6.0

Host Profiles and vSphere Auto Deploy
Host profiles are used to help vSphere Auto Deploy provision physical ESXi hosts with configuration state
information (virtual switches, driver settings, boot parameters, and so on).
Configuration state information cannot be stored directly on a host provisioned with Auto Deploy. Instead,
you can create a reference host and configure it with the settings you want. Then, create a host profile using
this reference host. Auto Deploy can apply the host profile to these hosts so they are configured with these
settings, or you can apply the host profile using the client.
To apply a host profile to a host, the host must be placed into maintenance mode. The user is prompted to
type answers for policies that are specified during host profile creation when the host profile is applied.
A host provisioned with Auto Deploy can be rebooted while the host profile is attached to the host. After
rebooting, values stored in the answer file help the host provisioned with Auto Deploy to apply the profile.
An answer file is created that contains a series of key value pairs for the user input options.
The answer file contains the user input policies for a host profile. The file is created when the profile is
initially applied to a particular host.
NOTE If you deploy ESXi through host profiles, configure syslog to store logs on a remote server. See "Set
up Syslog from the Host Profiles Interface" in the Installation and Setup documentation for instructions.
See "Setting up an Auto Deploy Reference Host" in the vSphere Auto Deploy documentation for more
information.
Check Answer File Status
The answer file status indicates the state of the answer file. The status of an answer file can be complete,
incomplete, missing, or unknown.
Prerequisites
The answer file status can only be checked when the host profile is atached to a host.
Procedure
u
In the host profiles view, click Check Answer File.
The Answer File Status for the host profile is updated. The status indicates one of the following states:
Incomplete
The answer file is missing some of the required user input answers.
Complete
The answer file has all of the user input answers needed.
Unknown
The host and associated profile exist but the status of the answer file is not
known. This is the initial state of an answer file.
Update Answer File
You can update or change the user input parameters for the host profiles policies in the answer file.
Procedure
1 Right-click the host entity and select Update Answer File.
2 When prompted, enter or change the user input parameter, and click Next.
3 Click Update when finished entering changes.
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client
222 VMware, Inc.