If you use Auto Deploy to add stateful ESXi hosts to a cluster that you manage by using an image, all hosts must have the same software specification.

When an Auto Deploy rule is created and the target cluster is managed by an image, a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) image is created based on the image specification of the cluster. The generated PXE image is cached and is not automatically updated. As a result, if you modify the image specification in the vSphere Lifecycle Manager, you must update the PXE image manually.

For information how to create a rule to add hosts to a cluster managed by an image, see Use Auto Deploy to Add a Host to a Cluster Managed by an Image from the vSphere Lifecycle Manager documentation.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Navigate to Home > Auto Deploy.
    By default, only the administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere Auto Deploy service.
  2. On the Deploy Rules tab, select the desired rule.
    You must select a rule, which matches ESXi hosts to a cluster that you manage by an image.
  3. If the rule is active, first you must deactivate the rule.
    1. Click the Activate/Deactive Rules tab
    2. In the dialog box, select the rule.
    3. In the dialog box, select Deactivate and click OK.
  4. Select Reacreate Image Profile and in the confirmation dialog box, click Recreate.
  5. (Optional) Activate the rule again.
    1. Click the Activate/Deactive Rules tab
    2. In the dialog box, select the rule.
    3. In the dialog box, select Activate and click OK.

Results

The PXE image is running the latest image specification.