One ESXi host can run a whole shelf of Ubuntu machines - a file server, a test box, a learning lab - but only if each virtual machine is created with the right settings the first time. This guide covers the full path: creating the VM, choosing firmware, disk and network, installing Ubuntu, adding open-vm-tools, and fixing the problems that appear afterwards.
ESXi is the bare-metal hypervisor: it installs directly on the host machine and carves it into virtual machines, each with its own virtual CPU, memory, disk and network card. Ubuntu is the guest you will probably create most often, and the video above walks through exactly that on a live host. This page is the complete written version - the creation choices that matter, the install, the one package you must add after install, and an honest map of what to check when something does not work. Most Ubuntu-on-ESXi problems are born in the two minutes of the creation wizard, so we start there.
Three things must be true before the wizard opens. First, ESXi itself is installed on the host and you can reach its web client - the host machine is now a hypervisor, not a normal PC, so everything happens through that web interface or a remote console. Second, the host BIOS has CPU virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) switched on; without it, 64-bit guests will refuse to run. Third, you need space and an image:
If the ISO upload is slow on your network, start it early; everything else in this guide is quick.
In the ESXi web client, choose Create / Register VM and then Create a new virtual machine. The choices that matter:
Firmware: EFI. Modern Ubuntu expects EFI, EFI is what enables Secure Boot, and it is the ESXi default for new Linux VMs. BIOS (legacy) still works for Ubuntu, but treat the choice as permanent - an installed OS expects the firmware it was installed under.
Disk: thin provisioned. A thin disk grows as Ubuntu writes data, so a 40 GB disk might use 12 GB on day one. The honest catch: the datastore must be watched, because ten thin disks can promise more space than the datastore holds. Thick provisioning reserves the full size up front - safer for critical servers, wasteful for labs.
Network adapter: VMXNET3. It is VMware's own virtual network card, built for virtual machines, and Ubuntu carries its driver in the kernel. The emulated E1000E also works and is the fallback for odd cases - the adapter guide in this series compares them honestly.
Size: start small. 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM run Ubuntu Server happily and Desktop acceptably. You can add later in a minute; an oversized VM mostly wastes the host. The sizing guide in this series gives the full honest numbers.
Attach the ISO to the VM's CD/DVD drive, tick Connect at power on, power the VM on and open the console. Ubuntu's installer behaves exactly as it does on a physical machine:
If the VM boots to a black screen or back into the installer, the cause is almost always the ISO still attached or the boot order - not a broken install.
A fresh Ubuntu VM works, but ESXi is half blind to it: the host summary shows no IP address, and "shut down" from the host is a hard power cut, not a clean shutdown. The fix is one package from Ubuntu's own repository - VMware's recommended route for Ubuntu:
sudo apt updatesudo apt install open-vm-tools - on Desktop installs also add the desktop package: sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktopsudo systemctl status open-vm-tools - it should show active and runningsudo apt upgradeThis package earns its own full guide in this series, because it also decides how time sync, copy-paste and quiesced snapshots behave.
Nothing in this guide needs a paid feature - creating VMs, consoles, snapshots and OVF export all work on a standalone host. But be clear-eyed about the platform's ownership: after Broadcom bought VMware, the old free ESXi was withdrawn in early 2024, and a free edition later returned with ESXi 8.0 Update 3e in 2025, aimed at labs and non-production use, without vCenter management and with limits such as a cap on vCPUs per VM and no support. Paid licensing is now subscription-based and priced per core. Terms have changed more than once in two years, so check Broadcom's current licensing page before you build anything serious on an assumption - especially before running production work on the free edition.
When an Ubuntu VM misbehaves, the symptom usually names its own cause:
ip a and lspci inside UbuntutimedatectlWork the map in order and most "ESXi problems" turn out to be one setting, one package, or one honest hardware limit.
The full process on a live ESXi host - creating the virtual machine, installing Ubuntu and fixing the common problems, exactly as they appear on screen.
Watch Full VideoChoose by the job. Server is lighter, runs happily in 2 to 4 GB of RAM and is managed over SSH - right for file servers, web services and learning real Linux administration. Desktop adds the full graphical environment and wants at least 4 GB of RAM; pick it only when you need GUI applications, because over the ESXi console it will always feel heavier.
No. For Ubuntu, VMware's recommended route is open-vm-tools, installed from Ubuntu's own repository with sudo apt install open-vm-tools. It gives the host the guest IP address and hostname, enables graceful shutdown from ESXi, and is updated by Ubuntu's normal update system. The old ISO-based tools installer in the ESXi menu is a legacy path for other systems.
Yes - that is the point of the hypervisor. The honest limits are physical: total memory given to VMs must leave room for ESXi itself, thin disks must not promise more than the datastore holds, and every running VM shares the host's real CPU cores. Start each VM small, watch the host's performance tab, and grow only the VMs that prove they need it.