell Perc 5i performance posted in forum Other by James Pearce
on 2 March, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Help ! - Installing E200 in a HP ML115 G5 SATA Server posted in
forum HP ML110 & ML115 by sc0ttjm on 1 March, 2011 at 8:29
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VMware ESXi 4.0
Now onto the first method
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Method #1 DD for Windows:Firstly we want to extract the relevant
dd file from the VMware ESXi ISO image so that we can then apply it
to the USB key. For the purposes of this exercise I am going to
build a bootable ESXi USB key based on VMware ESXi U3 (it was a
little while ago when I first wrote this article though the same
still applies to ESXi 3.5 U4 and ESXi 4.0). The file name for this
is: VMware-VMvisor-InstallerCD3.5.0_Update_3-123629.i386. Using
WinRar open your VMware ESXi ISO using WinRar.
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat Steve Foskett
Now whilst still in WinRar open (by double clicking) the
INSTALL.TGZ file.
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From here drill down the directories until you reach the
usr\lib\vmware\installer\ sub-directory.
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Now double click on the bz2 file to extract it (in this instance
called VMware-VMvisor-big3.5.0_Update_3-123629.i386.dd.bz2.
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Bramley
You are now left with a single file with a dd extension. This is
the file that we are after. Extract this file to the same directory
as where the dd for Windows utility resides. (Note: The other
option would be to add this directory to the Path environment
variable within your Windows OS so that the dd for Windows util can
be access via command line from any directory). We are now at the
stage where well use the dd for Windows utility to apply the image
you just extracted to a USB pen drive. If you have any WinRAR
windows left open you can now close them as we will only be dealing
with the file with the dd extension you just extracted. Insert your
USB key that you wish to have ESXi installed onto into your PC.
With your USB key inserted into your PC open up My Computer within
the OS and take note of the drive mapping letter that your USB key
has been assigned.
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
In my case it is the F (Removable Drive) drive.
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Open up a Command Prompt and navigate to the directory where the
dd for Windows utility and VMware ESXi image file is located.
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Run the command: dd -list (Note: there are two dashes before the
list command) If you are trying to run this from a Windows 7 Beta
installation, as I am, you will notice that there is no entry for
the USB pen drive (F:) under the NT Block Device Objects section
(see image below) this is where wed usually expect to see an entry
for the pen drive and the other attached hard disks. Im guessing
this is down to some incompatibility between dd for Windows and
Windows 7 Beta. So this part of the process will need to be
performed either using Windows XP or Vista.
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I dont have a Vista machine built up at the moment though so I
will perform the remaining steps from within Windows XP where we
run the same command (ie: dd -list) we get the following output. I
have run this process multiple times from a Vista based PC in the
past and can confirm it works the same as it does from an XP
machine.
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
After running the dd -list from the XP machine notice how you
can now see the hard disks and the USB drive (e:) appear in the NT
Block Device Objects
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We are now ready to apply the ESXi image onto the USB drive. To
do this use the following command (for more details on the commands
click here): dd bs=1M
if=VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_3-123629.i386.dd of=\\?
\Device\Harddisk1\Partition1 progress
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The portion of the command that starts with \\?\ specifies the
location of your USB pen drive just to clarify this information you
get from running the dd list (see above). This will most likely
vary between machines depending on how may hard disks and other USB
drives it has attached. With the dd process running you will see a
number that increments like that seen below. The process with
generally run for a few minutes whilst the image is applied to the
USB key.
Once the process has completed you are then a proud owner of a
bootable VMware ESXi USB pen drive!
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11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
Insert it into a compatible server/PC and boot to test that it
works.
Method #2 WinImage:First begin with starting WinImage (assuming
youve already installed it).
From the Disk drop-down menu select Restore Virtual Hard Disk
image on physical drive as you want to restore the VMware ESXi
image into your USB pen drive.
The next screen (below) should show you a list of all your
attached removable drives. If you have multiple removable drives
attached then take care to select the correct USB pen drive dont
want any accidents happening to we? Select you USB pen drive to
write the ESXi image to and click Ok
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
See image below to select your VMware ESXi dd image file.
Once you have selected All files (*.*) and can now see you ESXi
dd image file select Open
Select Yes at the Warning screen..
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
The VMware ESXi image at this stage is now written to your
select USB pen drive.
Once the ESXi image has been written when you open your USB pen
drive within Windows Explorer, containing the ESXi image, you
should see the following few files. You dont have to perform this
step only if you want to check to see if the image was written
successfully.
Method #3 ESXi Install CD (ESXi 4.0 Only):This third option is
the easiest and most hassle free of all. From ESXi 4.0 you get the
ability to install a USB pen drive into a USB port of your server
and then boot from the ESxi 4.0 installation CD. When you get to to
stage in the installation process to select the destination for the
ESXi install you should see your USB pen drive as a destination
along with your servers internal hard disk. Just select your USB
pen drive as the target for the ESXi 4.0 install and follow the
rest of the installation process through everything going to plan
you should see it install onto your USB pen drive.
Finished! Now go and put the cello tape, scissors and clothes
peg back into the drawer.. Have fun..
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How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk
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Rating: 3.7/5 (3 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
No related posts.Posted in VMware
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25 Responses to How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 &
4.0 (vSphere) USB pen drive.
starter says: 14 July, 2009 at 1:49 pm wasnt this article
published before (shows 12th of July)? anyway: Since ESXi 4.0 is
out it is possible to install it directly from CD to an USB Stick:
http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/Boot_ESXi_from_USB_flash_drive.php
stating this) will try it within this week. [Reply] (more resources
on web
Kiwi Si Reply:July 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Hi starter, Youre definitely on the ball on both accounts. This
article was published before though I had a problem with some of
the formatting corrupting so had to re-publish and took the
opportunity to adding a section on WinImage and a quick mention of
ESXi 4.0. Good catch re: installing ERXi directly from the install
media.. I was a bit rushed trying to get the article out before
work so didnt have enough time to include a section on mentioning
installing from the distribution ISO/installer. Will be adding this
shortly. Thanks for reading TechHead. All the best, Si [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
J says: 27 July, 2009 at 8:39 am Ive found that Winimage
sometimes leaves a winimage.exe process running even when you exit
the program. When you restart Winimage and try to do the recovery
process, it fails with the error you
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk described. I guess what happens quite
often is that people start Winimage (when UAC is enabled) and
notice that you cannot do the recovery (no devices listed), exit
the Winimage (which really does not exit), and try to run the
WinImage (Administrator) ie. in elevated privilege mode. Which, at
that point, does not work. To recover from the situation open Task
Manager, kill the background winimage.exe and then start WinImage
(Administrator), then it worked at least for me. [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)
mlaccetti says: 29 August, 2009 at 1:10 am dd works with Windows
7 RTM (64 bit) WinImage doesnt seem to play nice at all.
[Reply]
Rating: 1.0/5 (1 vote cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Tweets that mention How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5
& 4.0 (vSphere) USB pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk -- Topsy.com
says: 2 September, 2009 at 12:14 pm [...] this page was mentioned
by livedoorcliphot (@livedoorcliphot), Aben Samuel (@neop26),
TechHead.co.uk (Simo (@kiwi_si), ?????? (@ivaylov), Simon West
(@swests) and others. [...]
Clemente says: 4 September, 2009 at 4:40 pm Hello, I already
create my bootable USB pen drive, I jus have a question: Can I
install the Windows XP on my mini laptop with this disk or I have
to install the VM ware software? [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Carlos Beppler says: 16 September, 2009 at 5:56 pm To see the
remaining drives no Windows Vista or 7 you must open the prompt as
administrator. [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Stuart Mycock says: 19 October, 2009 at 11:50 pm
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk Ive been looking for a nice clean
simple method for dumping the .dd image to USB under Windows 7 and
have come across this:
https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download Works a treat
for me, just change the default image open dialog search from *.img
to *.dd in the filename box, select the image, select the
destination USB drive, hit write, then just sit back with a nice
frosty beer and a smile. [Reply]
Kiwi Si Reply:October 20th, 2009 at 6:18 am
Hi Stuart, Thanks for letting us know about this nifty sounding
utility. Ill definitely be giving it a go sounds very straight
forward! Cheers, Si [Reply]
Stuart Mycock Reply:October 20th, 2009 at 7:27 am
I found it when trying to figure out why my ESXi key wouldnt
boot after installing onto the USB key using the CD installation I
was getting Panic: no usable banks found. when trying to boot, so
thought the installer had failed. I got the exact error message
after using this tool, but turns out it was to do with my BIOS
emulating the wrong type of USB device. I had reformatted it with
the HP USB tool prior to imaging but that may not be necessary.
Credit goes to vm-help.com for the USB fix:
http://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/ESXi_35_common_issues.php Stu.
[Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive Snip IT Blog says: 16 November, 2009 at 12:48 pm [...]
Posted on November 16, 2009. Filed under: VMWare | Tags: VMWare
|
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive
[...]
Mike Meier says: 17 November, 2009 at 2:07 pm Hello, I also
tried both ways, but I am only able to use the WinImage way. While
I DDd the USB stick, it was not bootable. Difference I mentioned:
WinImage Way:
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk \\?\Device\Harddisk1\Partition1 link to
\\?\Device\Harddisk1\DP(1)0-0+5 Removable media other than floppy.
Block size = 512 size is 4177920 bytes DD Way:
\\?\Device\Harddisk1\Partition1 link to
\\?\Device\Harddisk1\DP(1)0-0+5 Removable media other than floppy.
Block size = 512 size is 8015249920 bytes Any Ideas? BR Mike
[Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nigel Boulton says: 2 December, 2009 at 8:47 am Hello Si, OK, so
I have a bootable ESXi 4.0 USB pen drive in my ML110 built as per
(the earlier version of) this article. Its running as a standalone
host. Whats your recommended approach to updating this to update 1?
Is there a procdure or should I have a crack at the vSphere Host
Update Utility (which Ive never looked at)? Keep up the good work!
Cheers, Nigel [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
StorageMaven says: 16 December, 2009 at 11:58 am Hi, I am trying
out the create bootable ESXi 4.0 USB procedure. Am trying Method 3
and it does not like a computer name longer than 16 characters. I
am trying to change my computer name but since this is controlled
by my organization, I am having trouble with this, too. Please
include a warning in the procedure about this limitation. Thanks.
Maven [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
StorageMaven says: 16 December, 2009 at 4:24 pm More questions:
Method 3 fails in the installation of vCenter Server Directory
Services instance. So, I decided to try Method 2. VMWare ESXi 4.0
is delivered as a .iso file. It does not contain Install.tgz
and
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk is not formatted as a .dd file. Now
what? [Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Marc says: 2 March, 2010 at 11:11 am Winimage 8.5 is working for
me on a Windows 7 64Bit installation [Reply]
Kiwi Si Reply:March 8th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Hi Marc, Thanks for the letting us know. That sounds like the
update weve been waiting for though I now just build my ESXi images
off of the VMware install media. Much easier. All the best, Simon
[Reply]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
VMware vSphere Now Available for Trial and Download! |
TechHead.co.uk says: 20 March, 2010 at 6:37 pm [...] The ESXi 4.0
version, as with the previous version (3.5) of ESXi, contains the
necessary dd file to make a bootable USB stick/pen drive version as
outlined in my article here. [...]
Installing VMware ESXi 4.0 on a USB Memory Stick The Official
Way | TechHead.co.uk says: 22 March, 2010 at 10:53 pm [...] writing
my original post last year on installing VMware ESXi 3.5 onto a USB
memory stick things have changed and with the [...]
New Server - Untangle Forums says: 1 June, 2010 at 6:33 pm [...]
with the Controller) So the first thing i did after powering it on
was to boot from my ESXi USB.
(http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-cre-usb-pen-drive) Booted Up
without any problems and no problem with Storage or Network
drivers. So now just the [...]
ESXi 4.1 install notes | Toxaq says: 13 August, 2010 at 7:46 am
[...] followed method 2 from the directions on found this site
noting that the image on 4.1 is called image2dd.bz2. This entailed
using WinImage to write this [...]
AnonyMou.se says:
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk 2 November, 2010 at 5:19 pm Why use
WinRAR when theres free & better 7-zip?! [Reply]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast) Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)
Jay says: 18 December, 2010 at 10:09 pm Hi Using the WinImage
way for example, would this mean the USB Key would always need to
be in the server? Thanks [Reply]
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Alexander says: 25 January, 2011 at 7:49 pm Here is the way to
avoid this error thing on Windows 7. The error only occurs if there
is already a partition on your flash drive. Instructions to make it
work: 1. Insert your flash. 2. Run cmd.exe as administrator 3. Run
diskpart within command prompt (just type diskpart and then press
enter) 4. type in list disk 5. 6. 7. 8. Note the flash drive you
want to use. Type in select disk 1 if your flash drive is displayed
as disk 1 type in clean Once successful -run Winimage as
administrator and write that image.
Steps may also be good for Vista -I just made it to work under
7. Wishing you Successful virtualisation ! Alex [Reply]
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james says: 17 February, 2011 at 10:20 am Thanks for the
article. I attempted the install with ESXI 4.1 u1 and apart from
the filenames being different (imagedd.bz2 within the iso and
imagedd (no extension) inside that) it has gone ok. I did find that
Winimage didnt offer my USB drive (or any drive) so I tried DD
which only offered my optical drive as an NT Block device object.
This on Windows Vista Home Premium SP2. However once I ran both
programs (cmd prompt and winimage) elevated I could see the device
ok and winimage handled it fine (once the filemask was changed to
show imagedd) [Reply]
http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-create-a-bootable-vmware-esxi-usb-pen-drive[3/24/2011
11:00:01 AM]
How to create a bootable VMware ESXi 3.5 & 4.0 (vSphere) USB
pen drive. | TechHead.co.uk Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast) Rating: 0
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