You can set up host profiles in a reference host and apply the host profile settings to all other hosts that you provision with vSphere Auto Deploy. You can either configure the reference host and export the host profile or, for small changes, edit the host profiles directly.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have access to a vSphere Web client that can connect to the vCenter Server system Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, click Rules and Profiles and click Host Profiles.
3 Customize your reference host by using vCLI, by using the client UI, or by using the Host Profiles interface.
Policy Description
ESXi Dump Collector Set up ESXi Dump Collector with the esxcli system coredump command and save the host profile (best practice), or configure the host profile directly. See “Set Up Syslog from the Host Profiles Interface in the vSphere Web Client,” on page 108.
Syslog Set up syslog for the host with the esxcli system syslog command.
Save the host profile (best practice) or configure the host profile directly.
See “Set Up Syslog from the Host Profiles Interface in the vSphere Web Client,” on page 108.
NTP Use the vicfg-ntp vCLI command or the vSphere Web Client to set up a host. If you use the vSphere Web Client to start the NTP Server, make sure the startup policy for the NTP Daemon is set appropriately.
a In the vSphere Web Client, select the host.
b Select the Manage tab and click Time Configuration.
c Click Edit and click Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client).
d Select Start and stop with host as the NTP Service Startup Policy.
Security Set up the firewall configuration, security configuration, user
configuration, and user group configuration for the reference host with the vSphere Web Client or with vCLI commands. See the vSphere Security documentation.
Networking and Storage Set up the networking and storage policies for the reference host with the vSphere Web Client or vCLI command.
4 Click OK to save the host profile settings.
What to do next
Write a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings that you specified in the reference host (see “Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts,” on page 90). Perform a test-and-repair compliance operation.
Set Up ESXi Dump Collector from the Host Profiles Interface in the vSphere Web Client
You can set up ESXi Dump Collector for a reference host with esxcli or directly in the Host Profiles panels of the vSphere Web Client. You can export the host profile and write a rule that applies the profile to all hosts provisioned with Auto Deploy.
Best practice is to set up hosts to use ESXi Dump Collector with the esxcli system coredump command and save the host profile (see “Configure ESXi Dump Collector with ESXCLI,” on page 105). If you prefer to use a GUI, set up ESXi Dump Collector from the Host Profiles interface.
Prerequisites
Verify that at least one partition has sufficient storage capability for core dumps from multiple hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, click Rules and Profiles and click Host Profiles.
2 For a new profile, click the Create Profile from a host icon, or right-click a profile that you want to modify and select Edit Host Profile.
3 Leave the name and description and click Next.
4 Select Network Configuration.
5 Select Network Coredump Settings.
6 Click the Enabled check box.
7 Specify the host NIC to use, the Network Coredump Server IP, and the Network Coredump Server Port.
8 Click Finish to save the host profile settings.
What to do next
n Write a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings that you specified in the reference host. See “Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts,” on page 90.
n For hosts already provisioned with Auto Deploy, perform the compliance testing and repair operations to provision them with the new host profile. See “Test and Repair Rule Compliance,” on page 92.
n Turn on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new host profile.
Set Up Syslog from the Host Profiles Interface in the vSphere Web Client
Hosts provisioned with Auto Deploy usually do not have sufficient local storage to save system logs. You can specify a remote syslog server for those hosts by setting up a reference host, saving the host profile, and applying that host profile to other hosts as needed.
Best practice is to set up the syslog server on the reference host with the vSphere Web Client or the esxcli system syslog command and to save the host profile. You can also set up syslog from the Host Profiles interface.
Prerequisites
n If you intend to use a remote syslog host, set up that host before you customize host profiles.
n Verify that you have access to a vSphere Web Client that can connect to the vCenter Server system.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, click Rules and Profiles and click Host Profiles.
2 (Optional) If no reference host exists in your environment, click the Extract Profile from Host icon to create a host profile.
3 Right-click the host profile you want to modify and select Edit Host Profile.
4 Leave the name and description and click Next.
5 Click Advanced Configuration Settings click the Advanced Options folder, and click Advanced configuration options.
You can specify syslog settings from here.
6 If you are setting up an ESXi 5.0 host that did not have a previously configured syslog server, you have to create an advanced configuration option.
a Click the plus sign.
b Click the new Advanced configuration option at the top of the option list and select Configure a fixed option from the drop-down menu.
c Specify Syslog.global.loghost as the option, and your host as the value.
If you are configuring an ESXi version 5.1 or later host or an ESXi 5.0 host that has syslog configured, Syslog.global.loghost is already in the list of advanced options.
What to do next
n Write a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings that you specified in the reference host (see “Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts,” on page 90).
n For hosts already provisioned with Auto Deploy, perform the compliance testing and repair operations to provision them with the new image profile. See “Test and Repair Rule Compliance,” on page 92.
n Turn on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new image profile.
Set Up Networking for Your Auto Deploy Host in the vSphere Web Client
You can set up networking for your Auto Deploy reference host and apply the host profile to all other hosts to guarantee a fully functional networking environment.
Prerequisites
Provision the host you want to use as your reference host with an ESXi image by using Auto Deploy.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, select the host and click the Networking tab.
2 Perform networking setup.
If you are using virtual switches and not vSphere Distributed Switch, do not add other VMkernel NICs to vSwitch0.
3 After the reference host is configured, reboot the system to verify that vmk0 is connected to the Management Network.
4 Create a host profile from the host.
What to do next
n Write a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings that you specified in the reference host. See “Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts,” on page 90.
n For hosts already provisioned with Auto Deploy, perform the compliance testing and repair operations to provision them with the new host profile. See “Test and Repair Rule Compliance,” on page 92.
n Turn on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new host profile.
Consider and Implement Your Partitioning Strategy
By default, Auto Deploy provisions hosts only if a partition is available on the host. You can set up a reference host to auto-partition all hosts that you provision with Auto Deploy.
CAUTION If you change the default auto-partitioning behavior, Auto Deploy overwrites existing partitions regardless of their content. If you turn on this option, ensure that no unintended data loss results.
To ensure that local SSDs remain unpartitioned during auto-partitioning, you must set the parameter skipPartitioningSsds=TRUE on the reference host.
For more information about preventing SSD formatting during auto-partitioning, see the vSphere Storage documentation.
Prerequisites
n Provision the host you wish to use as your reference host with an ESXi image by using Auto Deploy.
n Verify that you have access to avSphere Web Client that can connect to the vCenter Server system.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, select the host you want to use as a reference host and click Manage.
2 Click Settings.
3 Click System to open the system options and click Advanced System Settings.
4 Scroll to VMkernel.Boot.autoPartition and set the value to true.
5 (Optional) If you want local SSDs to remain unpartitioned, scroll to VMkernel.Boot.skipPartitioningSsds and set the value to true.
6 If no host profile exists for your reference host, create it now.
7 Use the Auto Deploy PowerCLI to write a rule that applies the host profile of your reference host to all hosts immediately when they boot.
Auto-partitioning is performed when the hosts boot.