You can install the Host User World module on ESXi hosts by remediating individual hosts or all hosts in a cluster collectively through the vSphere Lifecycle Manager service. This service allows you to use a vSphere Lifecycle Manager single image as an alternative way to install and manage the lifecycle of the ESXi hosts in your environment.

To install the Host User World module, first, you must add your third-party download source under the Settings tab. The download sources are online depots that you use for downloading software.

Then, update your local vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot immediately by initiating synchronization between the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot and the download source. As a result, the component that must download, the VMware Carbon Black component for ESX, is visible under the Image Depot tab. When vSphere Lifecycle Manager synchronizes to online depots, it downloads only the update metadata. The actual payload downloads during staging or remediation.

Finally, check the compliance status of the ESXi hosts against the ESXi image hosted in the depot, and remediate the hosts against that image under the Updates tab.

For details on the vSphere Lifecycle Manager user interface in the vSphere client, see Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle.

Prerequisites

  • Hosts must be running ESXi 7.0 or later.
  • You must power on your hosts and connect them to the vCenter Server.
  • Own the required privileges for using vSphere Lifecycle Manager images. For more information, see Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle, part of the vSphere 7.0 → ESXi and vCenter Server documentation.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the vSphere Client using your administrator credentials.
  2. Select Menu > Lifecycle Manager.
  3. On the Settings tab, select Administration > Patch Setup.
    The Internet is the default download source for vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
  4. To download a third-party component, such as the Carbon Black component for ESX, click New and enter the URL address for the download source.
    Option Description
    https://prod.cwp.carbonblack.io/cbhost/us/online-depot/index.xml Depot URL for the United States region.
    https://prod.cwp.carbonblack.io/cbhost/au/online-depot/index.xml Depot URL for the Africa Union region.
    https://prod.cwp.carbonblack.io/cbhost/ap/online-depot/index.xml Depot URL for the Asia-Pacific region.
    https://prod.cwp.carbonblack.io/cbhost/eu/online-depot/index.xml Depot URL for the Europe region.
    Description is optional.
  5. To keep the changes, click Save.
    The source URL appears at the bottom of the list of download sources.
  6. To update your local vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot immediately, locate the Actions drop-down menu, and select Sync Updates.
    The vSphere Lifecycle Manager downloads the software from the online depot that you configured it to use. The Carbon Black component is available in the Image Depot > Components table.
  7. To make the hosts in your cluster manageable by a single image, you must setup the image.
    1. From the vSphere Client drop-down Menu, click Hosts and Clusters, and select the cluster you want to manage with the image.
    2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image, and click the Setup Image button.
      The Convert to an Image page displays.
    3. To define the image in step 1, select the ESXi version from the related drop-down menu, click Add Components, and select the VMware Carbon Black component.
      The Carbon Black component shows in the Additional components table.
    4. Select Validate, and once the image shows as valid, click Save.
    5. To check the compliance of your hosts with the defined image in step 2, select a host, and click Check Compliance.
    6. When all hosts in your cluster are compliant with the newly defined image, click Finish Image Setup, and confirm the action.
    The Image card and Image Compliance card show summary of the image setup.
  8. Remediate all your hosts in the cluster.
    1. While in the Image Compliance card, select the Remediate All button.
      The Review Remediation Impact screen displays.
    2. Accept the terms of the end user license agreement and click Start Remediation.
      The Image Compliance card notifies you when the remediation process completes successfully. The remediation installs only the VIBs on the hosts and does not configure the host user world module.
  9. On the Configure tab, select Configuration > Security.
    The hosts display in Needs install state.
  10. Click the Enable Host Module button.
    After the operation completes successfully, the hosts display in Latest sensor installed state.
  11. Optional. Select a host from the cluster, navigate to the Configure > Security page, and view the Carbon Black Cloud summary.

What to do next

Select the managed cluster, navigate to the Updates > Hosts > Image page, and Check Compliance again.

The image remains compliant with all the hosts in the cluster. Change in the image (due to other components), does not remove the Host User World module from the hosts. This is due to the component being already included in the image.