# VMware ESXi

## How to deploy a Domotz Agent VMware disk image onto a VMware ESXi Host

This article contains a few tips and tricks on how to deploy a pre-configured VM image on a VMware ESXi Host.

## Get your VM disk image

**1**. Download our VMware VM image here:

- **US Mirror:** [domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04.2-4.9.2-7.4.2-b001-204-x64--vmware6.5_2025.zip](https://domotz-vm-images-us.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/vmware/domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04.2-4.9.2-7.4.2-b001-204-x64--vmware6.5_2025.zip)
- **EU Mirror:** [domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04.2-4.9.2-7.4.2-b001-204-x64--vmware6.5_2025.zip](https://domotz-vm-images-eu.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/vmware/domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04.2-4.9.2-7.4.2-b001-204-x64--vmware6.5_2025.zip)

**2**. Unzip it in a location of your choice.

## Deploy the disk image to your VMware ESXi Host

**3**. Access your ESXi admin dashboard and create a new VM:

Creating a New Virtual Machine - Select Creation Type

1. Choose the option "Create a new virtual machine" from the list. This is highlighted in the interface.
2. Review the description on the right, which explains that this option will guide you through customizing processors, memory, network connections, and storage. You will need to install a guest operating system afterward.
3. Click "Next" to proceed to the next step in the setup process.

Additional buttons are "Cancel," "Back," and "Finish," but "Next" is the only active option at this stage.

**4**. Click "Next" and set the following:

- **Name**: domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04.2-4.9.2-7.4.2-b001-204-vmware6.5
- **Compatibility**: ESXi 6.5
- **Guest OS family**: Linux
- **Guest OS version:**Ubuntu Linux (64-bit)

Creating a new virtual machine and selecting a name and guest OS.

1. In the "Select a name and guest OS" section, enter a unique name for the virtual machine in the "Name" field. The name can be up to 80 characters and must be unique within each ESXi instance.
2. Under "Compatibility," choose the appropriate option from the dropdown, such as "ESXi 6.5 virtual machine."
3. For "Guest OS family," select the relevant operating system family, like "Linux."
4. In the "Guest OS version" dropdown, pick the specific version, such as "Ubuntu Linux (64-bit)."
5. Click "Next" to proceed to the next configuration step.

Use these settings to ensure compatibility and optimal configuration for your virtual machine.

**5**. Click "Next" and select the storage location for the VM

VMware ESXi Virtual Machine Storage Selection

1. In the "New virtual machine" setup, navigate to step 5, "Select storage."
2. Choose the storage type by selecting either "Standard" or "Persistent Memory."
3. Below the storage type options, a list of datastores is shown.
4. Review the datastore details such as Name, Capacity, Free Space, Type, Thin provisioning support, and Access type.
5. Select a datastore for the virtual machine. For example, "2TB" with 1.82 TB capacity and 880.78 GB free space is available.
6. Confirm the selection by clicking "Next" to proceed, or revise steps using "Back" or exit with "Cancel."

**6**. Click "Next" and set the following:

- CPU: 2
- Memory: 2048

Setting CPU and Memory for a Virtual Machine

1. Under "Customize settings," select the "Virtual Hardware" tab.
2. Locate the "CPU" section and enter the desired number of CPUs.
3. In the "Memory" section, specify the amount of memory in megabytes.
4. Make changes to other hardware options as needed, such as hard disk, network adapter, and USB controller.
5. Review your settings and proceed with the virtual machine setup using the "NEXT" or "FINISH" button.

**7**. Delete the Hard disk 1

Customizing Virtual Machine Hardware Settings

1. Under "Customize settings," select the "Virtual Hardware" tab.
2. Adjust the CPU settings to "2" cores.
3. Set the Memory to "2048 MB."
4. Configure the Hard disk to "16 GB" and remove it by clicking the "X" to the right if necessary.
5. Choose "LSI Logic Parallel" for SCSI Controller 0.
6. Select "USB 2.0" for USB Controller 1.
7. For Network Adapter 1, select "TRUNK" and ensure "Connect" is checked.
8. Set the CD/DVD Drive to "Host device" with "Connect" checked.
9. Video Card is set to "Default settings."
10. Use the "NEXT" button to proceed or "CANCEL" to exit.

**8**. Add an existing hard disk

Customize virtual machine hardware settings in VMware.

1. Navigate to the "Customize settings" section for the virtual machine configuration.
2. Under the "Virtual Hardware" tab, select "Add hard disk" to open a menu.
3. In the menu, choose "Existing hard disk" to add a pre-existing disk to the virtual machine.
4. Adjust other hardware settings if needed, such as the number of CPUs, memory size, and connection settings for controllers and adapters.
5. Confirm changes before proceeding by using the navigation buttons at the bottom: CANCEL, BACK, NEXT, or FINISH.

On the new window do the following:

- In the "Datastore Browser" window create a **New Folder** and name it with the VM name.
- Upload the **.vmdk** images you downloaded in the following order:  - domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04-x64-3.3.3-6.0.7-b001-0213-vmware6.5_2024_jul-flat.vmdk - domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04-x64-3.3.3-6.0.7-b001-0213-vmware6.5_2024_jul.vmdk
- Select the **domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04-x64-3.3.3-6.0.7-b001-0213-vmware6.5_2024_jul.vmdk** hard disk.

Datastore Browser File Selection

1. In the Datastore Browser interface, locate and select the "2TB" directory from the left column.
2. In the middle column, navigate and select the "domotzpro-ubuntu..." folder.
3. In the right column, identify and highlight the file "domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04..." with a size of 4.05 GB.
4. Confirm the file selection by clicking the "SELECT" button at the bottom right.

The first file "domotzpro-ubuntu-24.04-x64-3.3.3-6.0.7-b001-0213-vmware6.5_2024_jul-flat.vmdk" will not be listed, and this is normal.

**9**. Select the hard disk file you just uploaded

**10**. Click on "Next" and then "Finish".

**11**. Start the VM and activate your Agent.

To activate the agent access the VM on its port 3000 (http://<VM_IP_Address>:3000) using a browser. (if you need to login into the machine to see its current IP Address the user is **domotz** and the password is **domotz**).

We strongly recommend changing the password as soon as possible, and in general to not allow SSH to the VM.
To change it run the following command:
`passwd domotz`

**IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTES**:
After setting up your VM you **must** update it with security patches. You can do it by performing these two commands when logged into the CLi as **domotz**user:
`sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade`
Ensure to keep a process to continuously update and upgrade the system. Only the Domotz Agent software is automatically upgraded via the SNAPd process.