VMWare ESXi

Steps:

1. install ESXi onto the hardware
2. install VMWare vSphere client onto your PC
3. Connect using the vSphere client
4. In the server -> configuration -> Licensed Features (under Software) - Edit (on the right) and enter the license key: H401K-82H0M-K8F49-0H9A4-95CM0

add new user

Go to local users and groups and right click on the screen to add a new user. The password needs to be 8 characters long.

Then go to permissions and right click on the screen to add a permission. Choose the assigned role and then add the new user (on the left)

auto start vm's

under the configuration tab for the machine, at "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown"

Choose Properties. You can configure the startup/shutdown here.

keyboard shortcuts for console

Ctrl+Shift+Insert Sends Ctrl+Alt+Delete

Ctrl+G Transfers mouse and keyboard input from the local machine to the virtual machine (same as clicking in the window) great for when you don't have a mouse handy

Ctrl+Alt+Enter Full Screen VM

Ctrl+Alt Unlocks mouse/keyboard from VM console window, also exists full screen mode

Ctrl+Shift+X Exit VM Console

installing tools on a VM

The tools allow you to do things like copy paste into the console. In order to install the tools, you mount a CD from the internal datastore. Choose the version for the OS you have. Mount the CD, then copy the contents to /usr/local/src and unzip them. Inside this directory you run the perl scripts. For Linux you will need the kernel headers package