How to create custom ESXi image

page.title 2020-10-10 01 December 2020

In this article, I will show you how to create a custom esxi image with PowerShell

You will need 30 minutes to follow these steps:

Go to VMWare downloads and download your vendor-specific image
Swtich to Drivers tab and download required/additional/updated drivers if needed
Go to VMWare patches and download latest ESXi build
Go to your server's vendor drivers download page, in my case Cisco drivers and download latest drivers for your ESXi version
Go to your vCenter AutoDeploy menu section, click the Import link on the top right, locate a vendor-customized image and provide a name
Repeat the previous step and import the latest ESXi build and drivers
Add custom depot
Click on the link "New image profile" and provide name and details.
I usually use the following naming convention: ESXi-[major_version].[minor_version]-[build]-[standard/no-tools]. The last part depends on whenever I include VMTools or no.
Select only the latest packages as by default wizard shows you a list with all available vibs from all depots
Custom ESXi image has been created and now you can use it in AutoDeploy or export to zip or ISO by clicking the Export button

Or you can use the following PowerShell script to do this for you


$vcenter = Read-Host "Provide vCenter name"
$esxi_build = Read-Host "Provide ESXi build number you want to download"
$handle = Connect-VIServer $vcenter
$version = $handle.Version.Substring(0,3)

# Import downloaded ESXi Cisco Custom image, latest ESXi image, Cisco enic drivers and NetApp VAAI driver from the folder below
Get-EsxSoftwareDepot | Remove-EsxSoftwareDepot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot (Get-ChildItem "c:\packages\$version" *.zip).FullName

$profilename = "ESXi-$version-$esxi_build"
Write-Host "Checking if already downloaded build matches target one"
if ((Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Newest | ? name -eq esx-base).Version.Split('.')[-1] -ne $esxi_build) {
	Get-EsxSoftwareDepot | Remove-EsxSoftwareDepot
		
	Write-Host "New build $profilename wasn't found locally, adding online depot to download it"
	Add-EsxSoftwareDepot "https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml"

	Write-Host "Looking for a build to download"
	$ver = "ESXi-"  + $handle.Version + "-202"	
	Get-EsxImageProfile | ? Name -like *$ver*standard* | sort Name -Descending | % {
		if (($_.VibList | ? name -eq esx-base).Version.Split('.')[-1] -eq $esxi_build) {
			$profilename = $_.Name
			Write-Host "Found correct build in profile $profilename, downloading it"
			Export-EsxImageProfile $profilename -ExportToBundle c:\packages\$version\$profilename.zip
			break 
		}	
	}
}
else {
	Write-Host "Correct build is already downloaded"
	$profilename = "ESXi-$version-$esxi_build"
}

# Import downloaded ESXi Cisco Custom image, latest ESXi image, Cisco enic drivers and NetApp VAAI driver from the folder below
Get-EsxSoftwareDepot | Remove-EsxSoftwareDepot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot (Get-ChildItem "c:\packages\$version" *.zip).FullName

Write-Host "Creating custom stateless ESXi image without tools"
if (!(Test-Path c:\packages\$profilename-no-tools.zip)) {
	New-EsxImageProfile -NewProfile -Name $profilename-no-tools -SoftwarePackage (Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Newest | ? name -ne tools-light) -Vendor DevOps -AcceptanceLevel PartnerSupported
	Export-EsxImageProfile $profilename-no-tools -ExportToBundle c:\packages\$profilename-no-tools.zip
}

Write-Host "Creating custom stateful ESXi image with tools"
if (!(Test-Path c:\packages\$profilename-standard.zip)) {
	New-EsxImageProfile -NewProfile -Name $profilename-standard -SoftwarePackage (Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Newest) -Vendor DevOps -AcceptanceLevel PartnerSupported
	Export-EsxImageProfile $profilename-standard -ExportToBundle c:\packages\$profilename-standard.zip
}

That's all, we built an ESXi image we need with specified drivers