HOW TO: Upload an ISO image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) using the vSphere Host Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

In my previous Experts Exchange Articles, most have featured Basic and Intermediate VMware and Virtualisation Topics.

If you would like to read my Basic VMware articles, they are listed at the end of this article for your convenience.

In this series of basic VMware articles for the Novice, I'll be showing you the basic VMware skills required to install, configure and deploy virtual machines using VMware's FREE VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi).

There are other third party tools, that can be used to upload ISO image files, these include:-

WinSCP - http://winscp.net/eng/index.php
Veeam FastSCP which is now part of Veeam Backup Free Edition for VMware and Hyper-V

The above applications, require additional installation and configuration, in this article we will use the VMware Host Client.

1. Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) or vSphere vCenter Server using the vSphere Client

Please refer to my EE article on HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) using the vSphere (HTML5 Web) Host Client 6.5

Once connected to the "default hypervisor home page", click the Inventory icon, to see the server's Inventory.

Click the datastore, in this tutorial it's esx001_local1_vmfs6

Right Click the datastore name 'datastore1' and select Browse Datastore.

https___esx001.cyrus-consultants.co..jpg

Click Datastore browser

I like to contain all my isos, in a folder or directory. Click Create directory.

Enter a suitable name for the folder or directory. e.g. isos and click Create directory.

Select and Double-Click the isos folder to change folders.

2. Uploading the ISO image to the datastore 'esx001_local1_vmfs6'

Click Upload and browse to the location of your iso you need to upload.

The progress bar shows the progress of the upload.

Select Upload File...

the WindowsNTServer40.iso has been successfully uploaded to the datastore.

3. Confirming the upload of the ISO image file has been transferred successfully using the MD5 checksum signature

To complete the following step SSH must be enabled and running on your VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) host server, if SSH is not running you will receive a connection refused message.

To Enable SSH on your VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) host server, please see my EE Article HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access to a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

Connect to the VMware Hypervisor ESXi server via SSH. Using PuTTY a free telnet and SSH client or another SSH client Login and Connect to the VMware Hypervisor ESXi server, using IP address or hostname of the VMware Hypervisor ESXi server, using root username and password credentials. This can also be performed if you have access to the console.

esx001.cyrus-consultants.co.uk---PuT.jpg

You will need to change folder or directories to the location of the iso image file. The VMware VMFS datastores are mapped here /vmfs/volumes. Use the following command to change to the datastore1 datastore and isos folder.
cd /vmfs/volume/<datastore name>/<folder name>
example :- cd /vmfs/volumes/esx001_local1_vmfs6
type cd /vmfs/volumes/esx001_local1_vmfs6 in the SSH session window.

When you have successfully changed folders to the location of the isos image file which has been uploaded, use the following command to check the MD5 checksum signature.
md5sum <filename>
example md5sum WindowsNTServer40.iso

type md5sum WindowsNTServer40.iso in the SSH session window. After several minutes, and the time taken, depends on the size of the ISO image file, and speed of host processor and storage, a MD5 checksum signature will be displayed. The number displayed next to the filename - 205afcb572ea557c2e63e3292b47ed95 - is the MD5 checksum signature. Compare this number with the original number computed before the ISO image file was uploaded, if they match, the transfer was successful. If they do not match, repeat Step 2 above.

Congratulations, you have successfully uploaded an ISO image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) using the vSphere Host Client, and checked its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

Basic VMware Articles Series:
These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0.