In the previous section, we defined what hardware we will be using for our lab environment. In this post, we will create the lab environment.
Part 1 Creation of Lab Environment using VMware ESXi 5.5
Download a copy of VMware ESXi 5.5 from VMware.com.
I used Unetbootin in order to put the ISO on to a bootable USB. Once the computer booted I answered the questions provided and installed VMware on to both PCs.
Using the web address on the VMware host I downloaded a copy of VMware vClient to PC. I then ran the installer to configure VMware Client. I followed the VMware ESXi steps to install VMware ESXi on my servers.
Using the VMware vClient interface
Once VMware ESXi has finished installing you can now connect to it using the VMware vSphere Client.
Once the VMware client loads, you will receive a notice indicating that the license will expire in 60 days. Click OK to close this message. I will be using the trial edition of ESXi so everytime I log into the VMware client I will see this message.
Your data store is created during the installation process.
Creation of first Virtual Machine
Select the File Menu, New and Virtual Machine.
Select Typical and select Next.
The first Virtual machine that we will create will be a domain controller. The name of this virtual machine will be DC1. Select Next.
Note: The virtual machine name does not have to match the name of the server running an operating system, but it does help identification later on.
Create this Virtual Machine on your primary data store. In this case, the primary data store is called datastore1. Select Next.
Select Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64bit) and select Next.
On the network page select 2 nics, and leave the adapter at E1000E and connect at power on. Select Next.
On create a disk leave at Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed and set it to 40GB (or the size of your choosing). Select Next.
On the ready to complete page, the settings will be listed for the new virtual machine. Select Finish to build the virtual machine.
We have created the first virtual machine, the Domain controller. Now reuse the same steps to create other Virtual Machines.
Here are the settings I have used for each of the VM’s:
Active Directory:
- Virtual Machine Name: DC1
- Memory: 2048 MB
- NOTE: Active Directory doesn’t need 2 GB of RAM, it will run fine with 512 MB. I just increased the RAM so that the OS would install/respond faster.
- CPUs: 1
- HD: 40 GB
- OS: Windows Server 2012
SCCM – CAS:
- Virtual Machine Name: CAS
- Memory: 4096 MB
- NOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance.
- CPUs: 2
- OS: Windows Server 2012
- HD: Primary is 100 GB, the secondary drive is for logs/config manager so made it 200GB
SCCM – P01:
- Virtual Machine Name: P01
- Memory: 4096 MB
- NOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance.
- CPUs: 2
- OS: Windows Server 2012
- HD: Primary is 100 GB, the secondary drive is for logs/config manager so made it 200GB