Modify your ESXi host by creating and applying an Auto Deploy rule.

The following use case describes how you can use the Auto Deploy plug-in for vRealize Orchestrator to create and apply a simple deploy rule that adds an image profile to one of your ESXi hosts and changes the vSphere Client folder where the host is located.

Prerequisites

Configure the Auto Deploy plug-in. See Configuring and the Auto Deploy Plug-In.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the vRealize Orchestrator Client.
  2. Create a deployment rule.
    1. Select the Create a deploy rule workflow.
    2. Select your Auto Deploy host, enter a name for your rule, and select an image profile.
    3. (Optional) Apply an extracted host profile.
      By extracting a host profile from an ESXi host, you can apply the host configuration, including settings like virtual switch configurations, to any host to which you apply the deploy rule. To extract a host profile, log in to the vSphere Client, right-click the host, and select Host Profiles > Extract Host Profile.
    4. (Optional) Select a host pattern.
      Selecting a pattern can be useful when you want to specify the type of host to which you want to apply the deploy rule. For example, you can specify that you want the rule to apply to hosts that use a specific hardware vendor.
    5. Under Type, select Host Folder.
    6. Under Host folder, select the vCenter folder where you want to move the host when the rule is activated and the host is re-provisioned.
    7. Click Run.
  3. Validate that the rule is added to the vCenter Server.
    1. Log in to the vSphere Client as an administrator.
    2. Under the top-left menu, select Auto Deploy and navigate to the Deploy Rules tab.
  4. Activate the deploy rule.
    1. Log in to the vRealize Orchestrator Client.
    2. Select the Activate a deploy rule and a working set workflow.
    3. Select your deploy rule, and click Run.
    4. (Optional) Under Position, select the rule order.
      Note: An ESXi host can match more than one vSphere Auto Deploy rule criteria. In this case, the rule order set in the Position field is considered.
    5. Click Run.
      After the workflow finishes running, the status of the rule in the vSphere Client changes to Active. To apply the rule to a host, you must set the host to run in maintenance mode, and then re-provision the host.
  5. Set the host to maintenance mode.
    1. Select the Enter maintenance mode workflow included with the vCenter plug-in for VMware vRealize Orchestrator.
    2. Select your host.
    3. Under VSAN host decommission mode, select noAction.
    4. Click Run.
  6. Re-provision your host.
    1. Select the Reprovision a host by a simple reboot workflow.
    2. Select your Auto Deploy host and ESXi host to which you want to apply the deploy rule.
    3. Click Run.
    The new image profile is applied and the host is moved to the vSphere Client folder specified in step 3.
  7. Exit maintenance mode.
    1. Select the Exit maintenance mode workflow.
    2. Select your host, and click Run.

Results

You have created and applied a deploy rule to one of your vCenter ESXi hosts.

Troubleshooting

If you add or modify an object, such as a deploy rule, directly from the vCenter instance for which you have an Auto Deploy host, the plug-in can't detect and fetch changes in the vCenter.

To re-fetch all new or modified objects, remove the Auto Deploy host and then add it back again.