Boot Option

Description

BOOTIF=<MAC address>

Tries to use a network adapter device when looking for an installation script and installation media.

gateway=<ip address>

Sets this network gateway as the default gateway

ip=<ip address>

Sets up a static IP address to be used for downloading the installation script and the installation media.

ks=cdrom:/<path\>

Performs a scripted installation with the script at path, which resides on the CD in the CD-ROM drive.

ks=file://<path>

Performs a scripted installation with the script at path.

ks=protocol://<serverpath>

Performs a scripted installation with a script located on the network at the given URL. Protocol can be HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or NFS.

ks=usb:</path</SPAN>>

Performs a scripted install, accessing the script from an attached USB drive. Searches for a file named ks.cfg.

nameserver=<ip address>

Specifies a domain name server

netdevice=<device>

Use network adapter device (MAC or vmnicN)

netmask=<subnet mask>

Specifies subnet mask for the network interface

vlanid=<vlanid>

Configure the network card to be on the specified VLAN

ksdevice=device

Tries to use a network adapter device when looking for an installation script and installation media. Specify as a MAC address, for example, 00:50:56:C0:00:01. This location can also be a vmnicNN name. If not specified and files need to be retrieved over the network, the installer defaults to the first discovered network adapter that is plugged in.

Function

clearpart (optional)

Clear any existing partitions on the disk. Requires install command to be specified.

--drives=

Remove partitions on a specified drive.

--alldrives

Ignore the “--drives=" requirement and allows clearing partitions on every drive.

--ignoredrives=

Remove partitions on all drives except those specified. Required unless the --drives= or --alldrives flags are specified.

Permit overwriting of vmfs partitions on the specified drives. By default, overwrite vmfs partitions is not allowed.

- -overwritevmfs

--firstdisk(=<disk-type1>,[<disk-type2>, ...])

Partitions the first eligible disk found. The order of the eligible disks is set to:

1 locally attached storage (local)

2 network storage (remote)

3 usb disks (usb)

You can change the ordering of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument.

Function

part or partition (optional)

Creates an additional VMFS datastore on the system. Only one datastore per disk can be created. Cannot be used on the same disk as the install command.

<datastore name>

Specifies where the partition is to be mounted

--ondisk= or --ondrive=

Specifies the disk or drive where the partition is created.

--onfirstdisk

Partitions the first eligible disk found. The order of the eligible disks are set to:

(=<disk-type1>,[<disk-type2>, ...])

1 locally attached storage (local)

2 network storage (remote)

3 usb disks (usb)

You can change the ordering of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument.

Command

Function

install

Specifies that this is a fresh installation.

Replaces the deprecated autopart command used for ESXi 4.1 scripted installations.

One of the commands install, upgrade, or installorupgrade is required to determine which disk to install or upgrade ESXi on.

--disk= or --drive=

Specifies the disk to partition.

--firstdisk=

Partitions the first eligible disk found. The order of the eligible disks is set to:

disk-type1,

1 locally attached storage (local)

[disk-type2,...]

2 network storage (remote)

3 usb disks (usb)

You can change the ordering of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument

--overwritevmfs

Required to overwrite any existing VMFS datastore on the disk before installation.

--preservevmfs

Preserves an existing VMFS datastore on the disk during installation.

--novmfsondisk

Prevents a VMFS partition from being created on this disk. Must be used with --overwritevmfs if a VMFS partition already exists on the disk.

Function

upgrade

Specifies that this is a upgrade.

Replaces the deprecated autopart command used for ESXi 4.1 scripted installations.

One of the commands install, upgrade, or installorupgrade is required to determine which disk to install or upgrade ESXi on.

--disk= or --drive=

Specifies the disk to partition.

--firstdisk=

Partitions the first eligible disk found. The order of the eligible disks is set to:

disk-type1,

1 locally attached storage (local)

[disk-type2,...]

2 network storage (remote)

3 usb disks (usb)

You can change the ordering of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument

--deletecosvmdk

If the system is being upgraded from ESX, remove the directory containing the old Console VMDK file, cos.vmdk, to reclaim unused space in the VMFS datastore.

Function

installorupgrade

One of the commands install, upgrade, or installorupgrade is required to determine which disk to install or upgrade ESXi on.

--disk= or --drive=

Specifies the disk to partition.

--firstdisk=

Partitions the first eligible disk found. The order of the eligible disks is set to:

disk-type1,

1 locally attached storage (local)

[disk-type2,...]

2 network storage (remote)

3 usb disks (usb)

You can change the ordering of the disks by using a comma separated list appended to the argument

--overwritevmfs

Install ESXi if a VMFS partition exists on the disk, but there is no ESX or ESXi installation.

Unless this option is present, the installer fails if a VMFS partition exists on the disk, but there is no ESX or ESXi installation

Function

keyboard

Set the keyboard type for the system to one of the following: Default, French, German, Japanese, Russian, 'United Kingdom'

dryrun (optional)

Parse and check the kickstart file, but do not actually do the install.

accepteula or vmaccepteula (required)

Accepts the VMware License Agreement (EULA).

reboot

Reboot the machine after the scripted installation is finished.

--noeject

Do not eject the CD after installation.

rootpw (required)

Set the root (admin) password for the system.

--iscrypted

Specifies that the password is already encrypted.

paranoid (optional)

Causes any warning messages to interrupt the installation. If you omit this command, warning messages are logged.

Function

network (optional)

Specify a network address for the system.

--bootproto=

Specify whether to obtain the network settings via DHCP or set it manually.

[dhcp|static]

--device=

Either the MAC address of the network card or the device name, of the form vmnicN. This option refers to "uplink" device for the virtual switch.

--ip=

Set the IP address for the system. This is used with the static bootproto option and is required if the static option is specified and ignored otherwise. This should be in the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

--gateway=

Specify the network gateway. Should be in the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. Used with the static bootproto option. If no option is specified, warn in the log file and continue with no gateway setting.

-- nameserver=

Specify up to two nameservers. Used with the static bootproto option.Should be in the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx,[xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx].

--nodns

Not used. This is the same as not specifying --nameserver= or not appending any arguments to it.

--netmask=

Netmask for the specified system. This should default to the proper netmask for the given type of ip address. Should be in the form “255.xxx.xxx.xxx". Used with the static bootproto option.

--hostname=

Specifies the hostname for the system.

--vlanid=

Specifies which VLAN the system is on. Used with either dhcp or static bootproto option. Should be an integer between 1 and 4094.

--addvmportgroup=

Specifies whether or not to add the VM Network port group which is used by virtual machines. The default value is 1.

(0|1)

Function

%pre

Specifies a script to be executed before the kickstart configuration is to be evaluated. For example, it can be used to generate files to be included by the kickstart file. Requires the -unsupported argument.

--interpreter= [python|busybox]

The script interpreter to use, defaults to busybox.

%post

Execute the specified script after installation has been completed. If multiple %post sections are specified, they are executed in the order they are found in the kickstart file..

--interpreter= [python|busybox]

The script interpreter to use, defaults to busybox.

--timeout=secs

Set a timeout for executing the script. If the script has not finished when the timeout expires, the script is forcefully terminated.

--ignorefailure=

If true, then the installation is considered a success even if the %post script terminated with an error.

[true|false]

%firstboot

Causes an init script to be created. The init script executes the commands specified in the %firstboot section during the first boot only; it has no effect on subsequent boots. If multiple %firstboot sections are specified and their level is the same, they are executed in the order they are found in the kickstart file.

--interpreter= [python|busybox]

The script interpreter to use, defaults to busybox.

%include OR include

Specify an additional kickstart file to parse. This command is treated similarly to a multi-line command, but takes only one argument.

<filename>