VirtualBytes — VCF ESX Boot Server Generator

1Boot server host

Server FQDN

Server IP

Provisioning NIC

Default only — the installer lists this box's real interfaces and asks at run time.

Boot subnet

Web root

TFTP root

2ESX image

Version / directory label

Names the installer subdirectory and the boot.cfg prefix=. Match your ISO build number.

ESX installer ISO path

The script loop-mounts this and copies its contents. Use the VCF 9.1 BOM build or your vendor add-on image.

3Platform

OS family

Web server

4Boot method

PXE — UEFI via TFTPmboot.efi over TFTP (UDP/69), installer + ks over HTTP. Broadest firmware support. UEFI HTTP bootdnsmasq hands mboot.efi over HTTP — no large TFTP transfers. Needs firmware with UEFI HTTP-boot support. Secure-Boot-friendly (mboot.efi is VMware-signed).

Also support legacy BIOSAdds SYSLINUX/pxelinux + mboot.c32 (IPv4 only). Skip on UEFI-only servers. UEFI HTTPS bootHand the boot URL out as https://. Requires the server cert's CA enrolled in each host's firmware TLS store — otherwise the firmware refuses the URL. IPv6 (DHCPv6) HTTP boot — experimentalAdds dnsmasq RA + DHCPv6 bootfile-url. A host boots v4 or v6, never mixed.

Server IPv6 address

5DHCP for PXE

dnsmasq proxyDHCPCoexists with your existing DHCP — hands out only the boot path, no leases. Recommended. dnsmasq full DHCP — IP-helper / relay capableAuthoritative DHCP for the provisioning subnet. Works across routed networks: point the switch/router ip helper-address at this server (the go-via / RFC 3046 pattern). ISC dhcpd snippetOptions to paste into an existing dhcpd.conf. I'll configure DHCP myselfJust emit the option values for your own server.

Pool start

Pool end

Netmask

Gateway

Leases are install-window length (1h). For relayed subnets, add one dhcp-range per subnet — the netmask is what lets dnsmasq match relayed (giaddr) requests.

6TLS web service only

Let's Encrypt account email

Needs public DNS or a DNS-01 plugin. On an isolated VLAN, prefer self-signed.

Cert path

Key path

7Hosts

Per-host configs by MACEach host gets its own boot.cfg → its own kickstart. Required for the static-IP kickstarts the Bootstrap tool generates.

Hostnames must match the kickstart filenames (ks-<hostname>.cfg). MAC is the host's PXE NIC. From Bootstrap pulls the host list the Bootstrap tool saved in this browser and keeps any MACs you've already entered.

8Kickstart settings

Management domain (DNS suffix)

Host FQDN = hostname + this. Must match DNS exactly, forward and reverse.

DNS 1

DNS 2 (optional)

NTP 1

NTP 2 (optional)

Mgmt gateway

Prefix

Mgmt VLAN (blank = untagged)

root password

Used by the Kickstarts tab. The password lands in the generated files in clear text — everything stays in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

ESX Boot Server

Server inputs

Output