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Customized ESXi Image for 4th Gen Intel NUC

Intel NUCs are small, silent, transportable and have a very low power consumption, making it a great server for your homelab. Unfortunately ESXi does not work out of the box on these small nice systems. This post describes how you can create a customized ESXi Image for a 4th Intel NUC in about 5 minutes.

4th Generation Intel NUC Models:

  • D54250WYK
  • D54250WYKH
  • D54250WYB
  • D34010WYK
  • D34010WYKH
  • D34010WYB

vsphere-esxi-on-intel-nuc-BOXD54250WYKH

  1. Download required Files to a temp directory (c:\tmp)
    - Latest ESXi 5.5 Patch from VMware Patch Repository
    - Intel Driver net-e1000e from vibsdepot.v-front.de
    - SATA Controller sata-xahci from vibsdepot.v-front.de
  2. Latest versions as of December 2014 are:
    - ESXi550-201412001.zip
    - net-e1000e-3.1.0.2-glr-offline_bundle.zip
    - sata-xahci-1.26-1-offline_bundle.zip
  3. Download and install vSphere PowerCLI 5.8 to use the Image Builder.
  4. Open VMware vSphere PowerCLI
    vmware-vsphere-powercli
  5. Use the following commands to create a customized ESXi Image for you Intel NUC.
    cd c:\tmp
    Add-EsxSoftwareDepot ESXi550-201412001.zip
    Add-EsxSoftwareDepot net-e1000e-3.1.0.2-glr-offline_bundle.zip
    Add-EsxSoftwareDepot sata-xahci-1.26-1-offline_bundle.zip
    
    New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile ESXi-5.5.0-20141204001-standard -Name NUCProfile -Description "ESXi-5.5.0-20141204001-NUC" -Vendor "Community" -AcceptanceLevel "CommunitySupported"
    Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwarePackage net-e1000e -ImageProfile NUCProfile
    Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwarePackage sata-xahci -ImageProfile NUCProfile
    
    Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile NUCProfile -ExportToISO -FilePath ESXi-5.5.0-20141204001-NUC.iso

    Patch and Driver Versions might change in the future. Use the Get-EsxImageProfile cmdlet to get the profile name for newer ESXi releases.
    Get-EsxImageProfile

  6. Burn ESXi-5.5.0-20141204001-NUC.iso to a cd or create a usb flash drive to install ESXi on your Intel NUC.

5 thoughts on “Customized ESXi Image for 4th Gen Intel NUC”

  1. Noob here.... Need a hand with PowerCLI
    Running PowerCLI returns errors for every command. Errors are in red. Each command given at #5 above fails.
    What am I doing wrong?
    All help appreciated.

    PS C:\tmp> Add-EsxSoftwareDepot ESXi550-201412001.zip
    The term 'Add-EsxSoftwareDepot' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
    Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
    At line:1 char:21
    + Add-EsxSoftwareDepot <<<

  2. Pingback: VMware VSAN on Intel NUC – Mobile Lab for $2000 | Virten.net

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