You specify the image profile to provision the host with by using PowerCLI to write a rule and adding the rule to the active ruleset.

This task assumes you have a basic knowledge of Microsoft PowerShell and vSphere PowerCLI.

Prerequisites
■

Make sure your system meets the requirements in the preinstallation checklist. See Proof of Concept Preinstallation Checklist.

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Perform all preceding proof of concept setup tasks. See Auto Deploy Proof of Concept Setup for the complete list.

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Make sure you can access the ESXi software from the system on which you run the PowerCLI cmdlets.

Procedure
1

Log in to the console of the Windows system on which vCenter Server is installed with administrator privileges, either directly or by using RDP.

This task assumes that you installed PowerCLI on the system on which the vCenter Server system is running.

2

Open the PowerCLI window and list the ESXi image profiles.

Get-EsxImageProfile

3

Create a new rule by running the following cmdlet, replacing ESXi-5.1.0-XXXXX-standard with the image profile that you want to use.

New-DeployRule -Name "InitialBootRule" -Item "Esxi-5.1.0-XXXXX-standard" -AllHosts

4

Add the new rule to the active rule set to make the rule available to the Auto Deploy server.

Add-DeployRule -DeployRule "InitialBootRule"

What to do next

Boot the host and check that Auto Deploy provisions the host and adds it to the vCenter Server inventory. See Provision the First Host.