#vmware

Essential step for your Windows 98 VM: Install VMware Tools! It unlocks proper mouse control, graphics drivers, and OS stability. Restart required for full effect.

If you’re setting up a private cloud on a bare-metal server, you’ve probably run into the dreaded ESXi red screen of death:

"No Network Adapters Were Detected. Either no network adapters are physically connected to the system, or a suitable driver could not be located."

Why is this happening? To keep the installation ISO lightweight for enterprise environments, VMware strictly sticks to its Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). This means they intentionally leave out drivers for standard, consumer-grade network cards (like Realtek or older Intel NICs). If your hardware isn't on the list, ESXi is blind to it.

The Fix: You don't need to throw away your server! You just need to create a Custom ESXi ISO by injecting the missing .VIB driver.

Using VMware PowerCLI and a script called ESXi-Customizer-PS, you can fuse the driver right into the installation file. It looks a little something like this:

PowerShell.\ESXi-Customizer-PS.ps1 -vft -load net55-r8168 -pkgDir C:\ESXi-Build\Drivers

Once the script finishes, you flash your brand-new .iso to a USB, and boom—your network adapter is detected!

Want the complete step-by-step guide, including how to configure PowerShell and where to get the files?

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