-4

I've been tasked with setting up some VMs. I've been given some admin details but no further guidance. The server is a fresh install.

My problem is that I'm on Linux/OSX and don't want to run Windows aside from setting up after which I hope to be able to manage things through the web client.

I think there is an ESXi installation. This would be Version 6. How do I set up the web client?

I've installed vSphere Client on a local Windows VM.. not sure what to do with it though.

The documentation is pretty awful and there hasn't been much useful info on the net. I'm really stuck as I didn't set these up and haven't used servers like this before, so I have no context or understanding of the VMWare ecosystem beyond using a virtual machine locally! (even then I've preferred Virtualbox)

Any advice would be amazing

p.s accessing https://[ipaddress]/vsphere-client does not work. Produces a blank browser page... with no html served as an error

darkace
  • 121
  • 3
  • 3
    `The documentation is pretty awful and there hasn't been much useful info on the net.` I'm sorry, what? Have you checked the VMware website, because it contains everything you could possibly need. – GregL Oct 19 '15 at 11:50
  • 7
    This question is being voted for closure because the author does not show a level of technical understanding or appropriate due diligence in researching the topic that the community judges as being a minimum barrier to participate. – user9517 Oct 19 '15 at 11:59
  • 1
    The VMWare KBs are the best online help portal i have ever seen. I started to administrate a vmware cluster only by reading the KBs and help pages from VMWare. – Tobias Oct 19 '15 at 12:18
  • 1
    @Tobias clearly you've never watched a newb try to figure out VMware from 0. Setting up esx- well documented, setting up the clients/vcenter- disaster. I've watched VMware partners throw up their hands and have to call when something doesn't work when the docs say it should with center and it's something stupid that wasn't clear. – Jim B Oct 19 '15 at 12:56
  • I already set up ESX and vCenter infrastructure from scratch, without problems. I'm shure that sometimes there are problems, but not always. – Tobias Oct 19 '15 at 13:03

2 Answers2

1

vSphere 6 and the Web Client can been bootstrapped without a Windows machine nowadays.

Follow the official documentation or any of the online tutorials which walk you through the process.

Pay attention to the sections for "Linux deployment".

The deployment of VCSA is done by mounting an ISO! Yes. Once you mount the iso, in the root directory you’ll find a html file called index.html -:). From there it’s simple and straight forward. Oh wait, before that you must install VMware Client Integration Plugin which is located in the vcsa directory.

It’s a simple exe file, (for Windows) but there is also a pkg if you’re deploying from Linux Workstation. Note that you don’t have to have any vSphere client installed to deploy the VCSA. There is also VCSA CLI Installer which is located in the second folder.

ewwhite
  • 197,159
  • 92
  • 443
  • 809
0

The web client is implemented thru vCenter - so planning on having a machine to run that. This machine can be either physical or a VM. You'll also have to decide if you want to use the linux-based appliance or bite the proverbial bullet and run a Windows server to use the application version.

On the other hand, you might already have a vCenter installed somewhere if this is an existing installation. You should be able to point your vSphere client to your esxi hosts to see what's installed. With any luck your theoretical vCenter server might be named something obvious like "vcenterserver".

And actually, if you have a fairly simple installation, you might find that just pointing the vSphere client to your esxi hosts is sufficient for your tasks. It won't have all the functionality of the web client, and it does require a non-linux system to run on but it's still handy for basic tasks.

Hint: If you choose the appliance route, be sure to have a FQDN (including reverse lookup) setup before attempting to install it.

EEAA
  • 109,363
  • 18
  • 175
  • 245
Brandon Xavier
  • 2,022
  • 13
  • 15