Auto Deploy in VMware vSphere 6.5 has many significant enhancements for the management as well as operation of stateless compute resources – it might be just the thing for you to consider in that upcoming datacenter design!
By combining industry-standard PXE boot technology with innovative policy-based management of VMware ESXi images and configuration through Host Profiles, Auto Deploy enables you to manage large fleets of compute hosts with high consistency and low administrative effort.
I’m pleased let you know that we have just released two new Product Walkthroughs (PWTs) showcasing some of the new Auto Deploy capabilities. PWTs are visual tours of select workflows in action, which you can click through at your own pace. Here is an overview of what you will find:
One of the major enhancements to Auto Deploy in vSphere 6.5 is a brand new graphical interface for managing ESXi images and deploy rules. The familiar PowerCLI option is still available, but this new GUI makes it easier than ever to dive into the world of stateless infrastructure. In this PWT, you will see the Software Depots interface, which is the graphical version of Image Builder cmdlets, as well as go through the process of creating a deploy rule for a new stateless host.
A new feature of Auto Deploy in vSphere 6.5 is the ability to interactively deploy new hosts without first creating a rule. When new hardware is first booted on the Auto Deploy network, hosts check in with Auto Deploy for instructions. If no deploy rules match the attributes of a host, it will register as a discovered host and wait patiently for commands. In this PWT, you will see how to quickly stand up a new cluster from unused hosts on the network.
This demonstration is also available as a full-featured demo video, check it out:
These new Product Walkthroughs make it easy to see the new Auto Deploy capabilities in action. I hope you found them beneficial and that you might consider stateless compute for your next vSphere deployment!
