Integrating a Kickstart config file in an ESXi ISO fails to be found during installation
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Article ID: 339958
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Updated On:
Products
VMware vSphere ESXi
Issue/Introduction
Symptoms:
When customizing an installation of an ESXi Installable ISO to include the kickstart configuration file, the installation fails at finding the ks.cfg file.
The same file ks.cfg can be located on a Web server, or NFS share, and will function correctly.
The ks.cfg files are located on the DVD-ROM (at the root directory or in a /ks directory) and the modified isolinux.cfg command may look as follows:
This is due to an ESXi limitation of placing the file on a ISO 9660, UDF format for CD-ROM drives. Since ISO 9660, UDF format supports only 8.3 UPPERCASE names. To work around this issue, change the command to reference the file in uppercase, for example
ks=cdrom:/KS/KS.CFG
Additional Information
VMware is aware of this issue, and is actively working on correcting the problem in a later release.