So you have ESXi up and running. What is next? Get the vCenter appliance running. I downloaded the OVA and imported in just a few minutes.
![media_1379943251696.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943251696.png)
![media_1379943393581.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943393581.png)
After getting the appliance all booted go the https://<your-ip>:5480
Setup vCenter Options
![media_1379943489580.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943489580.png)
I selected custom so I could go through all the options.
![media_1379943516515.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943516515.png)
Oracle is also an option.
![media_1379943559316.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943559316.png)
Fill in if external. Embedded you just need to choose a password for the Administrator.
![media_1379943617246.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943617246.png)
Setup your Active Directory authentication. You can do this later if you don’t have the right information now. One thing I learned is the hostname of the appliance MUST be set to a FQDN for this to work.
![media_1379943660938.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943660938.png)
NTP rocks!
![media_1379943724939.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943724939.png)
![media_1379943789886.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379943789886.png)
![media_1379944072168.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379944072168.png)
Sign in. the default username and password for the appliance is root and vmware
![media_1379944172479.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379944172479.png)
![media_1379944189917.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379944189917.png)
![media_1379944218620.png](http://www.2vcps.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/media_1379944218620.png)
Now you have a ESXi all ready and added. Start being Virtually awesome.