6.7

Figure 5‑4. vSphere Auto Deploy Architecture
HTTP fetch of images/VIBs
and host profiles (iPXE boot
and update)
Host profile
UI
Host profiles and
host customization
Host profile
engine
ESXi host
Plug-in
VIBs and
image profiles
Public depot
Fetch of predefined image
profiles and VIBs
Auto Deploy
PowerCLI
Image
Profiles
Rules Engine
Image Builder
PowerCLI
Auto Deploy
server
(Web server)
vSphere Auto Deploy
server
Serves images and host profiles to ESXi hosts.
vSphere Auto Deploy
rules engine
Sends information to the vSphere Auto Deploy server which image profile
and which host profile to serve to which host. Administrators use vSphere
Auto Deploy to define the rules that assign image profiles and host profiles
to hosts. For more information on vSphere Auto Deploy rules and rule sets,
see Rules and Rule Sets.
Image profiles Define the set of VIBs to boot ESXi hosts with.
n
VMware and VMware partners make image profiles and VIBs available
in public depots. Use vSphere ESXi Image Builder to examine the
depot and use the vSphere Auto Deploy rules engine to specify which
image profile to assign to which host.
n
VMware customers can create a custom image profile based on the
public image profiles and VIBs in the depot and apply that image profile
to the host. See Customizing Installations with vSphere ESXi Image
Builder.
VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
VMware, Inc. 99