Specifications

3 When prompted, provide the user input.
You can now direct the host to exit maintenance mode.
The user input information is saved in an answer file. The next time you boot, the answer file information is
applied to the host. One answer file per host is available.
Assign a Host Profile to Hosts
Auto Deploy can assign a host profile to one or more hosts. The host profile might include information
about storage configuration, network configuration, or other characteristics of the host. If you add a host to a
cluster, that cluster's host profile is used.
The following procedure explains how to write a rule that assigns a host profile to hosts. To assign the host
profiles to hosts already provisioned with Auto Deploy, you must also perform a test and repair cycle. See
“Test and Repair Rule Compliance,” on page 132.
In many cases, you assign a host to a cluster instead of specifying a host profile explicitly. The host uses the
host profile of the cluster.
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 In the vSphere Client, select View > Management > Host Profiles to display the Host Profiles panel and
export the host profile that you want to use from there.
3 Find the name of the host profile by running Get-VMhostProfile, passing in the server on which the
host profile is located.
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.
Chapter 6 Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts
VMware, Inc. 131