ESXi 7 uses a large boot bank. Your USB drive must be 8GB or larger (16GB recommended). A 4GB drive will fail during installation.

Check your server or workstation’s CPU, storage controller, and NIC against VMware’s Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) or your vendor’s support docs. If your hardware isn’t listed, ESXi may install but could lack drivers or support.

Downloading a VMware ESXi 7 ISO has changed significantly since the Broadcom acquisition. As of early 2024, the