Installing ESXi 6.5 (vSphere 6.5) to run Network Emulation Software EVE-NG

Instead of installing the Emulated Virtual Environment – Next Generation (EVE-NG) software on the typical operating systems such as Linux, Apple or Windows, I found there is an advantage of running it directly in VMware ESXi. This type of installation is referred to as the Type 1 hypervisor (hypervisor being the hardware/software combo that allows the creation of virtual machines – VMs). Additionally, this type of implementation is known as bare metal. This means that a Type 1 hypervisor replaces the host’s operating system and sits on top of the hardware. This hypervisor is accessed through vSphere; the web client developed by VMware that communications with virtual software that is installed on servers or nodes. 

EVE-NG is an emulation tool primarily used to emulate network devices. It can be used to explore new or existing network topologies consisting of routers, switches, load balancers and firewalls. It can also be used for other vendor devices as well as storage appliances, servers and desktops to name a few. This site explores and demonstrates the convergence of the Network and DevOps environments.