When you commit a draft software specification, you make the committed draft the desired state for that cluster or standalone host. If all hosts in the cluster are compliant with the desired state, you can remediate the cluster. If the single standalone host is compliant with the desired state, you can update the ESXi host to that state.
You can use the methods provided with the cluster and host Software services to manage a desired state for a cluster or a standalone host. Before you apply a desired state on a cluster or a standalone host, you can run pre-checks to ensure that all hosts in the cluster or the single host are in a good state to be remediated. The pre-checks verify whether any of the hosts in the cluster or the single standalone host must be rebooted or are in maintenance mode. You can also check the compliance of the cluster or the standalone host against the desired state. See Checking the Compliance Against the Desired State.
- An offline bundle in a ZIP file format.
- An ISO image.
- A JSON file.
Use the vSphere Lifecycle Manager API to import a software specification as a draft and then edit it. You have several options for running the import operation depending on the location and format of the desired software state.
