Summary
This chapter covered the topics of host profiles, vSphere Auto Deploy, and image profiles. Host profiles are like templates for ESXi hosts. A host profile is abstracted from a reference host and can be edited. vSphere Auto Deploy can be used to quickly provision a large number of ESXi hosts using a PXE boot infrastructure. Host profiles can be created independently of vSphere Auto Deploy but are a requirement when Auto Deploy is in use. Each host has an answer or configuration file that contains unique information such as IP addresses. Image Builder is a command line utility that allows you to modify an image profile. Images can be exported as an ISO or a ZIP file. A vSphere Auto Deploy rule should dictate an image profile, a host profile, and an inventory location in the vCenter Server. PowerCLI is used to manage vSphere Auto Deploy rules.
The next chapter will take a deeper look at some of the virtual machine concepts and management.
