Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts

vSphere Auto Deploy can assign a host profile to one or more hosts. The host profile might include information about storage configuration, network configuration, or other characteristics of the host. If you add a host to a cluster, that cluster's host profile is used.

In many cases, you assign a host to a cluster instead of specifying a host profile explicitly. The host uses the host profile of the cluster.

Prerequisites

Install PowerCLI and all prerequisite software. For information see vCenter Server Installation and Setup.
Export the host profile that you want to use.

Procedure

In a PowerCLI session, run the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with.
```
Connect-VIServer ipv4_or_ipv6_address
```
The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server certificate warnings result. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning.
Using the vSphere Client, set up a host with the settings you want to use and create a host profile from that host.
Find the name of the host profile by running Get-VMhostProfile PowerCLI cmdlet, passing in the ESXi host from which you create a host profile.
At the PowerCLI prompt, define a rule in which host profiles are assigned to hosts with certain attributes, for example a range of IP addresses.
```
New-DeployRule -Name "testrule2" -Item my_host_profile -Pattern "vendor=Acme,Zven", "ipv4=192.XXX.1.10-192.XXX.1.20"
```
The specified item is assigned to all hosts with the specified attributes. This example specifies a rule named testrule2. The rule assigns the specified host profile my_host_profile to all hosts with an IP address inside the specified range and with a manufacturer of Acme or Zven.
Add the rule to the rule set.
```
Add-DeployRule testrule2
```
By default, the working rule set becomes the active rule set, and any changes to the rule set become active when you add a rule. If you use the NoActivate parameter, the working rule set does not become the active rule set.

What to do next

Assign a host already provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy to the new host profile by performing compliance test and repair operations on those hosts. For more information, see Test and Repair Rule Compliance.
Power on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the host profile.