How to boot a VM into Safe Mode in ESXi

1) Right Click the VM
2) Select Edit Settings
a. Click Options
b. Select Boot Options
c. Set the Power-on Boot Delay to 5000ms (5 seconds)
d. Now the VM will display the BIOS VMWare bios screen for 5 seconds, giving you enough time to click the VM and press F8
3) Open the console window for the VM. Start the boot process.
4) Click the console with the mouse to gain focus.
5) Wait until the VMWare boot screen appears.

6) Before the counter reaches 0:00 press the F8 key and don't let up until the Windows Advanced Options Menu appears which will allow selecting the Safe Mode or other options.