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ESXi 5.5 Kickstart Installation

K

KapsZ28

2[H]4U
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May 29, 2009
Messages
2,114
First I would like to mention that I have never actually created a kickstart script before. Unfortunately scripting and automation is not my forte, but it is something I would really like to learn. Second I am looking to start by first creating a separate script for each ESXi install. So I will just update IP addresses for each script. Eventually I would like to get into a PXE install for full automation.

This kickstart example seems to most closely resemble what I am looking for. It is for ESXi 5.0, so I am wondering if everything in the script is still valid for 5.5?

http://thomaslowblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/esxi-50-kickstart-installation-part-3.html

I am using Distributed Switches, so I realize I will need to migrate all the standard ports after the install which is fine for now. Here is a list of what I want to accomplish with the kickstart script.

  1. Accept EULA
  2. Install
  3. Enable SSH and add Specific Key
  4. SSH Banner
  5. NTP
  6. Specify VMNICs and VMKs with IP Address, MTU, iSCSI, FT, etc
  7. Add iSCSI Software Adapter and specify the iSCSI initiator name, add Network Adapters, add IPs for Dynamic Discovery, Rescan HBA
  8. SNMP Community
  9. Syslog to Datastore (After iSCSI Datastores are added)
  10. Syslog Server

I think that covers just about everything. I didn't see in Thomas Low's blog how to add an SSH key. I would like to use the same key for all ESXi hosts to enable passwordless logins. Also I am using an iSCSI Initiator for connecting to the datastores instead of authentication.
 
I went through a bunch of kickstart creation and testing, and truthfully it makes more sense to just use host profiles.

You could use the kickstart for initial deployment, but more advanced configurations are much easier to configure (and maintain) with host profiles.
 
True. That is what I have typically used, but sometimes I have had issues with applying a host profile I created from one ESXi host to another even though hardware is identical.
 
You have to edit the profile to disable hardware specific bits at times (things like local drive settings). :)
 
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