Just to clarify - we are using the FREE version of VMware's VSphere Hypervisor.

When I first discovered this feature, I called VMware to nail this question down for myself. I suggested a $99 version that included access to the API's only. No Vmotion, Vcenter etc.

They didn't see the value.

You can do what I'm doing with the free version, without the API's. Either method works, and the better or easier way really depends on what you are used to or comfortable with.

You can do ANYTHING over SSH, so I am using that.

BUT, to get the FREE version, you need to create an account. then DL the ISO and you have access to the FREE version KEY.

I assumed they would want at LEAST all the emails so they could send out promo's, etc

So I engineered this whole convoluted process where an end user would receive his/her Hydra, boot from a live cd, sign up and DL the ISO, get the KEY in email, and install to a virtual machine using the SSD as a physical disk. Then remove the CD and reboot to ESXi.

I forget what the exact roadblock was, maybe I thought the windows live cd would get me in trouble. So I called VMware again and after getting passed around a little I was able to ask them directly how to proceed.

"just install the FREE version and apply the KEY, the KEY is the same for all FREE installs. "

OK then.