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Nested ESXi Install from a Mac

Nested ESXi Install F11 Key doesn’t work

One of the annoying things about trying to carry out a nested ESXi install from a Mac through Fusion or an RDP session is that there comes a point where it is required need to press F11 to continue.

ESXi Installer
ESXi Installer waiting for input

Doing this causes the open windows to fly off into the side of the screen as the key press is picked up by MacOS.

Therefore there are a number of solutions to resolve this.

  1. First and quickest is to press the keys  Fn + Cmd + F11
  2. Enable or Disable Mac OS Shortcuts on the Keyboard and Mouse Preference Pane. VMware explain how to do that here
  3. Or the keys behaviour can be changed as per this Apple article

Interestingly if pressing Fn + Alt + F11  causes a message that logs are stored on Non Persistent storage.  If this is the case to go back press Fn + Alt + F2 and continue as above.

Non Persistent Storage
Pressing the Wrong Key combination shows this error message.

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