Right-click the ESX server, and then select New virtual machine.

The Configuration panel appears.

 

Figure 3.1. Configuration

On the Configuration panel, select the Custom option, and then click Next.

The Name and Location panel appears.

 

Figure 3.2. Name and Location

Enter a name for the new virtual machine, choose the location of the virtual machine in your inventory, and then click Next.

The Datastore panel appears.

 

Figure 3.3. Datastore

Select the datastore where the appliance .vmdk file was converted with vmkfstools, and then click Next.

The Virtual Machine Version panel appears.

 

Figure 3.4. Virtual Machine Version

Select Virtual Machine Version 7, and then click Next.

The Guest Operating System panel appears.

 

Figure 3.5. Guest Operating System

Select the guest operating system version appropriate for the architecture of the downloaded appliance (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32-bit) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (64-bit)), and then click Next.

The CPUs panel appears.

 

Figure 3.6. CPUs

Select the number of virtual processors (by default, 1), and then click Next.

The Memory panel appears.

 

Figure 3.7. Memory

Select the amount of RAM for the virtual machine (by default, 2GB), and then click Next.

The Network panel appears.

 

Figure 3.8. Network

Adjust the Virtual NIC according to our ESX configuration. Be sure to select the right adapter (E1000 for 64-bit appliances; Flexible for 32-bit appliances). Click Next.

The SCSI Controller panel appears.

 

Figure 3.9. SCSI Controller

Select a SCSI controller (by default, LSI Logic Parallel), and then click Next.

The Select a Disk panel appears.

 

Figure 3.10. Select a Disk

Select the Use an existing virtual disk option, and then click Next.

The Select Existing Disk panel appears.

 

Figure 3.11. Select Existing Disk

Click Browse to browse to your datastore. Select .vmdk, and then click OK.

Click Next, and then click Finish.

Start the virtual machine.