Configure the vSphere ESXi Image Builder

Before you can use vSphere ESXi Image Builder with the vSphere Client, you must verify that the service is enabled and running.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you have enough storage for the vSphere Auto Deploy repository. The vSphere Auto Deploy server uses the repository to store data it needs, including the rules and rule sets you create and the VIBs and image profiles that you specify in your rules.

  Best practice is to allocate 2 GB to have enough room for four image profiles and some extra space. Each image profile requires approximately 400 MB. Determine how much space to reserve for the vSphere Auto Deploy repository by considering how many image profiles you expect to use.

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 Auto Deploy page, select your vCenter Server from the drop-down menu at the top.
3. Click Enable Image Builder to activate the service.
   The Software Depot page appears.

What to do next

• Add a Software Depot.
• Import a Software Depot.
• Clone an Image Profile.
• Create an Image Profile.
• Prepare Your System for vSphere Auto Deploy.

• You can change the default configuration properties of the Image Builder Service. For more information, see "Configuring vCenter Server" in the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.