When you want to make changes to the desired configuration of a cluster that uses vSphere Configuration Profiles, you can create a draft configuration for that cluster in the vSphere Client.

You can create only one draft configuration at a time for a cluster. When you finish making changes to the host settings, you must run a remediation pre-check before applying the changes to all host in the cluster and making your draft configuration the new desired cluster configuration.

Note: More than one user with the required privileges can create a draft configuration for a cluster at the same time. When one of the users remediates the cluster with their draft configuration making it the desired configuration for the cluster, the other users editing their draft configurations for the same cluster will see an error message.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that vCenter Server is of version 8.0 Update 2 or later and ESXi is of version 8.0 Update 1 or later for using vSphere Configuration Profiles on a cluster that you manage with a single image.
  • Verify that vCenter Server and ESXi are of version 8.0 Update 3 or later for using vSphere Configuration Profiles on a cluster that you manage with baselines.
  • Verify that you have the required license.
  • Verify that you are using vSphere Configuration Profiles for the cluster.
  • Verify that you have the required privileges for the operation. See Required Privileges for Using vSphere Configuration Profiles.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster that you manage with a single image or to a cluster that you manage with baselines.
  2. On the Configure tab, click Desired State > Configuration.
  3. On the Draft tab, choose the method of creating a draft configuration for the cluster.
    Option Steps
    Create a copy of the current cluster configuration To create a working copy from the current cluster configuration, click Create draft.
    • If you enabled vSphere Configuration Profiles during cluster creation, the draft configuration contains the default settings of the cluster that you manage with a single image retrieved from the desired cluster image.
    • If you transition a cluster that you manage with a single image or a cluster that you manage with baselines to using vSphere Configuration Profiles, the draft configuration is created from the desired cluster configuration.
    Import a configuration document into a cluster and edit it as a draft configuration This option for creating a draft configuration is available only for clusters that you manage with a single image.
    1. On the Draft tab, select Import from file.

      The Import Configuration from File dialog box appears.

    2. Click Browse to locate the file that you want to import and click Import.
    3. Click Close.
    Import the configuration from one of the hosts in the cluster Use this option to import the configuration from one of the hosts in the cluster managed with a single image or with baselines.
    Tip: If you enabled vSphere Configuration Profiles during cluster creation and the cluster is managed with baselines, a default draft configuration is not available for the cluster and you must use this option to import one from a reference host in the cluster
    1. On the Draft tab, select Import from host.

      The Select reference host dialog box appears.

    2. Select one of the hosts listed for the cluster and click Import.
      Note: During the import operation, the configuration of the reference host is extracted and is compared to the current configurations of all hosts in the cluster. If a host in the cluster has configuration settings that differ from the settings of the reference host, these settings are marked in the draft configuration as host overrides. You can view the host overrides for a specific host setting on the Host overrides tab for that setting or under the host-override section of the draft configuration document.

Results

You created a draft configuration of the cluster which you can use to edit the host settings in the vSphere Client.

What to do next

You can edit the host settings within the draft configuration and remediate the cluster against the draft configuration in a single operation. For more information, see Edit the Host Settings of a Draft Configuration in vSphere Client.