Linxu-Batocera install on ESXi
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Version:		1.00
Date:			2026.08.01
Notes:			Initial Build

-This is a cobbled together docuement of my experiences, of getting this to work on ESXi 8.0.  There is no source material or official documentation to reference, only techniques.


Download of the image
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REF: https://wiki.batocera.org/install_batocera
REF: https://batocera.org/download
-Go to https://batocera.org/download, and download the Desktop PC version of the file
-The file will be something like batocera-x86_64-43.1-20260529.img.gz


Prepping image to upload to ESXi
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-uncompress the batocera-x86_64-43.1-20260529.img.gz with WinRAR to an an IMG file
-rename this IMG file to the that you want to name of your VM, like batocera.img
-Run Starwind V2V converter, and choose [Local file], then click [Next >]
-Click on [...] then parse to the IMG file, and click [Open]
-Choose [Local File] then click [Next >]
-Choose [VMDK], then click [Next >]
-Select [ESXi pre-allocated image], then click [Next >]
-Let the tool convert the file
-When it is done you will get 2 files, a .vmdk file and a -flat.vmdk file, these will be needed for the next step

Creating a VM for batocera
--------------------------

-go to the host and create a machine with the following properties please make sure that the VM name is the same as the converted IMG file:

Name:		batocera
OS:			Linux
OS Verion:	Debian GNU/Linux 10 (32-bit)
Version:	8.0
CPU:		6 or 8
Memory:		4 GB
HardDisk:  	10 GB
Controller:	IDE Controller 0, Master
SCSI:		LSI Logic Paralell

-One thing that is definetly not normal is that the HardDisk is attached to the IDE channel, not the standard SCSI channel.
-Stil playin with the OS and OS version to see if can use other versions, want the newest one that will work.

Manually inject the new virtual disk
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-Since we are given a hard disk image, and no way to install Batocera, we need to replace the hard driver image with the one converted from the download

-Open up Filezilla and connect to our host
-Parse to the location of the virtual machine
-rename batocera.vmdk to batocera.vmdk.ori
-rename batocera-flat.vmdk to batocer-flat.vmdk.ori
-Upload batocera.vmdk, and batocera-flat.vmdk

Change the Virtual Machine to use 3d graphics
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REF: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/326319/enable-3d-support-option-is-greyed-out-i.html

-connect to the ESXi server with filezilla
-Parse to the vmx file, and download it
-Add the following line to the file, notepad++ works well:

mks.enable3d = TRUE

-Upload the modified vmx file.
-Log into the ESXi server via SSH:

# vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms

-find out the virtual machine ID by running the following command:

# vim-cmd vmsvc/reload <VMID>
 
-Go back to the WebGUI and edit the VM, if you go to the properties of the Video card and now you can change the following values:

Total video Memory:		1024MB
3D Memory:				512MB

Starting up VM, and current limitations
---------------------------------------

-To start, just start the VM

-This is just a proof of concept, so currently can only control it via keyboard and mouse. Know this is built for a controller, and will look into that
-Is only using emulated Video card, looking into adding a dedicated NVIDA or AMD GPU to the VM, that should really improve the performance of the system