Specifications

Prerequisites
n
Install vSphere PowerCLI and all prerequisite software.
n
Export the host profile that you want to use.
n
If you encounter problems running PowerCLI cmdlets, consider changing the execution policy. See the
information about using Auto Deploy Cmdlets in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.
Procedure
1 Run the Connect-VIServer PowerCLI cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that Auto Deploy
is registered with.
Connect-VIServer 192.XXX.X.XX
The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server
certificate warnings result. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning.
2 Using the vSphere Web Client, set up a host with the settings you want to use and create a host profile
from that host.
3 Find the name of the host profile by running Get-VMhostProfile PowerCLI cmdlet, passing in the ESXi
host from which you create a host profile.
4 At the PowerCLI prompt, define a rule in which hosts with certain attributes, for example a range of IP
addresses, are assigned to the host profile.
New-DeployRule -Name "testrule2" -Item my_host_profile -Pattern "vendor=Acme,Zven",
"ipv4=192.XXX.1.10-192.XXX.1.20"
The specified item is assigned to all hosts with the specified attributes. This example specifies a rule
named testrule2. The rule assigns the specified host profile my_host_profile to all hosts with an IP
address inside the specified range and with a manufacturer of Acme or Zven.
5 Add the rule to the rule set.
Add-DeployRule testrule2
By default, the working rule set becomes the active rule set, and any changes to the rule set become
active when you add a rule. If you use the NoActivate parameter, the working rule set does not become
the active rule set.
What to do next
n
Upgrade existing hosts to use the new host profile by performing compliance test and repair operations
on those hosts. See “Test and Repair Rule Compliance,” on page 199.
n
Turn on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the 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, hosts are not
updated automatically. 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 vSphere PowerCLI can access those ESXi hosts.
Prerequisites
n
Install vSphere PowerCLI and all prerequisite software.
n
If you encounter problems running PowerCLI cmdlets, consider changing the execution policy. See the
information about using Auto Deploy Cmdlets in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.
Chapter 7 Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts
VMware, Inc. 199