VMware ESXi
The bare-metal hypervisor from the VMware tile: reaching the Host Client, the licence, addresses for the guests, and what to do when the installer refuses the hardware.
ESXi is a type 1 hypervisor: it installs directly on the hardware and runs virtual machines on top, with no general purpose operating system underneath. There is no shell to live in and no package manager. You administer it from a web client or from vCenter.
Install it from the panel
In the client area, open your server, then Reinstall the server. Pick the VMware tile, open its version list and choose the one you want, then fill in the partitioning, the software RAID, the hostname and the password below the grid. The form itself is described in reinstalling your OS.
The tile is labelled VMware and carries version 6, with no list to open. If you need a newer ESXi, upload its image from the ISO Upload tab and run the installer over the console instead.
Careful
A reinstall erases every drive in the machine. There is no undo and we keep no copy: take your backups off the server first.
Reaching the Host Client
Once installed, the machine answers on plain HTTPS:
https://<your-ip>/uiLog in as root with the password from the reinstall form. That web interface, the VMware Host Client, is where you create and run the virtual machines. vCenter is a separate product and is not part of this install.
Note
SSH is disabled by default on ESXi and that is the sensible state. If you need it for a one-off task, turn it on from the Host Client under services, and turn it off again after. The console is the way in when the web client does not answer.
The licence
ESXi asks for a licence key. What your service entitles you to is a question for a ticket rather than a guess: open one before you build anything on top of an evaluation period that is going to expire.
Addresses for the guests
Each virtual machine that has to be reachable from the internet needs its own address, taken from your service as additional IP addresses. Say that they are for virtual machines when you request them: they are not set up like a second address on the host.
Inside ESXi the guests attach to a port group on a virtual switch, and the uplink of that switch is the physical interface.
When the installer refuses the hardware
ESXi is far pickier about network cards and storage controllers than Linux is. An installer that stops on a missing driver is not a broken image, it is a component ESXi no longer ships a driver for.
Open a ticket with what the installer said rather than retrying: we can tell you what the machine actually carries, and whether another configuration suits this hypervisor better.
Good to know
Want a hypervisor without the licensing question? Proxmox VE installs from the Debian tile, runs KVM guests and LXC containers, and its interface is complete without a subscription.
Where to go next
- First connection: your own user, SSH keys, password logins off.
- IP addresses: configuring the additional addresses on the fresh system.
- The console: watching the install, and getting in when the network does not answer.
Reviewed on September 15, 2026