VMware ESXi (formerly ESX) is an enterprise-class, type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware for deploying and serving virtual computers. ESXi replaces Service Console (a rudimentary operating system) with a more closely integrated OS. ESX/ESXi is the primary component in the VMware Infrastructure software suite.
ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses. Each vSphere license has a certain CPU capacity that you can use to license multiple physical CPUs on ESXi hosts. When you assign a vSphere license to a host, the amount of CPU capacity consumed equals the number of physical CPUs in the host.
VMware ESXi step-by-step Installation Guide with Screenshots
- Download ESXi server. Get the software from the VMware ESXi download page.
- VMware VMvisor Boot Menu.
- VMware ESXi Installer Loading.
- New ESXi Install.
- Accept VMware EULA.
- Select a Disk to Install VMware ESXi.
- Confirm ESXi Installation.
- Installation in Progress.
VMware Workstation Player is free for personal non-commercial use (business and non profit use is considered commercial use). If you would like to learn about virtual machines or use them at home you are welcome to use VMware Workstation Player for free.
With VMware ESXi 5. X, we run a maximum of 24 VMs on each node, usually working with about 15 VMs per host.
Type 1 Hypervisor. A bare-metal hypervisor (Type 1) is a layer of software we install directly on top of a physical server and its underlying hardware. There is no software or any operating system in between, hence the name bare-metal hypervisor. Type 1 hypervisors are mainly found in enterprise environments.
VMware ESX and VMware ESXi are hypervisors that use software to abstract processor, memory, storage and networking resources into multiple virtual machines (VMs). Each virtual machine runs its own operating system and applications.
ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses. Each vSphere license has a certain capacity that you can use to license multiple physical CPUs on ESXi hosts. Starting with vSphere 7.0, one CPU license covers up to 32 cores. If а CPU has more than 32 cores, you need additional CPU licenses.
- vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 7.0U1 | 2020-10-06 | [Release Notes] | [Download]
- vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.7U3b | 2019-12-05 | [Release Notes] | [Download]
- vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.5U3a | 2019-08-20 | [Release Notes] | [Download]
- ESXi 6.0 U3a | 2017-07-11 | [Release Notes] | [Download]
Via the vSphere Web Client
- Log into the VMware vSphere Web Client.
- Select a host. Home à Hosts and Clusters à Datacenter à Cluster à Host.
- Select Summary tab.
- Find the Configuration box (likely somewhere at the bottom right of screen)
- “ESX/ESXi Version” will tell you the version and build number.
Installing ESXi on Hyper-V
- Ensure you have the Hyper-V feature enabled on your Windows 10 or Windows Server product.
- Launch Hyper-V Manager, right click and select new > Virtual machine:
- Click next on the Before you begin screen:
- Enter a name for your VM and choose a location to store the VM:
VMware or Hyper-V? Part 3: Virtualization Licensing Costs
| vSphere Edition | Cost | Production Support |
|---|
| Essentials Plus | $4,625 | $1156 |
| Standard (requires vCenter) | $995 | $323 |
| Enterprise Plus (requires vCenter) | $3,595 | $899 |
| Platinum (Enterprise Plus & AppDefense -requires vCenter) | $4,595 | $1,049 |
VMware ESXi has Free and paid version. The free version is somehow limited, allows limited scale and cannot be managed via a central management server – vCenter. However, the Free ESXi (also called VMware ESXi Hypervisor) can connect to remote storage where a VMs can be created, stored and executed.
10 Best Open Source Hypervisor
- Xen.
- Linux KVM.
- Microsoft Hyper V.
- VMware Free ESXi.
- Lguest.
- Oracle VirtualBox.
- Xvisor.
- VMware Workstation Player.
Manage ESXi Hosts Without vCenter using VMware Pallas
- Deploy the Pallas Manager VM.
- Customize the VMware Pallas template passwords and networking properties.
- Deploying the Pallas-agent VM.
- Editing the Pallas agent configuration file.
- Restart Pallas agent services.
- Approve a host connection under host management.
- Host connection is now approved.
- VMware Pallas Dashboard.
“VMware vSphere Hypervisor VMware vSphere Hypervisor is a free product that provides a simple and easy way to get started with virtualization at no cost. Users can remotely manage individual vSphere Hypervisor hosts using the vSphere Client.
VMware vSphere Essentials Kits are for small businesses and combine virtualization for up to three physical servers with centralized management using VMware vCenter Server® for Essentials™. Customers can purchase one-year term licenses for vSphere Essentials Kits and vSphere Essentials Plus Kits from the VMware store.
vSphere 7.0 has been released and as known from previous versions, VMware provides a free version of their Hypervisor ESXi for everyone again. The license key can be created for free at VMware's website.
Licensing a vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 6.0 or 7.0) host
- Log in to the ESX/ESXi host using vSphere Client.
- Click the Configuration tab.
- Click Licensed Features under Software.
- Click Edit under Licensed Features.
- Select Assign a new license key to this host.
- Press Enter and enter the License Key.
- Click OK.
Hyper-V and VMware CostsLicensing for Hyper-V ranges from free to $3,607, though organizations can pay significantly more depending on their processing and OS goals. Licensing for VSphere can range from $995 to $4,245, with additional fees for support, multi-site use, "Operations Management Acceleration," and more.
Pulled directly from VMware. Upon license expiration, the vCenter Server software and the ESX/ESXi software continue to run, but certain operations stop working. If an ESX/ESXi host license expires, the virtual machines that reside on the host continue to run, but you cannot power on the virtual machines or reset them.
VMware vSphere Hypervisor, or ESXi, is a type-1 hypervisor that enables virtual machine or guest OS to run over a bare metal system. VMware ESXi is a free hypervisor from VMware. You can use just ESXi hypervisor without purchasing vCenter.
