6.5.1

Figure 2‑2. Image Builder Architecture
esxcli
ISO
ZIP
Depot
Image
Profile
1
Image
Profile
2
VIBVIB
Windows Client
Image Builder
PowerCLI
User-Created
Image Profile
vSphere
Auto Deploy
vSphere
Update Manager
You use vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets for managing the software to deploy to your ESXi hosts in
several different situations.
Table 2‑7. Cases Where You Can Use vSphere ESXi Image Builder
Use Case for vSphere ESXi Image Builder Description
Create image profiles for use by vSphere Auto Deploy Use vSphere ESXi Image Builder to create an image profile that
defines the VIBs that vSphere Auto Deploy uses to provision
hosts.
Add custom third-party drivers to existing image profile and
export to ISO or bundle
When you add third-party driver or extension custom VIBs to
your ESXi hosts, use vSphere ESXi Image Builder to clone the
base image provided by VMware, add the custom VIBs, and
export to ISO or to offline bundle ZIP file.
Perform upgrades If you upgrade from a 4.0 or 4.1 system that includes custom
extensions or drivers, you can use vSphere ESXi Image Builder
to create an image profile that includes the vSphere 5 base VIB.
You can create vSphere 5 VIBs for the custom extensions and
add those VIBs to the base VIB. Export the custom image profile
to an ISO you can install or to a ZIP that you can use with
vSphere Update Manager.
Create custom images with reduced footprint If you require a minimal footprint image, you can clone the ESXi
base image profile and remove VIBs using vSphere ESXi Image
Builder.
vSphere Installation and Setup
VMware, Inc. 44