Booting a VMWare VM from USB

Kidge · 1 Mar 2016 at 22:44

Hi Guys,

Is it possible to boot a VMWare Vshpere 6 VM from USB to install Server 2012 Essentials and then run a cfg.inf file?

I've tried passing through the USB stick which i've created a bootable iso on but it just doesn't boot in to it.

Any ideas? or any other alternatives to installing essentials with .com dns name as Start-WSSConfigurationService isn't showing as an available command.

Little_Crow · 1 Mar 2016 at 23:03

If you have the ISO on your local drive just click the 'CD with a spanner' icon (Tooltip says 'Connect/disconnect the CD/DVD devices on the virtual machine')

One of the sub options is to connect to an ISO.

Kidge · 1 Mar 2016 at 23:12

Yeah i'm able to boot from an ISO which i have in my datastore but want to boot from the USB so it then runs the cfg.inf file during install.

Little_Crow · 1 Mar 2016 at 23:38

Not sure if it'll actually work, but maybe try booting with the ISO mounted, and the USB stick passed through with the cfg.ini on the root.

I've not attempted a 2012 essentials unattended install, but some quick googling suggests this should work.

Kidge · 2 Mar 2016 at 00:06

Ah awesome, that actually worked!

God knows what i had been doing before but it was not going in to that cfg.inf file but now it has so happy days

cheers Little Crow i can finally sleep knowing its solved haha

Little_Crow · 2 Mar 2016 at 09:40

No worries,
I have always had problems booting from USB stick (It got weird when I tried to install EXI to a USB stick from a USB stick).

My trusty USB DVD drive and stack of cheapo DVDs bought 10+ years ago have got me through so far - though ISO's bigger than a DVD are going to become an issue.