To register VMware ESXi, if you have a serial number for VMware ESXi, specify the web address shown on the home screen of your VMware ESXi hypervisor.
In our case : https://10.0.0.5/
Then, log in as root with the password defined during the installation of VMware ESXi.
The 1st time you log in, VMware will ask you if you want to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).
However, in many cases, companies don't like this kind of function for reasons of confidentiality.
So, uncheck "Join VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program" and click OK.
As you can see, by default VMware ESXi runs in evaluation mode and this evaluation license will expire in 60 days.
Click on the "Browser" tab on the left to open the menu.
Then, go to : Host -> Manage.
Then, go to the tab : Licensing.
As you can see, currently in trial mode, there are a lot of features.
Click on : Assign license.
In the "License key" box, enter the serial number that VMware provided to you on the VMware ESXi download page and click : Check license.
If the specified serial number is correct, the "License key is valid for VMware vSphere 6 Hypervisor" message will appear.
To use it, click on : Assign license.
As you can see, the big list of features is gone, because VMware ESXi now works, in our case, as a free version.
Warning : the free version of VMware ESXi no longer exists since February 2024 following the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom.
If you want to continue using VMware ESXi after its 60-day evaluation period (which still exists), you will need to license VMware vSphere.
Note that perpetual (permanent) licenses no longer exist since this purchase. VMware vSphere is now available with a subscription only.
For more information regarding VMware vSphere editions, see our article "VMware ESXi 6.7 - What is VMware vSphere ?".
However, as long as the 60-day evaluation period has not expired, you can very well click on "Remove license" to reactivate paid features temporarily and thus learn how to use certain paid features (which would not be included in your edition of VMware vSphere).
Once your VMware ESXi hypervisor is registered, the message about the evaluation mode will disappear from the web interface.
To install a guest operating system (OS) in a virtual machine, you have 2 possibilities :
To store files in a datastore, go to the left menu and click on : Storage.
As you can see, by default there is only one datastore named : datastore1.
VMware ESXi is installed on this datastore.
Select it and click on : Datastore browser.
The datastore browser appears.
Select the "datastore1" and click on : Create directory.
Specify for example "ISOs" as name and click on : Create directory.
Select the "ISOs" folder you just created and click again on : Create directory.
For example, create one folder per operating system. In our case : Windows 10.
Then, select the new folder created (in our case : Windows 10) and click on the "Upload" button to send a file from your computer to this datastore.
Select the operating system ISO file that you want to install later in a virtual machine and click Open.
A progress bar will appear at the top right.
Wait while the file is being sent.
Once the file sending is complete, the sent ISO file will appear.
You can close this datastore browser by clicking on the "Close" button located at the bottom right.
To create a virtual machine on your VMware ESXi hypervisor, go to the "Virtual Machines" menu and click : Create / Register VM.
In the "New virtual machine" wizard that appears, select "Create a new virtual machine" and click on : Next.
Provide a name for your new virtual machine and select :
In our case, we will create a virtual machine compatible with the current version (6.7) of our VMware ESXi hypervisor and in which we will install Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit).
Select the datastore where you want to store this virtual machine (its configuration, as well as its virtual hard disk).
By default, there is only one. Namely, the one where VMware ESXi is installed.
Configure at least these options :
In our case, we are going to choose our "Windows 10 - 2004 x64 - 20H1.iso" file present in the "ISOs/Windows 10" folder of our "datastore1".
Select the desired ISO file, then click the "Select" button.
Warning : for the virtual hard disk of your virtual machine, VMware ESXi will use static provisioning by default. To see it, expand the "Hard disk 1" section.
As you can see, you will be able to choose between :
In summary, if you want to save storage space, select "Thin provisioned".
Then, click on Next.
A summary of your virtual machine configuration is displayed.
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