7.0

n (Optional) Configure the first host that you provision as a reference host. Use the storage,
networking, and other settings you want for your target hosts to share. Create a host profile
for the reference host and write a rule that assigns both the already tested image profile and
the host profile to target hosts.
n (Optional) If you want to have vSphere Auto Deploy overwrite existing partitions, set up a
reference host to do auto partitioning and apply the host profile of the reference host to other
hosts. See Configure a Reference Host for Auto-Partitioning .
n (Optional) If you have to configure host-specific information, set up the host profile of the
reference host to prompt for user input. For more information about host customizations, see
the vSphere Host Profiles documentation.
Using vSphere Auto Deploy Cmdlets
vSphere Auto Deploy cmdlets are implemented as Microsoft PowerShell cmdlets and included in
PowerCLI. Users of vSphere Auto Deploy cmdlets can take advantage of all PowerCLI features.
Experienced PowerShell users can use vSphere Auto Deploy cmdlets just like other PowerShell
cmdlets. If you are new to PowerShell and PowerCLI, the following tips might be helpful.
You can type cmdlets, parameters, and parameter values in the PowerCLI shell.
n Get help for any cmdlet by running Get-Helpcmdlet_name.
n Remember that PowerShell is not case sensitive.
n Use tab completion for cmdlet names and parameter names.
n Format any variable and cmdlet output by using Format-List or Format-Table, or their
short forms fl or ft. For more information, run the Get-Help Format-List cmdlet.
Passing Parameters by Name
You can pass in parameters by name in most cases and surround parameter values that contain
spaces or special characters with double quotes.
Copy-DeployRule -DeployRule testrule -ReplaceItem MyNewProfile
Most examples in the vCenter Server Installation and Setup documentation pass in parameters by
name.
Passing Parameters as Objects
You can pass parameters as objects if you want to perform scripting and automation. Passing in
parameters as objects is useful with cmdlets that return multiple objects and with cmdlets that
return a single object. Consider the following example.
1 Bind the object that encapsulates rule set compliance information for a host to a variable.
$tr = Test-DeployRuleSetCompliance MyEsxi42
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