6.0.3

vSphere Auto Deploy Security Considerations
To best protect your environment, be aware of security risks that might exist when you use Auto Deploy
with host proles.
Networking Security
Secure your network as you would for any other PXE-based deployment method. vSphere Auto Deploy
transfers data over SSL to prevent casual interference and snooping. However, the authenticity of the client
or of the Auto Deploy server is not checked during a PXE boot.
You can greatly reduce the security risk of Auto Deploy by completely isolating the network where Auto
Deploy is used.
Boot Image and Host Profile Security
The boot image that the vSphere Auto Deploy server downloads to a machine can have the following
components.
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The VIB packages that the image prole consists of are always included in the boot image.
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The host prole and host customization are included in the boot image if Auto Deploy rules are set up
to provision the host with a host prole or a host customization seing.
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The administrator (root) password and user passwords that are included with host prole and host
customization are MD5 encrypted.
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Any other passwords associated with proles are in the clear. If you set up Active Directory by
using host proles, the passwords are not protected.
Use the vSphere Authentication Service for seing up Active Directory to avoid exposing the
Active Directory passwords. If you set up Active Directory using host proles, the passwords are
not protected.
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The host's public and private SSL key and certicate are included in the boot image.
Managing ESXi Log Files
Log les are an important component of troubleshooting aacks and obtaining information about breaches
of host security. Logging to a secure, centralized log server can help prevent log tampering. Remote logging
also provides a long-term audit record.
Take the following measures to increase the security of the host.
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Congure persistent logging to a datastore. By default, the logs on ESXi hosts are stored in the in-
memory le system. Therefore, they are lost when you reboot the host, and only 24 hours of log data is
stored. When you enable persistent logging, you have a dedicated record of server activity available for
the host.
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Remote logging to a central host allows you to gather log les onto a central host, where you can
monitor all hosts with a single tool. You can also do aggregate analysis and searching of log data, which
might reveal information about things like coordinated aacks on multiple hosts.
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Congure remote secure syslog on ESXi hosts using a remote command line such as vCLI or PowerCLI,
or using an API client.
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Query the syslog conguration to make sure that a valid syslog server has been congured, including
the correct port.
vSphere Security
206 VMware, Inc.