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Avatar of ziceman
ziceman🇺🇸

Cannot find ESXi 5.5 ISO download
In the downloads section of MyVMware,  the VSphere 5.5 full client executable is listed as is the VMWare Tools ISO. But the core ESXi ISO installer is no where to be found (see attached screen shot).  Is this some sort of licensing registration thing? I had though ESXi 5.5 was free?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Stefan
Screen-Shot-2015-08-24-at-8.43.06-PM.png

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Avatar of jmcgjmcg🇺🇸

Yes, you do need to register for a license for the free version of ESXi. Once you've registered, the corresponding download ISOs should become available for you.
Avatar of zicemanziceman🇺🇸

ASKER

I have registered. As you can see in the screen shot, I can get the free 5.1 without any problem. I can also download 6.0 right now. The only problem is 5.5.

I even registered again with a different email and requested a eval. When doing this, I was limited to 6.0.

Why would 5.5 be excluded?
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Avatar of jmcgjmcg🇺🇸

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Avatar of zicemanziceman🇺🇸

ASKER

Fantastic. This may do the trick.

But do you think it will accept the "Free" ESXi 5 license key from the MyVMWare account?
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Avatar of jmcgjmcg🇺🇸

I don't know exactly how liberal the key system is, but I used the same key for both stock ESXi 5.5u2 and for the Dell Customized one. I think the key is good for all sub-versions of 5.0.
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)🇬🇧

Only stock GA versions are available to FREE users.

that is to say, only patched versions are available to licensed users.

I would not use the Dell OEM version on a non Dell server.

if you click this link...

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi6

do you get the options to download 6.0, 5.5, 5.1 FREE hypervisor ?
Avatar of zicemanziceman🇺🇸

ASKER

When using that link, I only get the option to download 6.0.  

If the license is not going to work, then I am still at ground zero.

It *is* a DELL server, however. A 3yr old R710.

Why would VMWare pull down 5.5 while leaving both 4.1 and 5.1 available?
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Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)🇬🇧

Ah, that ESXi 5.5 OEM will be fine on that R710.

The 5.x keys are fine for the OEM version of 5.5.
Avatar of zicemanziceman🇺🇸

ASKER

The DELL custom image was perfect. THANK YOU!
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VMware, a software company founded in 1998, was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies. VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture. Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.