How to Mount ISO to Virtual Machine with vSphere

vSphere Mount ISO Image to VM

An ISO file is a software installation kit that administrators can use to copy data to a disk, such as a CD or DVD. In virtual environments, the ISO file functions as the disk. You can mount ISO to VMware VM whenever any upgrade or installation on a virtual machine is done by using an installable that is stored as part of an ISO file.

Mounting an ISO image to VM in vSphere streamlines the installation process and cut down on the steps needed to boot the VM from the virtual disc. This article describes how to mount an ISO to VMware virtual machine with the vSphere Client.

How to Mount ISO Image to VMware VM in vSphere

Before you can attach an ISO file to a VMware VM in vSphere, you need to ensure that several prerequisites are met. These include:

• The ISO file you wish to mount, stored on a local machine or accessible network location.
• Sufficient permissions to upload files to the datastore and configure VMs.
• The VM must be in a powered-off state to mount the ISO successfully.

Steps to Mount ISO to ESXi Virtual Machine

1. Log into VMware vSphere Client.

Note: You should log in with administrator privileges.

2. In the left navigation pane, right-click the VM and select Edit Settings.

3. In the Virtual Machine Properties window, click CD/DVD Drive 1 and select your ISO file.

4. In the Device Type section, select Client Device, and then click OK to save the changes.

5. Start the VM before you mount the ISO. You could right-click the VM and select Power > Power On.

7. In the top menu, click the CD-ROM icon, and then select CD/DVD Drive 1 > Connect to ISO image on the local disk.

After attaching ISO file to VMware VM, power on it to start the installation process on VMware ESXi.

Regularly back up your ISO files and virtual machines to ensure data integrity and quick recovery in case of failures. Use vSphere's built-in backup and restore features or third-party solutions to create comprehensive backup plans.

Protect data on the virtual machine with AOMEI Cyber Backup

vSphere enables administrators to conveniently manage virtualized servers and operating systems all from a single client. For long-term planning, data protection shouldn’t be ignored.

No one could avoid the accident, but it could be properly disposed to minimize the damage and loss. AOMEI Cyber Backup is a comprehensive VMware backup software that can help you easily reach the goal.

With its powerful features, it has gained a good reputation among customers. It supports not only VMware vSphere backups, but also Hyper-V backups.

✦ Agent-less backup: You don't need to deploy agents on the OS to backup VM data. AOMEI Cyber Backup allows you to backup VMs by interacting directly with the hypervisor layer. It's easier and more economical.
✦ Instant Recovery: In the past, system crashes could take hours or days to recover, which could have an immeasurable impact on business operations, but with AOMEI Cyber Backup, your interrupted business can be recovered immediately as any crashed virtual machine can be quickly restored to the original or a new host.
✦ Automated Scheduling: Set up automatic backup schedules to ensure regular and consistent data protection without manual intervention.
✦ Email notification: Send email notification when the task is completed or abnormal.
✦ Centralized Management: Centrally create and manage the image-level backup and restore of all VMs on VMware ESXi / Hyper-V hosts.

Want to know more advanced features? Just start a 30-day full-featured free trial. Click the button to get the installation package.

▶ Schedule Backup for vSphere Virtual Machines from Central Console

1. Bind Devices: Access to AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi host. And then click … > Bind Device.

2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type. Then Set the Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, Schedule and Cleanup as needed.

• Task Name: you can change the task name or use the default name with an ordinal.
• Device: batch backup multiple VMs on vCenter or standalone host within one backup task.
• Target: select to back up to a local path, or to a network path like NAS.
• Archive: select the cloud storage like S3 buckets, easily archiving VMware backup to Amazon S3.
• Schedule (optional): perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to the frequency you specified.
• Cleanup (optional): automatically delete the old backup copies that exceed the retention period you specified.

3. Run Backup: Now you can click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Created backup tasks will be listed and monitored separately for restoring, progress checking and schedule changing.

✨For instant VM recovery, click Restore tab, you can easily generate a new VM in the same or another datastore/host directly from the backup to perform out-of-spacre recovery, saves the trouble of re-configuring the new virtual machine.

AOMEI Cyber Backup offers a reliable, efficient, and user-friendly solution for managing VM backups in your VMware environments.

Conclusion

VMware users might need to mount an ISO image to VM for some reason. This article offers the detailed steps to help users to use virtual CD/DVD drive.

By the way, don’t forget to back up VM image after attaching ISO to VMware VM. With AOMEI Cyber Backup's comprehensive features, you can always protect your virtual infrastructure with confidence.