Using ISO image to load software on VM System

I agree it can be a little difficult to negotiate some of these features. VMWare could do a bit better with feature work flows with such tasks (many tasks really)
From with in the VI Client
Right click on your VM and select "Edit Settings"
Select the CD ROM
Under "device type" (on the right) select "client device"  OK this.
Open a Concole Window to your guest session.
At the top of the page you will now see a "Connect CD/DVD  ROM" tab.
Click on this, you will be able to connect to the CD ROM on your PC or an ISO image which is on your harddrive or accessible to your PC

OH remember disconnect this after you are finished. I'm not sure if it still occures but there was an issue where your guest would not boot if there was a connected CD ROM.

Okay, sorry about being such a newbie, but still trying to get my mind wrapped around how this all works.  

Markzz - I am doing exactly as you described.  In the image below, when I click on the browse button, it allows me to view the DataStore.  My problem is in how can I copy the ISO that is on the same server as the DataStore, into one of these DataStores so that the VM can access it.  The browse feature will only let me point to the Datastore.  I can't browse to these locations with windows.  When I do a search for the vmimages on the storage unit, it doesn't find anything.  Don't know if this will make a difference, but the VM's are on an HP AIO600 NAS, that has two iSCSI LUNS carved out.

sfletcher1959,

You can upload your ISO images to your Datastore by using VI client.

Highlight your ESX server on the left pane
Click the Summary tab on the right pane
Right click and select Browse Datastore... on the datastore that you will be storing your ISOs
You may store the ISO on the root of the datastore or create a folder structure to store the ISOs
Click on the Icon with an Up arrow and select Upload file... or Upload Folder...
This will open it another window that allows you to browse your network and select either the ISO file or ISO folder (base on your previous selection)
Click OK to begin the upload

Once the upload is complete, select the VM that you want to mount the ISO
Go to its Virtual Machine Properties, highlight the CD/DVD drive, select Datastore ISO file under Device Type and click Browse
On the Browse Datastores window, double-click the datastore that has the ISO file
Select the ISO file and click OK
Be sure that under Device Status has either Connected (if the VM's powered on) or Connect at power on (if VM is powered off) is checked

Power on your VM (or Press Ctrl+Alt+Insert) and boot to the CD/DVD drive (either set it in the BIOS or press ESC and select your CD/DVD drive)

You will now boot into your ISO image.

Aldanch - Thanks for the instructions!  I had a little problem because I had to double click the datastore instead of right click, but after that I was able to upload the iso to the datastore.  I then edited the setting for the CD\DVD to point to the iso in the datastore.  I then accessed the advance options tab\advanced\boot options to force the bios setup for the next boot and set the CD\DVD, saved and exited.  I then powered on and booted the server.  The server did not boot into the ISO image.  Here is a screen shot of the boot.

My best guess at this point is that you don't have the ISO (or CDROM) set as the primary boot source.
The idea of uploading the ISO's to the VMimages mount point is of course a workable method but most have the VMImages on the local server, therefore what do you do.. Upload the image to each server??
If you want to use the VMImages store then it really needs to be an NFS or ISCSI share (or samba) accessibly to all ESX hosts, therefore preventing you from copying the iso's to each individual host.
For my money I just keep the iso's on a Windows server and select "CLIENT DEVICE" this attaches to your CDROM or an ISO that your PC can see.
You will however have to set the guest session boot sequence correctly which as I mentioned I expect is your current issue.

There's no problem uploading the ISO images to a local datastore if you don't have that many ESX servers to manage, but I agree with markzz about the convenience of having an NFS or iSCSI target that all your ESX servers can access simultaneously (that is, one time upload, not twice or three times for each ISO you intend to upload to your ESX servers). Reading back, you do have such a setup, and you've managed to upload the ISOs to yuor iSCSI LUNs.

To address your current dilemma, I've attached some images. Is your VM set up the same way?

In the first image, make sure your CD\DVD is Connected on Power On (check the box) and the ISO image is mounted (select Datastore ISO file and the "Connect at power on becomes "checkable").

The second image is what you see if you press ESC when the VM powers on. This is not necessary if the VM has no OS installed. It will automatically boot to the ISO image.

This is what I currently have:

Image 01 - show the ISO is loaded on the esx storage space right now
Image 02 - shows the CD\DVD settings
Image 03 - shows the VM server boot sequence

Also, I initially had the ISO on a storage server share so that all esx servers would be able to see it.  When that failed, i loaded it directly on the esx server.

...and you're still not able to boot to it? Hmmm...is the ISO image good? Do you have VMware Workstation to test  the ISO image? Have you tried burning the ISO to CD\DVD and verifying that it's bootable?

I believe the ISO is good.  I did burn it to a CD/DVD and it does boot.  I tried that prior to transfering it from the NAS shared storage to the ESX server storage.  I suppose it is possible that it got corrupt when it transfered but I also couldn't boot from the ISO before I moved it either.  Let me try to burn it again and see what happens.

Okay, I went out to Roxio to determine if creating an ISO of a bootable disk, makes it bootable.  The answer was inconclusive.  There are refernances to using another shareware tool that will allow you to add a boot file to the ISO when you create it.  Am I missing something here?  How do I verify that an ISO is bootable.  I can burn it to disk and it works fine as a bootable OS image disk.  Does this mean the ISO is bootable?

Still won't recognise this as a bootable ISO.

Have you tried putting the CD in your PC's CDROM, connect the guest session's CDROM to yours (Client Device)
I've detailed the method above in my first post.

I have tried that without success.  However, something wierd just happened.  If I insert the CD in my system (client) and power on the VM, it gives me the Operating System not found error.  I then tried to reset the VM and got the same message.  I then sent a Ctrl+Alt+Del and it booted and started to load the OS.  I had to stop it because it was hogging the pipe between my desktop and our Colo.  So I tried the same thing by placing the ISO on a server at the Colo and pointing the CD/DVD to the ISO, powered on, reset and then sent a Ctrl+Alt+Del and it gave me an OS not found.  I was almost there.

Maybe just do it after hours?
Save you build as a template and clone it.