Introduction

In an environment where no state is stored on the host, a reference host helps you set up multiple hosts with the same configuration. You configure the reference host with the logging, coredump, and other settings that you want, save the host profile, and write a rule that applies the host profile to other hosts as needed.

You can configure the storage, networking, and security settings on the reference host and set up services such as syslog and NTP. The exact setup of your reference host depends on your environment, but you might consider the following customization.

Auto Deploy Reference Host Setup

Configuring an Auto Deploy Reference Host

• vSphere Client

The vSphere Client supports setup of networking, storage, security, and most other aspects of an ESXi host. You can completely set up your environment and export the host profile for use by Auto Deploy.

• vSphere Command Line Interface

You can use vCLI commands for setup of many aspects of your host. vCLI is especially suitable for configuring some of the services in the vSphere environment. Commands include vicfg-ntp (set up an NTP server), esxcli system syslog (set up a syslog server), and vicfg-route (set up the default route).

• Host Profile Interface

You can either set up a host with vSphere Client or vCLI and save the host profile for that host, or you can configure the host profiles directly with the Host Profiles interface in the vSphere Client

Provisioning and Reprovisioning

Provisioning a host that has never been provisioned with Auto Deploy (first boot) differs from subsequent boot processes. You must prepare the host, define the image using the Image Builder PowerCLI, and fulfill all other prerequisites before you can provision the host.

vSphere Auto Deploy supports multiple reprovisioning options. You can perform a simple reboot or reprovision with a different image or a different host profile.

Provisioning for the first time

Subsequent boot of an AutoDeployed ESXi Host

Reprovisoning

vSphere Auto Deploy supports multiple reprovisioning options. You can perform a simple reboot or reprovision with a different image or a different host profile.

The following reprovisioning operations are available.

• Simple reboot.
• Reboot of hosts for which the user answered questions during the boot operation.
• Reprovision with a different image profile.
• Reprovision with a different host profile.

Test and Repair Rule Compliance

• When you add a rule to the Auto Deploy rule set or make changes to one or more rules, unprovisioned hosts that you boot are automatically provisioned according to the new rules. For all other hosts, Auto Deploy applies the new rules only when you test their rule compliance and perform remediation.
  This task assumes that your infrastructure includes one or more ESXi hosts provisioned with Auto Deploy, and that the host on which you installed VMware PowerCLI can access those ESXi hosts.

Prerequisites

• Install VMware PowerCLI and all prerequisite software.
• If you encounter problems running PowerCLI cmdlets, consider changing the execution policy.

Procedure changing the host profile used in the rule

• Check which Auto Deploy rules are currently available. The system returns the rules and the associated items and patterns
• Get-DeployRule
• Make a change to one of the available rules, for example, you might change the image profile and the name of the rule. You cannot edit a rule already added to a rule set. Instead, you copy the rule and replace the item you want to change.
• Copy-DeployRule -DeployRule testruleimageprofile -ReplaceItem DACVESX002_Host_Profile
• Verify that the host that you want to test rule set compliance for is accessible.
  Get-VMHost -Name 10.1.1.100
• Test the rule set compliance for that host and bind the return value to a variable for later use.
• $tr = Test-DeployRuleSetCompliance 10.1.1.100
• Examine the differences between what is in the rule set and what the host is currently using $tr.itemlist The system returns a table of current and expected items.
• Remediate the host to use the revised rule set the next time you boot the host.
• Repair-DeployRuleSetCompliance $tr

What to do next

If the rule you changed specified the inventory location, the change takes effect immediately. For all other changes, boot your host to have Auto Deploy apply the new rule and to achieve compliance between the rule set and the host.

Please see Pages 81-85 of the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide

Introduction

When you start a physical host set up for Auto Deploy, Auto Deploy uses a PXE boot infrastructure in conjunction with vSphere host profiles to provision and customize that host. No state is stored on the host itself, instead, the Auto Deploy server manages state information for each host.

• The ESXi host’s state and configuration is run in memory
• When the host is shutdown the state information is cleared from memory
• Based on PXE Boot environments
• Works with Image Buillder, vCenter Server and Host Profiles
• Eliminates the need for a boot device
• Common image across all hosts

With Autodeploy the previous boot device information is stored on the host and managed by vCenter

Autodeploy Architecture

What does what?

 Rules engine

You specify the behavior of the Auto Deploy server by using a set of rules written in Power CLI. The Auto Deploy rule engine checks the rule set for matching host patterns to decide which items (image profile, host profile, or vCenter Server location) to provision each host with.

PowerCLI cmdlets are used to set, evaulate and update image profile and host profile rules

The Rules engine maps software images and host profiles to hosts based on the attributes of the host. For example

• Rules can be based on IP or MAC Address
• The -AllHosts option can be used for every host

What’s in the Rules engine?

What else is required?

Boot Process

AutoDeploy First Boot Process

AutoDeploy cmdlets

 Procedure

• Log into PowerCLI and follow the below steps
• Note to be careful with syntax and case sensitivity

Demo

• Log into PowerCLI
• Type add-esxsoftwaredepot E:\Depot\VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-depot.zip
• Type get-esximageprofile
• Type new-deployrule -name testruleimageprofile – item VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-standard -allhosts

The above commands will add a software depot, get the ESXi image profiles then create a deployment rule named “testruleimageprofile” and will use the “VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-standard” image profile or type in the customprofile you have created and will apply the rule to “Allhosts” or any ESXi host boots from it.

• Or

• Log into PowerCLI
• Type add-esxsoftwaredepot E:\Depot\VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-depot.zip
• Type get-esximageprofile
• Type new-deployrule -name testruleimageprofile – item “ESXi-5.1.0-799733-standard”,”Cluster”,”DACVESX001 Host Profile” -pattern “ipv4=10.1.1.100-10.1.1.105”

The above commands will add a software depot, get the ESXi image profiles then create a deployment rule named “testruleimageprofile” and will use the “VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-standard” image profile,  The Cluster Name “Cluster” and the Host Profile Name DACVESX001 Host Profile with a pattern to apply this to the IP range 10.1.1.100-10.1.1.105

• Click Enter and you should see the following screen appear

• Add the second cluster rule

• Once the deployment rules have been created successfully, add them to the working rule set by using the Add-DeployRule cmdlet. The following example adds the two deployment rules created previously to the working rule set
• Add the Rules to the Working Rule Set
• By default deploy rules are added to the active rule set. You add rules to the working rule set by including the -NoActivate flag when using the Add-DeployRule cmdlet.

• Use the Get-DeployRuleSet to verify the rules were created

• When the deployment rules have been added to the working rule set successfully, vSphere Auto Deploy will commence copying VIBs to the Auto Deploy server as required. In our case the VIBs associated with Brocade will be copied
• Type Exit to Quit PowerCLI

What is Auto Deploy?

vSphere Auto Deploy can provision hundreds of physical hosts with ESXi software. You can specify the image to deploy and the hosts to provision with the image. Optionally, you can specify host profiles to apply to the hosts, and a vCenter Server folder or cluster for each host.

When a physical host set up for Auto Deploy is turned on, Auto Deploy uses a PXE boot infrastructure in conjunction with vSphere host profiles to provision and customize that host. No state is stored on the host itself. Instead, the Auto Deploy server manages state information for each host

Auto Deploy stores the information for the ESXi hosts to be provisioned in different locations. Information about the location of image profiles and host profiles is initially specified in the rules that map machines to image profiles and host profiles. When a host boots for the first time, the vCenter Server system creates a corresponding host object and stores the information in the database.

AutoDeploy Requirements

• DHCP
• DHCP Option 66: FQDN or IP Address of TFTP Server
• DHCP Option 67: udionly.kpxe.vmw-hardwired – Name of GPXE Config file which we need the TFTP Server to direct the host to
• Router Configuration – A setting to allow the DHCP
• PXE
• TFTP

Installation Instructions

• Attach the vCenter ISO
• Select AutoDeploy

• Click Next

• Click Next to the End User Patent Agreement

• Click I accept to the Licensing agreement

• Check Auto Deploy repository directory and repository maximum size

• Put in vCenter Information

• Trust the SSL Certificate

• Check the ports

• Check how your server is identified on the network

• nn

• Finish