vSphere Host Profiles Update 1 ESXi 6.0 vCenter Server 6.0 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
vSphere Host Profiles You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com Copyright © 2009–2016 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com 2 VMware, Inc.
Contents About vSphere® Host Profiles 5 Updated Information 7 1 Using Host Profiles 9 Host Profiles Usage Model 10 Reference Host Independence 10 Access Host Profiles 11 Create a Host Profile 11 Attach Entities to a Host Profile 11 Detach Entities From a Host Profile 12 Check Compliance 12 Remediate a Host 13 Edit a Host Profile 13 Duplicate a Host Profile 16 Copy Settings from Host 17 Host Profiles and vSphere Auto Deploy 17 Import a Host Profile 17 Export a Host Profile 18 Index VMware, Inc.
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About vSphere® Host Profiles The vSphere Host Profiles documentation provides information about managing Host Profiles.
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Updated Information This vSphere Host Profiles is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Host Profiles. Revision Description EN-001800-03 Corrected information about configuring time settings in “Edit a Policy,” on page 14. EN-001800-02 Added a note in Chapter 1, “Using Host Profiles,” on page 9 that states host profiles extracted from ESXi 6.0 hosts are not compatible with ESXi 5.5 or earlier hosts.
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Using Host Profiles 1 The Host Profiles feature creates a profile that encapsulates the host configuration and helps to manage the host configuration, especially in environments where an administrator manages multiple hosts or clusters in vCenter Server. Host Profiles provide an automated and centrally-managed mechanism for host configuration and configuration compliance. Host Profiles can improve efficiency by reducing reliance upon repetitive, manual tasks.
vSphere Host Profiles Host Profiles Usage Model The Host Profile workflow starts with the concept of a reference host; the reference host serves as the template from which the Host Profile is extracted. The designation reference host, and the Host Profile association to that host, persists even after creating the Host Profile. Before you begin, ensure that you have an existing vSphere enviroment installation with at least one properly and completely configured host.
Chapter 1 Using Host Profiles Access Host Profiles The Host Profiles main view lists all available profiles. Administrators can also use the Host Profiles main view to perform operations on Host Profiles and configure profiles. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client Home, click Policies and Profiles. 2 Click Host Profiles. Create a Host Profile You create a new Host Profile by extracting the designated reference host's configuration.
vSphere Host Profiles 6 (Optional) You can update or change the user input parameters for the Host Profiles policies by customizing the host. See “Host Profiles and vSphere Auto Deploy,” on page 17. 7 Click Finish to complete attaching the host or cluster to the profile. Detach Entities From a Host Profile In order to remove the policy-managed configuration from a host or cluster, that host or cluster must be detached from the Host Profile.
Chapter 1 Using Host Profiles What to do next To see more detail on compliance failures, select a Host Profile from the Objects tab for which the last compliance check produced one or more failures. In order to see specific detail on which parameters differ between the host that failed compliance and the Host Profile, click on the Monitor tab and select the Compliance view. Then, expand the object hierarchy and select the failing host.
vSphere Host Profiles The changes are made when the "Update Host Profile" task is completed in the Recent Tasks status. If you attempt to remediate the profile before the task is complete, the profile configuration does not contain the change. Edit a Policy A policy describes how a specific configuration setting is applied. You can edit policies belonging to a specific Host Profile.
Chapter 1 Using Host Profiles Table 1‑1. Subset of Host Profile Subprofile Configurations (Continued) Component Categories Configuration Settings Security Firewall, Security Settings, Service Storage Configure storage options, including Native Multi-Pathing (NMP), Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA), FCoE and iSCSI adapters, and NFS storage.
vSphere Host Profiles Procedure 1 For SAS devices that are not detected as local, select Storage configuration > Pluggable Storage Architecture configuration > PSA device sharing > name of device. 2 For each device not shared across the cluster, disable Device is shared clusterwide. The Is Shared Clusterwide value for PSA devices helps you determine which devices in the cluster should be configured by a host profile.
Chapter 1 Using Host Profiles 4 Review the summary information for the new profile and click Finish. A clone of the profile appears in the Host Profiles list. Copy Settings from Host If the configuration of the reference host changes, you can update the Host Profile so that it matches the reference host's new configuration. After you create a Host Profile, you can make incremental updates to the profile.
vSphere Host Profiles Procedure 1 Navigate to the Host Profiles view. 2 Click the Import Host Profile icon ( 3 Click Browse to browse for the VMware Profile Format file to import 4 Enter the Name and Description for the imported Host Profile, and click OK. ). The imported profile appears in the profile list. Export a Host Profile You can export a profile to a file that is in the VMware profile format (.vpf).
Index A Auto Deploy 17 C compliance checks, Host Profiles 16 creating, Host Profiles 11 D disabling, Host Profile policy 16 E editing Host Profile policies 14 Host Profiles 13 exporting a host profile 18 H Host Profile, detaching host or cluster from Host Profile 12 Host Profiles accessing 11 attaching hosts or clusters to a Host Profile 11 checking compliance 12 creating from Host Profile view 11 disabling policy 16 editing profiles 13 editing a policy 14 remediate profiles 13 updating from reference
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