royalwang / ESXi-Custom-ISO

Add drivers to a custom VMware ESXi ISO. (Inject NIC , NVME & USB NIC drivers plus Zimaboard compatibility)

☁️ Custom VMware ESXi ISO build scripts

Add final versions of VMware Flings for network drivers, nvme drivers & usb nic drivers to ESXi 8, 7 & 6 ISO images.

For ESXi 8.x ISO: esxi8-nvme-usbnic.ps1

• Choose a specific ESXi 8 version from the menu to add VMWare Community NVME & USB NIC drivers + latest GhettoVCB backup.

For Esxi 7.x ISO: esxi7-nvme-nic-usbnic.ps1

• Choose a specific ESXi 7 version from the menu to add VMWare Community NVME, NIC & USB NIC driver + latest GhettoVCB backup.

For ESXi 6.7 ISO (Zimaboard compatible): esxi6.7-nvme-usbnic-zimanic.ps1

• Builds latest ESXi 6.7 with Zimaboard's Realtek 1GbE NIC driver, VMware Community NVME & USB NIC drivers + latest GhettoVCB backup.
• If using Esxi 6.7 with Zimaboard, full duplex on ESXi NIC & physical switch may perform much faster.

• Zimaboard's optional RTL 8125 2.5GbE NIC driver for ESXi 6.7 can be found here
  • To manually install:esxcli software vib install -v net-r8125-9.011.00-10.vib
  • To manually remove: esxcli software vib remove -n net-r8125

🛠️ Prerequisites for building ESXi ISOs:

VMWare's PowerCLI requires Python, but due to the large number of Python versions available, many inconsistencies and bugs with PowerCLI can surface. Stick to what works...

1. Install specifically Python 3.7.9 from here (Check "Add Python to PATH" a the start of the install and at the end select "Disable path length limit").

2. For ESXi 7.x or 8.x ISOs, Install latest VMware PowerCLI tool:

   Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI
   

   For ESXi 6.7 ISOs, you must offline install PowerCLI 13.1.0 download it here.

   # If PowerCLI later than 13.1.0 is already installed, remove this first
      (Get-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ListAvailable).RequiredModules | Uninstall-Module -Force
   # Extract the contents of the downloaded PowerCLI 13.1.0 zip directly into the path below (do not create another sub directory)
      %ProgramFiles%\WindowsPowerShell\Modules 
   # Unblock the new module files  
      Get-ChildItem -Path $env:PROGRAMFILES\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ -Recurse | Unblock-File
   

3. Upgrade Python PIP via Command prompt:

   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
   

4. Add extra Python dependencies via Command prompt:

   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\Scripts\pip3.7.exe install six psutil lxml pyopenssl
   

5. Set the python.exe path via PowerShell:

   Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -PythonPath C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37\python.exe
   

6. Run the desired build script to start creating your custom ISO 🚀

Note: After Broadcom's acquisition of VMWare in October 2023, the VMware Flings community download site has been taken offline and its future is uncertain. The latest driver vibs were saved to this repo just before the site was closed down. A copy of the entire flings.vmware.com site now can be found at https://archive.org/details/flings.vmware.com.