When you prepare the vSphere Auto Deploy target hosts, you must set up the DHCP server in this scenario to serve each target host with an iPXE binary.

The environment in this scenario uses Active Directory with DNS and DHCP. The DHCP server is included in the vSphere supported Windows Server versions.

Procedure

  1. Log in to your DHCP Server with administrator privileges.
  2. Create a DHCP scope for your IP address range.
    1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools and click DHCP.
    2. Navigate to DHCP > hostname > IPv4.
    3. Right-click IPv4 and select New Scope.
    4. On the Welcome screen, click Next, and specify a name and description for the scope.
    5. Specify an IP address range and click Next.
    6. Click Next until you reach the Configure DHCP Options screen and select No, I will configure this option later.
  3. Create a DHCP reservation for each target ESXi host.
    1. In the DHCP window, navigate to DHCP > hostname > IPv4 > Autodeploy Scope > Reservations.
    2. Right-click Reservations and select New Reservation.
    3. In the New Reservation window, specify a name, IP address, and the MAC address for one of the hosts. Do not include the colon (:) in the MAC address.
      Information about IP reservations and the MAC address.

    4. Repeat the process for each of the other hosts.
  4. Set up the DHCP Server to point the hosts to the TFTP Server.
    1. In the DHCP window, navigate to DHCP > hostname > IPv4 > Autodeploy Scope > Scope Options.
    2. Right click Scope Options and choose Configure Options.
    3. In the Scope Options window, click the General tab.
    4. Click 066 Boot Server Host Name and enter the address of the TFTP server that you installed in the String value field below the Available Options.
      The 066 Boot Server Host Name and 067 Bootfile Name check boxes are selected. The file name has been entered in the String value field.

    5. Click 067 Bootfile Name and enter undionly.kpxe.vmw-hardwired.
      The undionly.kpxe.vmw-hardwired iPXE binary will be used to boot the ESXi hosts.
    6. Click Apply and click OK to close the window.
  5. In the DHCP window, right-click DHCP > hostname > IPv4 > Scope > Activate and click Activate.
  6. Do not log out from the DHCP Server if you are using Active Directory for DHCP and DNS, or log out otherwise.

What to do next

start the vCenter Server service of vSphere Auto Deploy and configure the TFTP server.