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Using Auto Deploy, experienced system administrators can manage large deployments efficiently.
Hosts are network-booted from a central Auto Deploy server. Optionally, hosts are configured
with a host profile of a reference host. The host profile can be set up to prompt the user for input.
After boot up and configuration complete, the hosts are managed by vCenter Server just like other
ESXi hosts.
Auto Deploy can also be used for stateless caching or stateful installs.
Important Auto Deploy requires a secure separation between the production network and
the management or deployment networks as discussed in vSphere Auto Deploy Security
Considerations. Using Auto Deploy without this separation is insecure.
Stateless caching
By default, Auto Deploy does not store ESXi configuration or state on the host disk. Instead,
an image profile defines the image that the host is provisioned with, and other host attributes
are managed through host profiles. A host that uses Auto Deploy for stateless caching still
needs to connect to the Auto Deploy server and the vCenter Server.
Stateful installs
You can provision a host with Auto Deploy and set up the host to store the image to disk. On
subsequent boots, the host boots from disk.
Understanding vSphere Auto Deploy
vSphere Auto Deploy can provision hundreds of physical hosts with ESXi software. You can
specify the image to deploy and the hosts to provision with the image. Optionally, you can specify
host profiles to apply to the hosts, a vCenter Server location (datacenter, folder or cluster), and
assign a script bundle for each host.
Introduction to vSphere Auto Deploy
When you start a physical host that is set up for vSphere Auto Deploy, vSphere Auto Deploy
uses PXE boot infrastructure in conjunction with vSphere host profiles, a desired image, or
configuration on a cluster level to provision and customize that host. No state is stored on the
host itself. Instead, the vSphere Auto Deploy server manages state information for each host.
State Information for ESXi Hosts
vSphere Auto Deploy stores the information for the ESXi hosts to be provisioned in different
locations. Information about the location of image profiles, host profiles, or clusters that you
manage by either a single image or by a configuration on a cluster level is initially specified in the
rules that map machines to image profiles and host profiles.
VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
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