Deploying and Customizing ESXi Hosts
Jon Hall, Joshua Andrews · 2020
This chapter addresses deploying ESXi hosts using the Auto Deploy mechanism as well as utilizing Host Profiles to manage host configuration settings. With Auto Deploy configured, new hosts can be configured automatically as they boot, reducing the time to deploy and eliminating manual steps. However, there are several steps required to properly configure Auto Deploy, and third-party resources (specifically a DHCP server and TFTP server) are required. There are two other methods of using Auto Deploy beyond reading an image from the Auto Deploy server at boot: Stateless Caching and Stateful Install. Either of these options requires changes to the boot order of the host and a host profile with the proper settings. VMware vSphere Host Profiles offers a solution to manage and compare host settings. While host profiles are a key component of Auto Deploy, they have significant usage even if Auto Deploy is not used in the environment.