一，U盘安装ESXi 5.1

1 准备工作

linux 系统 ; // 如feora ,   需安装 syslinux包 : yum install syslinux
U盘一个     
ESXi ISO文件  // 下载 VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.1.0-799733.x86_64.iso ，  XXXXXX为内部版本号

下载地址： http://download.faq-book.com/category/vmware/

2. 为U盘创建分区表

 
 
fdisk /dev/sdb

分区结果应如下表：
    Disk /dev/sdb: 8076 MB, 80761322352 bytes
    186 heads, 28 sectors/track, 3028 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 5208 * 512 = 2666496 bytes
    Device      Boot        Start       End     Blocks      Id      System
 /dev/sdb1        *             1      3029   7885824        c      W95 FAT32 (LBA)
    "w" 写入分区表并退出
注意:如有疑问可以参考最后的 fdisk 详细过程。

3. 使用FAT32文件系统格式化U盘

 
 
mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n ESXi /dev/sdb1 

4. 安装syslinux并写入MBR

 
 
syslinux /dev/sdb1 
cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin > /dev/sdb 

5. 挂载U盘

 
 
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb 

6. 挂载ESXi安装程序ISO镜像

 
 
mount -o loop VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.1.0-799733.x86_64.iso /mnt/iso 

7. 将ISO镜像的内容复制到U盘

 
 
cp -r /mnt/iso/* /mnt/usb/ 

8. 将isolinux.cfg文件重命名为syslinux.cfg

 
 
mv /mnt/usb/isolinux.cfg /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg 

9. 编辑syslinux.cfg 文件

 
 
vim /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg 

在/mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg 文件中，将APPEND -c boot.cfg 一行更改为 APPEND -c boot.cfg -p 1。

10. 拷贝一个新的menu.c32文件到U盘，覆盖原来的文件

 
 
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/menu.c32 /mnt/usb/ 

注意:这步并不在VMware vSphere官方手册 中，如没有此步骤，引导时会出现“menu.c32: not a COM32R image”这样的错误。

11,umount 

完工:现在U盘可以引导安装ESXi 5.1 了

fdisk 详细过程 ， 注意红色字

 
 
fdisk /dev/sdb 

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 8166 MB, 8166703104 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7788 cylinders, total 15950592 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4bd294d1

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           0     3311615     1655808   17  Hidden HPFS/NTFS

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1

Command (m for help): n
Partition type:
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
   e   extended
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-15950591, default 2048): 
Using default value 2048
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-15950591, default 15950591): 
Using default value 15950591

Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): c
Changed system type of partition 1 to c (W95 FAT32 (LBA))

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 8166 MB, 8166703104 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7788 cylinders, total 15950592 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4bd294d1

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *        2048    15950591     7974272    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.

二，驱动安装

1，VMware驱动查找：

1，打开http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io
2，选择产品版本(Product Release Version): 如 ESXi5.1 
3，选择商标(Brand Name): 如 Intel
4，选择设备类型(I/O Device Type): 如 Network
5，输入关建字(Keyword): 如 I210
回车，确定搜索，下面会列出可选的产口驱动。如：igb-4.0.17-890403.zip

通过ssh上传驱动到VMware ESXi服务器的/vmfs/volumes一个目录下
使用ssh登陆到VMware ESXi服务器后,用unzip命令解压驱动包，解压后会得到一个后缀为.vib 的驱动文件：

2，解压：

cd /vmfs/volumes/52b1862a-d0d77f1a-f455-0086000a044e/
#unzip igb-4.0.17-890403.zip 
Archive:  igb-4.0.17-890403.zip
  inflating: igb-4.0.17-offline_bundle-890403.zip
  inflating: Intel_bootbank_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.vib
  inflating: doc/README.txt
  inflating: source/driver_source_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.tgz
  inflating: doc/open_source_licenses_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.txt
  inflating: doc/release_note_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.txt

3，安装： 

#esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/52b1862a-d0d77f1a-f455-0086000a044e/Intel_bootbank_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.vib 
Installation Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true  (安装成功后需重启)
   VIBs Installed: Intel_bootbank_net-igb_4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560
   VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_net-igb_2.1.11.1-3vmw.510.0.0.799733
   VIBs Skipped: 
/vmfs/volumes/52b1862a-d0d77f1a-f455-0086000a044e # 

4，查看已安装的驱动：
# esxcli software vib list
Name                           Version                             Vendor  Acceptance Level  Install Date
-----------------------------  ----------------------------------  ------  ----------------  ------------
net-igb                        4.0.17-1OEM.500.0.0.472560          Intel   VMwareCertified   2013-12-18  
ata-pata-amd                   0.3.10-3vmw.510.0.0.799733          VMware  VMwareCertified   2013-12-18  
......


ESXi命令行：
# esxcfg-nics -l  列出网卡