Hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy do not have a local disk to store core dumps on. You can configure a reference host to use ESXi Dump Collector by using the Host Profiles feature in the vSphere Client.

Best practice is to set up hosts to use ESXi Dump Collector with the esxcli system coredump command and save the host profile. For more information, see Configure ESXi Dump Collector with ESXCLI.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that you have created the host profile on which you want to configure a coredump policy. For more information on how to create a host profile, see the vSphere Host Profiles documentation.
  • Verify that at least one partition has sufficient storage capability for core dumps from multiple hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to Home > Policies and Profiles > Host Profiles.
  2. Click the host profile you want to configure and select the Configure tab.
  3. Click Edit Host Profile.
  4. Select Networking Configuration > Network Coredump Settings.
  5. Select the Enabled check box.
  6. Specify the host NIC to use, the Network Coredump Server IP, and the Network Coredump Server Port.
  7. Click Save to complete the host profile configuration.

What to do next

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Power on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new host profile.