🚀 Looking for the best way to install TrueNAS SCALE as a virtual machine (VM) on VMware ESXi? This guide walks you through installing and optimizing TrueNAS SCALE on an HP Elite Mini 800 G9 with an 8TB NVMe SSD—perfect for home labs, media servers, and enterprise storage.
🔍 Topics Covered:
- ✅ How to set up TrueNAS SCALE on ESXi
- ✅ Best VM configuration settings for TrueNAS SCALE
- ✅ NVMe SSD passthrough for maximum performance
Here is the video version of this written tutorial:
🔥 Why Install TrueNAS SCALE on ESXi?
Running TrueNAS SCALE on VMware ESXi allows you to:
✅ Create a virtualized NAS while running other VMs on the same hardware.
✅ Leverage ZFS storage for snapshots, redundancy, and performance.
✅ Optimize 8TB NVMe SSDs for high-speed data storage.
✅ Reduce power consumption by consolidating services into a single system.
🖥️ Step 1: Upload TrueNAS SCALE ISO to ESXi
- Log in to VMware ESXi Web UI (
https://<ESXi-IP>/ui). - Navigate to Storage > Datastore Browser.
- Click Upload and select the TrueNAS SCALE ISO.
- Wait for the upload to complete before proceeding.
🖥️ Step 2: Configure NVMe SSD Passthrough in ESXi
- Log in to the ESXi Web UI (
https://<ESXi-IP>/ui). - Navigate to Host > Manage > Hardware.
- Click PCI Devices and locate the NVMe SSD Controller (MAP1602).
- The MAP1602 NVMe controller should be listed under PCI Devices.
- Click Toggle Passthrough to enable passthrough for the NVMe controllers.
⚙️ Step 3: Create TrueNAS SCALE Virtual Machine on ESXi
- In ESXi Web UI, go to Virtual Machines > Create/Register VM.
- Select Create a new virtual machine and click Next.
- Configure VM Settings:
- Name:
TrueNAS-SCALE - Guest OS Family: Linux
- Guest OS Version: Debian 12 (64-bit)
- Name:
- Select a Datastore to store VM files.
- Set Up VM Hardware:
- CPU:
4 vCPUs(6+or more if available) - Memory:
16GB RAM(Recommended:32GB+)- Reserve all guest memory (All locked)
- Hard Disk & Controller:
- Remove the default (Hard disk 1)
- Remove the default SCSI controller 0
- Add NVMe Controller
- Add New Standard hard disk (the default 16 GB is good)
- Network Adapter: use the default
- CD/DVD Drive: Select Datastore ISO file > Choose TrueNAS SCALE ISO
- Boot Options: Set firmware to EFI
- NVMe SSD Controller
- CPU:
- Click Next, review settings, and click Finish.
🚀 Step 4: Install TrueNAS SCALE
- Power on the VM.
- The TrueNAS SCALE installer should boot from the ISO.
- Select “Install TrueNAS SCALE.“
- Choose the “sda VMware Virtual” as the installation target.
- Select Configure using Web UI when prompted.
- Complete installation and shutdown.
⚡ Step 5: ESXi Optimization for TrueNAS SCALE
✅ Increase VM Resources for Better Performance
🔹 Increase vCPUs to 6+ if available.
🔹 Allocate more RAM (32GB+ recommended).
✅ Enable VM Auto-Start
1️⃣ In ESXi Web UI, go to Host > Manage > Autostart.
2️⃣ Set TrueNAS SCALE VM to Auto-Start after ESXi boots.
🔧 Step 6: Configure TrueNAS SCALE for Best Performance
- After reboot, TrueNAS SCALE will display its IP address.
- Access TrueNAS Web UI:
- Open a browser and go to
https://<TrueNAS-IP>. - Set up TrueNAS authentication method and sign in.
- Open a browser and go to
- Navigate to Storage > Create Pool:
- Name: [SiteCode]-[ServerName]-[ShareType]-[Usage]-[RAIDType]-[PoolNumber]
- Example: SYSADMIN102-TNS01-Shared-Private-Mirror-Pool01
- Encryption: optional but highly recommended if storing private data.
- Layout: since HP Elite Mini 800 G9 has only 2 NVMe, we are left with 2 options:
- Stripe: Maximizes capacity, but will result in data loss if it fails.
- Mirror: data is identical on each disk, provides the most redundancy, but has the least capacity.
- Select the layout of your choice.
- Save and Go To Review.
- Select Create Pool.
- Name: [SiteCode]-[ServerName]-[ShareType]-[Usage]-[RAIDType]-[PoolNumber]
🚀 Final Thoughts
Your TrueNAS SCALE VM is now fully optimized on ESXi, running on an HP Elite Mini 800 G9 with 8TB NVMe SSD storage. Whether you’re hosting files, running Docker containers, or setting up a Plex server, this high-performance NAS solution is ready to go! 🎉
Next Steps:
🔹 Pool and Dataset in-depth explanation.
🔹 Configure ZFS Snapshots & Backups.
🔹 Set up Docker & Kubernetes for app hosting.
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