6.0.1

Host Profiles Usage Model
The Host Profile workflow starts with the concept of a reference host; the reference host serves as the
template from which the Host Profile is extracted. The designation reference host, and the Host Profile
association to that host, persists even after creating the Host Profile.
Before you begin, ensure that you have an existing vSphere enviroment installation with at least one
properly and completely configured host.
The sequence required to create a Host Profile from a reference host, apply the Host Profile to a host or
cluster and check compliance against the Host Profile is as follows:
1 Set up and configure the reference host.
2 Create a Host Profile from the reference host.
3 Attach other hosts or clusters to the Host Profile.
4 Check the compliance to the Host Profile. If all hosts are compliant with the reference host, they are
correctly configured.
5 Apply (remediate).
As a licensed feature of vSphere, Host Profiles are only available when the appropriate licensing is in place.
If you see errors, ensure that you have the appropriate vSphere licensing for your hosts.
If you want the Host Profile to use directory services for authentication, the reference host needs to be
configured to use a directory service. See the vSphere Security documentation.
vSphere Auto Deploy
For hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy, vSphere Web Client owns the entire host configuration,
which is captured in a Host Profile. In most cases, the Host Profile information is sufficient to store all
configuration information. Sometimes the user is prompted for input when the host provisioned with Auto
Deploy boots. See the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation for more information on Auto Deploy.
Reference Host Independence
A dedicated reference host is not required to be available to perform host profile tasks.
When you create a host profile, you extract the configuration information from a specified ESXi reference
host. In previous releases, vSphere required that the reference host be available for certain Host Profiles
tasks, such as editing, importing, and exporting. In vSphere 6.0, a dedicated reference host is no longer
required to be available to perform these tasks.
For host profile tasks that require a reference host, an ESXi host that is compatible to the host profile is
assigned as the role of reference host.
In some cases, a compatible host is not available to validate the host profile during these tasks. If you made
small changes to the host profile that do not require validation, you can choose to skip the validation. If you
choose to skip the host validation, a warning displays indicating that no valid reference host is associated
with the profile. You can then proceed and complete the task.
Due to the introduction of this feature, users can no longer edit or change the reference host from the
vSphere Web Client. The reference host selection occurs at runtime, without notifying users, in the
vCenter Server for on-going tasks.
vSphere Host Profiles
10 VMware, Inc.