VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 7.0

8.0 7.0 6.7 6.5

Options for Managing the
ESXi
 Life Cycle

Based on your needs and environment setup, you can choose from several methods for managing the life cycle of the
ESXi
 hosts. The
vSphere Lifecycle Manager
 provides means for updating all hosts in a cluster with a desired software state.

Methods and Tools for
ESXi
 Life Cycle Management

Today, VMware provides the following methods for managing the life cycle of
ESXi
 hosts:
  • Interactive installation and upgrade. Use this method for smaller deployments of less than five hosts. You install and boot the
    ESXi
     by using the
    ESXi
     installer ISO image.
  • Scripted installation and upgrade. Use this method for installing or upgrading multiple hosts with similar configuration settings. You create an installation or upgrade script that contains the
    ESXi
     installation options. Then you boot the
    ESXi
     installer and run the script.
  • VMware vSphere®Auto Deploy™. Use this method for provisioning hundreds of physical hosts with the
    ESXi
     software.
    works with image profiles and host profiles to provision the hosts. An image profile is considered to be the bootable
    ESXi
     image provided by VMware or partners.
    By default,
    does not store the
    ESXi
     state on the host itself. Each time the host boots, the
    provisions the host with the image profile. After the initial installation of the
    ESXi
     host, you can set up a host profile that causes the host to store the
    ESXi
     image and data on the local or a remote disk, or a USB drive. This process is similar to a scripted installation.
    You can use the VMware vSphere®ESXi™ Image Builder CLI to examine the public VMware software depot and create image profiles with a customized set of updates, patches, and drivers.
    A host profile defines some host configuration setup such as networking and storage configuration. To achieve some consistency with the hosts configurations in your environment, you can create a host profile for a single host and then apply the configuration to the other hosts in your environment.
  • VMware vSphere®Update Manager™. Use this product to automate the patching, upgrading, and updating of the
    ESXi
     hosts in your environment. You can use the vSphere
    Update Manager
     through the
    vSphere Client
     to update your hosts up to version 7.0. See
    vSphere Update Manager Installation and Administration Guide
    . Starting with vSphere 7.0, to manage the life cycle of the hosts in your environment, you can use the
    vSphere Lifecycle Manager
     through the
    vSphere Client
    . See
    Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle
    . This chapter of the
    vSphere Automation
     SDKs Programming Guide discusses how you can access and use the functionality provided by the
    vSphere Lifecycle Manager
     through the APIs.

vSphere Lifecycle Manager
 Features

Starting with vSphere 7.0, you can use the
vSphere Automation
 APIs to manage the life cycle of hosts collectively by using the
vSphere Lifecycle Manager
. You can access and use the following
vSphere Lifecycle Manager
 functionality:
  • Depot management. You can add, remove, explore the contents of different types of depots. See Software Depots. The content of the depots is provided by VMware and VMware partners. Partners can use the ESXi Packaging Kit (EPK) to assemble a custom bootable
    ESXi
     image. The custom image can then be shared to other third-party customers and used through the Depot Manager. For more information about how to create custom
    ESXi
     images, see
    ESXi Packaging Kit (EPK) Development Guide
    .
  • Desired software state. You can create, edit, and delete a desired software state for a cluster on which the
    vSphere Lifecycle Manager
     is enabled. A desired software state must contain at least a single
    ESXi
     image provided by VMware. You can also set an add-on provided by OEMs, and one or more components by different software vendors. Furthermore, during the process of creating the desired software state, you can check the validity of the specification and compare the current state of the hosts in the cluster with the desired software state.
  • Cluster remediation. You can apply the desired state on each of the hosts in a cluster which current state is different from the desired specification. Applying a desired state on a cluster level has the following prerequisites:
    • The cluster must have the
      vSphere Lifecycle Manager
       enabled.
    • All hosts in the cluster must store their data on a local or remote disk, or on a USB drive.
    • All hosts in the cluster must be of version 7.0 or higher.
    • All hosts must contain only components that the
      vSphere Lifecycle Manager
       can recognize and maintain. If a host contains some old content that the
      vSphere Lifecycle Manager
       does not recognize, the content is removed from the host during remediation.

Content feedback and comments