Connect a USB pen drive to a Linux OS, in my case a Ubuntu.
Download the vSphere 5 ESXi ISO installation file.
On the Linux machine install syslinux and mboot.
Execute the following commands:
# sudo apt-get install mbr syslinux # sudo /sbin/fdisk /dev/sdb # sudo umount /dev/sdb1 # sudo /sbin/mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n USB /dev/sdb1 # cd /tmp/ # sudo syslinux /dev/sdb1 # sudo install-mbr /dev/sdb # sudo mkdir /mnt/cdrom # sudo mkdir /mnt/usb # sudo mount -o loop /tmp/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.0.0-469512.x86_64.iso /mnt/cdrom/ # sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb/ # sudo cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb/ # sudo mv /mnt/usb/isolinux.cfg /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg # sudo vi /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg
In the file /usbdisk/syslinux.cfg, change the line APPEND -c boot.cfg to APPEND -c boot.cfg -p 1.
# sudo umount /mnt/usb # sudo umount /mnt/cdrom
Ready, says VMware.
But… When I put the USB drive in the server I get the BOOT prompt. The menu is not loaded correctly.
It has got something to do with that this syslinux kernel version needs another layout of the syslinux.cfg file. Untill I solve this issue I just type on the BOOT command prompt:
mboot.c32 -c boot.cfg -p 1
This works.
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