The purpose of this article is to cover the steps on how to deploy Ubuntu Server on a VMware vSphere environment. In the past the installation and deployment steps covered the Ubuntu 16.04 Desktop edition. In this case the focus is how to deploy Ubuntu Server edition and in particular the 16.04.5 release (from this branch the latest edition at the time of writing).

The idea is to create a test bed or simply a sandbox environment to use later for other projects which include the install and configuration of:

• T.I.C.K Stack (Telegraf,InfluxDB,Chronograf and Kapacitor)
• Grafana dashboard
• Custom VMware vApp to deploy using OVA/OVF Templates
• Veeam Agent for Linux
• more

The way the guide is laid out follows the classic structure used in this blog showing different steps. Once the ISO image has been downloaded the steps are straight forward. Starting with the deployment phase it consists in creating the VM Guest container. In this sample a VM with 2 CPUs, 4 GB of RAM Memory and 2 virtual disks of 20 GB each is more than sufficient to satisfy the requirements highlighted above. The OS version is based on 64-Bit release. In general,  the idea is to create something small and light which could be used as a building block for other applications. Your mileage may vary! Before starting, it is a good time to start uploading the Ubuntu Server ISO image on the VMware Datastore. Possible the closest to the VMware Host where the Ubuntu Server VM will run.

 

How to deploy Ubuntu Server on VMware vSphere

Within the Data Center group or from the desired VMware vSphere Host the wizard to create a new virtual machine. This wizard will be used in two occasions: to create and customize the base Ubuntu Server virtual machine and also to export the VM into a vApp in a OVA/OVF format template.

In the second step of the wizard the desired name for the VM and the location in the VMware vCenter virtual infrastructure where to locate the virtual machine.

Next step is to associate the vSphere Host to the virtual machine. Of course this can be changed later if required with a simple vMotion migration. It can be used for CPU, Storage and Network migration from the same wizard.

Next is the desired Datastore where to deploy the virtual machine disks and resources files.

In the compatibility section unless there are specific requirements to support older versions of the virtual hardware (which also comes with less features) it is a safe option to use the latest release available which will automatically create and stamp the “vmx” file to support the latest features on the vSphere Hosts.

This is the step where both the Guest OS Family and Version needs to be specified. In this example Ubuntu Linux (64-Bit) perfectly covers this scenario.

This is the part where the wizard allows to further customize the virtual machine. In this example the following changes:

• 2 CPUs
• 4 GB Memory
• 2 Hard Drives 20 GB each (Thin Provisioning)
• Custom Network Port Group
• ISO Image mounted

In a final screen the wizard shows the main settings before amending changes.

At this point everything is ready to commit the information and complete the wizard. Next step is about the Ubuntu Server installation.