Install ESXi 6.7 and Review the Archived RAID-Driver Image Customization Workflow

This archived walkthrough installs ESXi 6.7.0 and separately shows an old PowerCLI/Image Builder workflow for adding a RAID driver to an installation ISO. Native English installer/build-console figures are reused; translated tool interfaces are English illustrations. The old package and script names are preserved as examples, not a recommendation to deploy these versions today. Verify the actual server, controller, firmware, ESXi build and driver compatibility and protect all data on the intended installation target. No software was installed and no ISO, execution policy or server configuration was changed while preparing this article.

1. Boot the installation media

Boot from the intended optical/virtual installation media. Choose the first installer entry and Enter; do not choose Boot from local disk for this initial install. The source menu identifies ESXi-6.7.0-20191204001-standard:

Original installer boot menu, loading and hardware initialization, source figure 1

Original installer boot menu, loading and hardware initialization, source figure 2

Original installer boot menu, loading and hardware initialization, source figure 3

Wait for hardware detection and inspect any compatibility errors. The pictured host has four Intel Xeon Gold 6130 CPUs and 255.7 GiB memory; those are example inventory values, not minimum requirements or proof that every component is supported. At Welcome, Enter continues; read the EULA and use F11 to accept only if appropriate:

Original ESXi welcome and EULA screens, source figure 4

Original ESXi welcome and EULA screens, source figure 5

2. Select the correct installation disk

Choose the actual target disk and Enter. The source highlights a local AVAGO MR9361-8i logical device of 1.09 TiB; a separate 58.60 GiB Generic Teclast CoolFlash device is also listed. Do not select by list position alone. Identify the controller/logical disk and confirm what data will be replaced:

Original disk-selection screen with the 1.09 TiB RAID logical disk highlighted

If the intended device is missing, first check whether the controller exposes the intended logical drive and whether the exact controller/driver is supported for this ESXi build. The appendix shows historical image customization; missing storage does not by itself prove that an arbitrary VIB should be injected.

3. Choose keyboard, set the root password and confirm installation

Select the appropriate keyboard layout; the example uses US Default. Enter and confirm the root password. The source image displays masked characters and Passwords match; no password value is provided here:

Original keyboard and masked root-password screens, source figure 7

Original keyboard and masked root-password screens, source figure 8

Review Confirm Install and its target identifier. The explicit warning says the selected disk will be repartitioned, so back up required data and verify the intended target before F11 Install:

Original repartition warning and installation at nine percent, source figure 9

Original repartition warning and installation at nine percent, source figure 10

The 9% progress figure is an intermediate state, not completion. Broadcom’s ESXi installation article corroborates the welcome/EULA/disk/keyboard/password flow; its removable-media discussion is not a recommendation to use the pictured USB device as this server’s target.

4. Remove media and restart after completion

Wait for Installation Complete. Remove or disconnect the installation media, then Enter to reboot. The source completion screen says ESXi 6.7.0 was installed successfully and describes the historical 60-day evaluation behavior; licensing must be checked for the actual entitlement and release:

Original installation-complete and booted ESXi console, source figure 11

Original installation-complete and booted ESXi console, source figure 12

The final console displays a DHCP address, 172.18.1.61. It is the source environment’s address, not a static address to copy. Configure and verify actual management-network reachability afterward. These captures record the source installation, not a fresh install or production-readiness test here.

5. Historical appendix: add a supported RAID driver to an offline image

5.1 Prepare the legacy PowerCLI environment

The source supplies VMware-PowerCLI-6.5.0.zip and names the installer VMware-PowerCLI-6.5.0-4624819.exe. It instructs running its installer with the required administrator rights and then launching the VMware PowerCLI shortcut:

Original VMware PowerCLI desktop shortcut

Those are archived OEM attachment references. Obtain software and drivers through their authorized sources and verify them before running anything; the translation does not certify the attached executable or require installing that old release on a current system.

5.2 Distinguish script execution policy from package signatures

The source PowerCLI profile initially fails to load under Restricted. It records these commands in an administrator console:

Get-ExecutionPolicy
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Get-ExecutionPolicy

English illustration of Restricted to RemoteSigned with the original confirmation — The long profile path is abbreviated. The pictured command omits -Scope, as in the source; it is not silently replaced with a session-only command.

In Windows PowerShell 5.1, omitting Scope targets LocalMachine; that is a persistent, machine-wide change requiring the appropriate rights. Microsoft documents policy scope and Group Policy precedence. For a permitted temporary build session, choose the appropriate narrow scope instead of blindly repeating a machine-wide change, for example:

Get-ExecutionPolicy -List
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

This is a deliberate scope clarification, not the command captured in the source. Process scope expires when the session closes; an organization’s Group Policy can still take precedence. RemoteSigned can continue to block an unsigned script marked as downloaded. Verify the trusted script/source and applicable policy before unblocking or running it. Changing policy takes effect immediately; the source’s close-and-reopen step reloads its PowerCLI profile rather than making the policy take effect.

English illustration of the old PowerCLI welcome and CEIP prompt — The source enters J to join CEIP. That participation choice is not required to customize an image and is not a new consent action performed here.

5.3 Prepare the offline bundle, script and actual driver

The source supplies an attachment named ESXi-Customizer-PS-v2.6.0.ps1_.zip. Extract the reviewed script and obtain the matching ESXi offline bundle ZIP from the authorized vendor download. This workflow takes a depot ZIP as input, not the installation ISO itself:

English illustration distinguishing the offline-bundle ZIP from the installation ISO — Archived displayed sizes 335.02 MB for ISO and 451.7 MB for ZIP are preserved; they do not establish current download availability or integrity.

Place the intended VIB, reviewed script and offline-bundle ZIP in the working folder. The source uses D:\vmware6.7 and says to avoid Chinese characters in that path for this old toolchain. Enter that actual directory; the unrelated personal directories in the source listing are omitted from its English illustration:

English working-folder excerpt selecting vmware6.7 — Only the required directory entry is retained; unrelated directory names are not translated into invented filesystem paths.

English listing of the source script, offline bundle and VIB inputs

The pictured VIB is lsi-mr3-7.705.09.00-1OEM.650.0.0.4598673.x86_64.vib. A filename containing 650 is not proof that its driver is supported for every 6.7 build/controller. Verify the compatibility and actual driver package rather than selecting it solely because it appears in this listing. ESXi-Customizer-PS is a third-party script using Image Builder; the author’s English documentation explains the local-depot and package-directory options.

5.4 Run the intended build and inspect its result

The archived command is:

.\ESXi-Customizer-PS-v2.6.0.ps1 -izip .\ESXi670-201912001.zip -pkgDir D:\vmware6.7

Replace the bundle name and package folder with the verified inputs for the actual build. -izip selects an offline depot ZIP; -pkgDir supplies local packages; the source command does not set a separate output directory. The author documents output in the script directory unless -outDir is selected:

Original customization command, package-loading and export result, source figure 19

Original customization command, package-loading and export result, source figure 20

The native console records loading the lsi-mr3 package, exporting the image profile and All done. The output filename is ESXi-6.7.0-20191204001-standard-customized.iso:

English Explorer illustration highlighting the generated ISO — The long VIB filename is explicitly abbreviated in this Explorer illustration; its full name appears above and in the input/console listings.

English PowerCLI output listing showing the customized ISO

The source prose later says D:\vmware, but its command and output figures show D:\vmware6.7. Use the actual selected output location; these are different paths. A file listing or All done message does not prove that the ISO boots, the intended hardware is detected, or the resulting host passes testing.

5.5 Handle the two distinct error classes

The source reports a PM8060/aacraid build failing with Could not find a trusted signer.. Its final figure concerns a different aacraid package and E:\vm\iso working area from the lsi-mr3 example above:

Original aacraid customization log ending with Could not find a trusted signer

The source proposes adding -nsc to its customization command:

.\ESXi-Customizer-PS-v2.6.0.ps1 -izip .\ESXi670-201912001.zip -pkgDir D:\vmware6.7 -nsc

The script author confirms that -nsc passes NoSignatureCheck to image export. It bypasses that signature check; it does not establish a trustworthy package, hardware compatibility or a secure bootable image. First obtain the appropriate signed package or supported OEM image and diagnose the signer/dependency error. If a specifically reviewed lab workflow requires unsigned export, understand and test that choice separately. The source supplies no subsequent successful aacraid export/boot result.

The source additionally suggests Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass and “Yes to All” if an error persists. That changes PowerShell script policy, not the VIB signer used by Image Builder, and with no Scope it is machine-wide. Do not use it as a generic signer-error remedy or a blanket persistent prerequisite. Identify whether the error concerns script loading, package signature, dependencies or hardware support, then follow the applicable policy and vendor guidance. No bypass command was run here.

References

The author’s page explicitly identifies its legacy documentation as outdated. Its versioned examples help explain the archived 2.6.0 workflow; the current repository is a separate reference, not a claim that a newer script version was tested with the source packages.