Setting Up a Docker Environment on ESXi with Photon OS

To run Docker on ESXi, deploy Photon OS on ESXi.

What is Photon OS?

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Photon OS is an open-source Linux container host optimized for VMware infrastructure. It features:

• Optimization for VMware hypervisor
• Container support
• Package management via tdnf
• Enhanced security

Since it is optimized for hypervisors, it is expected to have less overhead compared to installing Docker on other Linux distributions.

Downloading Photon OS

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For ESXi installations, Photon OS provides two options: OVA and ISO files.

• OVA Import: Pre-installed Photon OS, easily imported into ESXi with kernel tuning applied for ESXi environments. Missing packages can be installed using tdnf.
• ISO Installation: Traditional Linux installation method.

The OVA file, specifically OVA-hw13_uefi, is chosen for this setup. Downloading Photon OS

Installing Photon OS

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From the ESXi Web UI, select “Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file” and proceed with the installation. The steps primarily involve clicking “Next” until completion.

Initial Login to Photon OS

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The root password is predefined for OVA installations. On first login, password change is required.

Initial Configuration

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Installing Required Packages

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Install less and sudo:

tdnf install less sudo

Setting a Static IP Address

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Photon OS uses systemd-networkd for network configuration. First, check the network interface name:

networkctl list

Create and edit /etc/systemd/network/00-static.network:

[Match]
Name=eth0

[Address]
Address=192.168.10.11/24

[Network]
DNS=192.168.10.254

[Route]
Gateway=192.168.10.254

Adjust values according to the network environment.

Apply changes:

chmod 644 /etc/systemd/network/00-static.network
sed -i -e "s/yes/no/g" /etc/systemd/network/99-dhcp-en.network
systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service
ip a

Setting Timezone

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ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Tokyo /etc/localtime

Setting Hostname

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echo hostname > /etc/hostname

Creating a General User

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useradd -m -G wheel username
passwd username

The user is added to the wheel group, enabling sudo usage.

Configuring Firewall

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Modify /etc/systemd/scripts/ip4save to allow required ports:

-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport <port> -j ACCEPT

Apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart iptables

Configuring SSH

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Disable root SSH login by modifying /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

PermitRootLogin no

Change the default SSH port:

Port 50134

Restart SSH service:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

For secure access, enable SSH key authentication.

Expanding Disk Space

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By default, OVA installations allocate 16GB of storage. To expand, shut down the virtual machine, adjust storage in ESXi Web UI, and restart the VM.

Use parted to resize partitions:

sudo tdnf install parted
sudo parted
print free
resizepart 2
quit
sudo resize2fs /dev/sda2
df -h

Configuring Docker

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Enable and start Docker service:

sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

Verify Docker installation:

sudo docker run --rm hello-world
sudo docker rmi hello-world

Installing Docker Compose

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Download and set up Docker Compose:

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.26.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

A Docker environment was successfully set up on ESXi using Photon OS.