8.0

Option Description
You can use the first disk argument only to specify the search order. You
cannot explicitly specify a disk. For example, you cannot specify a specific
LUN on a SAN.
Check to overwrite any VMFS
volumes on the selected disk
If you select this check box, the system overwrites existing VMFS volumes
if not enough space is available to store the image, image profile, and host
profile.
Check to ignore any SSD devices
connected to the host
If you select this check box , the system ignores any existing SSD devices
and does not store image profiles and host profiles on them.
1 In the System Disk Configuration drop-down menu, select User must explicitly
choose the policy option.
b If you select Enable stateful installs to a USB disk on the host:
1 In the System Disk Configuration drop-down menu, select System disk specified by
user in host customization
2 Under Hosts and Clusters, right-click the host and select Host Profiles > Edit Host
Customizations. Define a disk with persistent storage in the Value field for the System
disk property.
7 Click Save to complete the host profile configuration.
What to do next
Apply the host profile to individual hosts by using the Host Profiles feature in the vSphere Client.
See the Host Profiles documentation. Alternatively, you can create a rule to assign the host profile
to hosts with the vSphere Client or by using PowerCLI. See Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile
to Hosts.
n Create a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the
settings specified in the reference host. For writing a rule in a PowerCLI session, see Write a
Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts.
n For hosts that are already provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy, perform the test and repair
compliance operations in a PowerCLI session, see Test and Repair Rule Compliance .
n Power on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new host profile.
Setting Up a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host
In an environment where no state is stored on the host, a reference host helps you set up multiple
hosts with the same configuration. You configure the reference host with the logging, coredump,
and other settings that you want, save the host profile, and write a rule that applies the host profile
to other hosts as needed.
You can configure the storage, networking, and security settings on the reference host and set up
services such as syslog and NTP.
VMware ESXi Installation and Setup
VMware, Inc. 176