# Deploy RancherOS on VMware ESXi VM **URL:** \ **Category:** RancherOS\ **Created:** [December 11, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674 "2018-12-11T05:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/1 "2018-12-11T05:26:46Z")
Hi all, I’m deploying RancherOS on VMs in my VMware vCenter environment with netboot.xyz - which was recommended to me via a Rancher Employee on Slack. However, I’ve built 6 nodes with 1 actually being successful in functioning properly (aka it boots without errors and installs VMware tools) however, the other 5 nodes that I’ve setup all present me with this error: ![RacherOSerror](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/d/d320a66bc126c49538349d5fdb574faf8c540ebc.png) And it appears that VMware tools never gets installed. I can SSH into the host, ping and lookup domains and even resolve 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. I’ve added exceptions on my firewalls to whitelist and docker and rancher domains. Anyone else seeing this issue? Is RancherOS the right choice? I’m open to using something like Ubuntu but seems slightly bloated but maybe better supported? Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Jason-ZW](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/jason-zw/32/4607_2.png) [@Jason-ZW](https://forums.suse.com/u/Jason-ZW)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/2 "2018-12-11T05:31:13Z")
We recommend using `rancheros-vmware.iso` on `vmware` hypersior which built-in `open-vm-tools`. ---
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/3 "2018-12-11T05:36:47Z")
I was using that, but the install would error out when using the following command: sudo ros install -c cloud-config.yml -d /dev/sda It would fail to install the OS and put it in a read only state. Had to reboot the VM in order to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Jason-ZW](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/jason-zw/32/4607_2.png) [@Jason-ZW](https://forums.suse.com/u/Jason-ZW)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/4 "2018-12-11T05:40:10Z")
By default `rancheros-vmware.iso` has already been auto-format. If you want use noformat iso you can build from master using the command `VMWARE_AUTOFORMAT=0 make vmware` ---
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/5 "2018-12-11T05:41:56Z")
Hmm Ok. I’ll give it a shot and let you know. ---
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/6 "2018-12-11T05:58:53Z")
Ok I’m not sure I follow. I’ve created a new VM and booted up. But if I shutdown, remove the iso from the VM, it doesn’t ‘install’. ---
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/7 "2018-12-11T06:05:59Z")
When trying to run the _sudo ros install -d /dev/sda_ command I get the following error. ![CNX-RancherOS-N4%202018-12-11%2013-05-48](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/1/15ee3b2599ab25662d105cb24db940b3d64dee41.png) ---
**Author:** ![cb3inco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cb3inco](https://forums.suse.com/u/cb3inco)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/8 "2018-12-11T06:12:51Z")
So is the point to not install rancheros-vmware.iso to disk, but simply run it from the iso with persistent data being written to the drive? I found this: [https://github.com/rancher/os/issues/2369](https://github.com/rancher/os/issues/2369) which seems to indicate this is the case? ---
**Author:** ![Jason-ZW](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/jason-zw/32/4607_2.png) [@Jason-ZW](https://forums.suse.com/u/Jason-ZW)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/9 "2018-12-11T06:13:48Z")
Sorry my mistake. `rancheros-vmware.iso` is autoformat if you want install to disk, you need to use `VMWARE_AUTOFORMAT=0 make vmware` ---
**Author:** ![kucerarichard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/kucerarichard/32/3167_2.png) [@kucerarichard](https://forums.suse.com/u/kucerarichard)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/10 "2019-01-09T18:57:45Z")
yeah we saw that and had no clue so used the generic ISO. I think I got this advice from support. Seemed to work out fine, ignoring the other traps and pitfalls. ---
**Author:** ![presales](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cab0a1/32.png) [@presales](https://forums.suse.com/u/presales)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/deploy-rancheros-on-vmware-esxi-vm/12674/11 "2019-05-22T19:44:55Z")
Might be a dumb question but how can I tell if my Rancher OS v1.4.1 is/has already been installed to disk and not run from ISO? Is there a command to check/show that this is running from ISO or from disk? 🙂