Boot your server using the standard VMware ESX/ESXi installer media.
How to Use an ESX / ESXi Driver CD for Custom Installations Esx Driver Cd
Upload the driver Offline Bundle ( .zip file) to a datastore on your host. Put the host into . Enable SSH and connect to the host. Boot your server using the standard VMware ESX/ESXi
💻 Method 2: Injecting Drivers into a Custom ISO (Recommended) Enable SSH and connect to the host
If you are installing VMware ESX or ESXi on a server with newer hardware, you might run into issues where the default installer cannot detect your network cards (NICs) or storage controllers. This usually means you need to provide a (or driver disk image) during or after the installation process.
Swap the ESXi installation CD with your when prompted by the system.
If your ESXi host is already installed and you just need to add a driver for a new expansion card: