How to Create a Custom ESXi Image

Dave DavisDave Davis
7 min read

In this post we’ll go over how to add additional VIBs to an ESXi image and before we get started with the process let me provide the list of VIBs we are going to be adding:

  1. MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM-500.0.0.472560.zip (Infiniband Card)

  2. mlx4_en-mlnx-1.6.1.2-offline_bundle-471530.zip (Infiniband Card)

  3. net-e1000e-2.3.2.x86_64.vib (onboard nic)

  4. net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib (onboard nic)

  5. SYN-ESX-5.5.0-NasVAAIPlugin-1.0-offline_bundle-2092790.zip

Note: All VIBs including the software depots from Mellonox and Synology are located C:\CustomISOs\VIBs

A screenshot of a file explorer showing a folder containing five files. The files are primarily compressed ZIP and VIB files, with names related to ESX and network drivers. The files have various sizes and dates modified listed.

Step1 – Install PowerCLI & Download ESXi Offline Bundle

  1. We need to download and install PowerCli which can be found [here][1] as this will provide the required PSSnapin (VMware.ImageBuilder).

  2. Next is to download the ESXi Offline Bundle clicking [here][2] and selecting Download Now. The ESXi Offline Bundle contains VIB packages, image profiles for ESXi and includes VMware Tools.

Screenshot of a VMware download page showing available downloads for ESXi, including an ISO image and an offline bundle. Files sizes are listed, with options to "Download Now."

Once the ESXi Offline Bundle is downloaded lets copy it to C:\CustomISOs\SoftwareDepot\

A Windows Explorer window displaying a folder named "SoftwareDepot" containing a single file, "update-from-esxi6.0-6.0_update02.zip," which is a compressed zip file of size 697,252 KB.

Step2 – PowerShell

This can also be done in PowerCli but since I do a majority of my work in the PowerShell’s ISE we’ll use that.

  1. The Add-PSSnapin VMware.ImageBuilder command will load the Cmdlets from the VMware.ImageBuilder snapin into the current Powershell session.

  2. To get a list of all available Cmdlets we can run Get-Command -PSSnapin VMware.ImageBuilder

  3. If we want more information about a particular Cmdlet we can run Get-Help Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -Full

Screenshot of a Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) showing commands related to VMware.ImageBuilder. The output lists several cmdlets such as "Add-EsxSoftwarePackage" and "Get-EsxImageProfile." A command for getting help on "Add-EsxSoftwareDepot" with its syntax and description is partially visible.

Step3 – Add Software Depot & Create a New Image Profile

  1. We need to add the ESXi Offline Bundle to the depot by running the following command Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\SoftwareDepot\update-from-esxi6.0-6.0_update02.zip

  2. To list the available ImageProfiles we run Get-EsxImageProfile | ft -AutoSize

  3. Next its best to create a new profile by cloning an existing one by running New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-standard -Name “ESXI6U2-HomeLab” -Vendor VirtualizeStuff

  4. In order to add Community VIBs to the Image we need to set the Acceptance Level to CommunitySupported by running Set-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -AcceptanceLevel CommunitySupported

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE displaying commands related to ESXi image profiles. The commands show adding a software depot, listing ESXi image profiles, cloning an image profile with specific parameters, and setting the acceptance level for a profile.

Step4 – Removing VIBs from the ESXi Offline Bundle (Optional)

In order for the Infiniband VIBs to work properly some VIBs need to be removed:

  1. Lets list all VIB objects inside the Image Profile ESXI6U2-HomeLabbundle by running Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Viblist | Sort-Object.
    The VIBs we need to remove are highlighted in red. Note the order net-mlx4-en must be removed before net-mlx4-core because it has a dependency to net-mlx4-core.

    Screenshot of a Windows PowerShell ISE window displaying a list of driver names, versions, vendors, and installation dates. Several items are highlighted with red circles on the left side, including "net-ixgbe" and "net-vmxnet3."

    If your wondering how I knew property Viblist existed I pipped Get-EsxImageProfile to Get-Member (gm) using the following command Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | gm

    Screenshot of PowerShell ISE showing a command to get an ESXi image profile named "ESX6I2U2-HomeLab". The displayed output lists the methods and properties of the VMware Image Profile.

  2. To remove the above VIBs we need to run:

     Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-e1000e
 Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-mlx4-en
 Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-mlx4-core
 Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-core
 Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-en
 Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-rdma

A PowerShell ISE window displaying a script with multiple "Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage" commands for an ESXI6U2-HomeLab. Errors are indicated by red markers. A table below shows the names, vendors, last modified dates, and acceptance levels of software packages.

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE displaying a list of VIBs (vSphere Installation Bundles) on a dark blue background. A smiling emoji with a speech bubble saying "VIBs are gone!" is on the right.

Step5 – Add VIBs to Custom Image Profile

  1. We need add the net-e1000e and net-e1001e VIB by running:
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -PackageUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\net-e1000e-2.3.2.x86_64.vib
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -PackageUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib

Screenshot of a Windows PowerShell ISE window displaying a command to get software package details. The output table shows names, versions, vendors, and creation dates of two packages.

  1. If we run Get-EsxSoftwarePackage | Sort notice how the VIBs are shown in the list of VIBs. The Get-EsxSoftwarePackage returns a list of VIBs from all the connected depots think of it as a repository.

A screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE displaying a list of VMware software components, versions, and release dates in a table format. Two lines are highlighted in green, showing different versions of the "net-e1000e" component with different providers and dates.

  1. Next we need to add the above VIBs to the ESXI6U2-HomeLab Image Profile by running:
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-e1001e
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "net-e1000e 2.3.2"

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE showing a command to add a software package to an ESXi image profile, with details about the image profile and software package displayed.

  1. If we look at the VIBs contained in the image profile by using Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Viblist | Sort-Object. You will notice they now show up in the ESXI6U2-HomeLab image profile

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE displaying a list of network drivers and plugins with details such as version numbers, product names, dates, and vendors. Two lines are highlighted in yellow and green.

  1. Next we need to import the software depot from Mellanox and Synology into the repository by running:
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\mlx4_en-mlnx-1.6.1.2-offline_bundle-471530.zip
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM-500.0.0.472560.zip
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\SYN-ESX-5.5.0-NasVAAIPlugin-1.0-offline_bundle-2092790.zip

A PowerShell ISE window displays commands for adding software depots. There's a speech bubble from a smiley face saying, "Remember this just adds it to the repository NOT the image profile."

  1. If we run Get-EsxSoftwarePackage | Sort -Property Vendor We see it in the repository.

Screenshot of a Windows PowerShell ISE window displaying a command output. The command lists software packages, showing columns for Name, Version, Vendor, and Creation Date, with various entries from vendors like Mellanox and VMware.

  1. To view the VIBs inside a specific software depot(s) run:
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\mlx4_en-mlnx-1.6.1.2-offline_bundle-471530.zip
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM-500.0.0.472560.zip
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\SYN-ESX-5.5.0-NasVAAIPlugin-1.0-offline_bundle-2092790.zip

A Windows PowerShell ISE window displaying several commands for retrieving ESX software package details. Each command lists information such as the software package name, version, vendor, and creation date.

  1. To add the VIBs from the software depot(s) to the ESXI6U2-HomeLab image profile run:
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "net-mlx4-en 1.6.1.2-1OEM.500.0.0.406165", "net-mlx4-core 1.8.2.4-1OEM.500.0.0.472560", net-ib-core, net-ib-mad, net-ib-sa, net-ib-cm, net-mlx4-ib, net-ib-umad, scsi-ib-srp, net-ib-ipoib
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "esx-nfsplugin"

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE showing commands for adding software packages to an image profile. The console window displays package details like name, vendor, last modified date, and acceptance level.

Using the -ExpandProperty trick we can look at all non-VMware VIBs from our ESXI6U2-HomeLab image profile by running Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty VibList | Where-Object {$_.Vendor -notlike “VMware”} | Sort-Object

Step6 – Final Step… I Promise

  1. Now that our ESXI6U2-HomeLab image profile is perfect its time to export it out as an ISO by running Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -ExportToIso -FilePath C:\CustomISOs\ESXI6U2-HomeLab.iso.

  2. We can also export our image profile out as a bundle by running Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -ExportToBundle -FilePath C:\CustomISOs\ESXI6U2-HomeLab.zip

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell ISE showing commands for exporting an ESXi image profile to ISO and ZIP files.

File Explorer window showing the "CustomISOs" folder, which contains two folders: "SoftwareDepot" and "VIBs," and two files: "ESXi6U2-HomeLab.iso" and "ESXi6U2-HomeLab.zip." The file extensions are visible.

Below is the list of all commands used in this post:

Add-PSSnapin VMware.ImageBuilder
#Get-Command -PSSnapin VMware.ImageBuilder
#Get-Help Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -Full
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\SoftwareDepot\update-from-esxi6.0-6.0_update02.zip
#Get-EsxImageProfile | ft -AutoSize
New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-standard -Name "ESXI6U2-HomeLab" -Vendor VirtualizeStuff
Set-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -AcceptanceLevel CommunitySupported
#Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | gm
#Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Viblist | Sort-Object
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-e1000e
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-mlx4-en
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-mlx4-core
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-core
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-en
Remove-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage nmlx4-rdma
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -PackageUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\net-e1000e-2.3.2.x86_64.vib
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -PackageUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib
#Get-EsxSoftwarePackage | Sort -Property Vendor
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage net-e1001e
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "net-e1000e 2.3.2"
#Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Viblist | Sort-Object
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\mlx4_en-mlnx-1.6.1.2-offline_bundle-471530.zip
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM-500.0.0.472560.zip
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\SYN-ESX-5.5.0-NasVAAIPlugin-1.0-offline_bundle-2092790.zip
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\mlx4_en-mlnx-1.6.1.2-offline_bundle-471530.zip
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM-500.0.0.472560.zip
Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwareDepot C:\CustomISOs\VIBs\SYN-ESX-5.5.0-NasVAAIPlugin-1.0-offline_bundle-2092790.zip
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "net-mlx4-en 1.6.1.2-1OEM.500.0.0.406165", "net-mlx4-core 1.8.2.4-1OEM.500.0.0.472560", net-ib-core, net-ib-mad, net-ib-sa, net-ib-cm, net-mlx4-ib, net-ib-umad, scsi-ib-srp, net-ib-ipoib
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -SoftwarePackage "esx-nfsplugin"
#Get-EsxImageProfile -Name ESXI6U2-HomeLab | Select-Object -ExpandProperty VibList | Where-Object {$_.Vendor -notlike "VMware"} | Sort-Object
Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -ExportToIso -FilePath C:\CustomISOs\ESXI6U2-HomeLab.iso
Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile ESXI6U2-HomeLab -ExportToBundle -FilePath C:\CustomISOs\ESXI6U2-HomeLab.zip

Conclusion

Now that we have a custom image with all required VIBs we are ready to deploy the image to our ESXi hosts. Stay tuned for the next post where we go through the installation of ESXi.

0
Subscribe to my newsletter

Read articles from Dave Davis directly inside your inbox. Subscribe to the newsletter, and don't miss out.

VMware-ImageBuilderimagebuilderVIBesxi-vibsPowershellPowerCLIesxi

Written by

Dave Davis
Dave Davis