Prerequisites
- Configured ESXi Host
- Basic PowerShell Knowledge
- PowerCli Installed
- Windows Server 2022 Evaluation ISO
- VMWare’s VMRC Installed
Connecting to ESXi host
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| $eSXi01Root = Get-Credential root
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| Connect-VIServer -Server '10.0.1.50' -Credential $eSXi01Root
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Copying ISO to Datastore
Get-PSDrive
To find out the datastore path we’re going to use Get-PSDrive.
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| Name Used (GB) Free (GB) Provider Root
---- --------- --------- -------- ---
Alias Alias
C 418.38 46.61 FileSystem C:\
Cert Certificate \
D 8.85 50.89 FileSystem D:\
Env Environment
Function Function
HKCU Registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKLM Registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Variable Variable
vi VimInventory \LastConnectedVCenterServer
vis VimInventory \
vmstore VimDatastore \LastConnectedVCenterServer
vmstores VimDatastore \
WSMan WSMan
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Make a Directory to Store the ISOs
We’re going to make a new folder named iso on the datastore data that we setup in the last post.
You can use tab completion to find the correct path.
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| mkdir vmstores:\10.0.1.50@443\ha-datacenter\data\iso
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Transferring the ISO to the ESXi Host
The command we’re going to use is Copy-DatastoreItem. It requires an Item source and a Destination path.
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| Copy-DatastoreItem -Item 'C:\Temp\ISO\Windows Server 2022.iso' -Destination 'vmstores:\10.0.1.50@443\ha-datacenter\data\iso\Windows Server 2022.iso' -Force
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The transfer time will depend on your network and disk speeds.
Provisioning a Virtual Machine
GuestID; Information can be found on the vSphere API documentation link.
- Click
All Enumerations - In the
-- Quick Index -- bar search for VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier and a list will appear.
NetworkName; We can get this the Get-VirtualNetwork command.
New-VM
We’re going to use a PowerShell Splat to keep the code easier to read. You can read about Splat on Microsoft’s docs. To find all available properties you can use the Get-Help command or the VMWare docs.
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| $NewVM_Properties = @{
CD = $true
CoresPerSocket = 4
Datastore = 'data'
DiskGB = 50
GuestId = 'windows2022srvNext_64Guest'
MemoryGB = 16
Name = 'TTE-DC-01'
NetworkName = 'VM Network'
Notes = 'Primary Domain Controller for AD.TimewellTech.ca'
NumCpu = 4
}
New-VM @NewVM_Properties
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| Name PowerState Num CPUs MemoryGB
---- ---------- -------- --------
TTE-DC-01 PoweredOff 4 16.000
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Add a Secondary HDD to the VM for the Active Directory Database
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| $NewHardDisk_Properties = @{
CapacityGB = '40'
Datastore = 'data'
Persistence = 'Persistent'
VM = "$($NewVM_Properties.Name)"
# I can't remember what this is called, but it allows us to get the VMName
}
New-HardDisk @NewHardDisk_Properties
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| CapacityGB Persistence Filename
---------- ----------- --------
40.000 Persistent [data] TTE-DC-01/TTE-DC-01_1.vmdk
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Connect the ISO to New VM’s CD Drive
$NewVM_Properties.Name Using dot notation to get the VM’s Name.
[data] Is how you have to reference the datastore. I found this out by looking at the GUI
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| Get-CDDrive -VM $NewVM_Properties.Name |
Set-CDDrive -IsoPath '[data] iso/Windows Server 2022.iso' -StartConnected $true
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| Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Performing the operation "Setting IsoPath: [data] iso/Windows Server 2022.iso, StartConnected: True, NoMedia: False." on
target "CD/DVD drive 1".
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"):
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Press Enter to continue.
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| IsoPath HostDevice RemoteDevice
------- ---------- ------------
[data] iso/Window...
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Start the Virtual Machine & Open a Virtual Console
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| Start-VM -VM $newVMArguments.Name
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| Name PowerState Num CPUs MemoryGB
---- ---------- -------- --------
TTE-DC-01 PoweredOn 4 16.000
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You must have VMRC installed on your local machine otherwise head to your web-gui.
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| Open-VMConsoleWindow -VM $newVMArguments.Name
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A remote console will appear.
Next post we’re going to be configuring the Primary Domain Controller.
