Host Profile APIs
A host profile describes ESX Server configuration.
The HostProfile managed object provides access to profile data and it defines methods to manipulate the profile. A host profile is a combination of subprofiles, each of which contains configuration data for a specific capability. Some examples of host capabilities are authentication, memory, networking, and security. For access to individual subprofiles, see the HostApplyProfile data object (HostProfile.config.applyProfile).
Host profiles are part of the stateless configuration architecture. In the stateless environment, a Profile Engine runs on each ESX host, but an ESX host does not store its own configuration state. Instead, host configuration data is stored on vCenter Servers. Every time a host boots or reboots, it obtains its profile from the vCenter Server.
- To create a base host profile use the HostProfileManager.CreateProfile method. To create a profile from an ESX host, specify a HostProfileHostBasedConfigSpec. To create a profile from a file, specify a HostProfileSerializedHostProfileSpec.
- To create a subprofile for a particular host capability, use the HostProfileManager.CreateDefaultProfile method. After you create the default profile you can modify it and save it in the base profile.
- To update an existing profile, use the HostProfile.UpdateHostProfile method.
- To apply a host profile to an ESX host, use the ExecuteHostProfile method to generate configuration changes, then call the HostProfileManager.ApplyHostConfig_Task method to apply them.
Host-Specific Configuration
An individual host or a set of hosts may have some configuration settings that are different from the settings specified in the host profile. For example, the IP configuration for the host's virtual network adapters must be unique.
- To verify host-specific data, use the
deferredParamparameter to the ExecuteHostProfile method. The Profile Engine will determine if you have specified all of the required parameters for the host configuration. If additional data is required, call the ExecuteHostProfile method again as many times as necessary to verify a complete set of parameters. - To apply host-specific data, use the
userInputparameter to the HostProfileManager.ApplyHostConfig_Task method.
The Profile Engine saves host-specific data in an AnswerFile that is stored on the vCenter Server. The HostProfileManager provides several methods to manipulate answer files.
Profile Compliance
You can create associations between hosts and profiles to support compliance checking. When you perform compliance checking, you can determine if a host configuration conforms to a host profile.
- To create an association between a host and a profile, use the AssociateProfile method. The method adds the host to the HostProfile.entity[] list.
- To retrieve the list of profiles associated with a host, use the HostProfileManager.FindAssociatedProfile method.
- To check host compliance, use the CheckProfileCompliance_Task method. If you do not specify any hosts, the method will check the compliance of all hosts that are associated with the profile.
You can also use the Profile Compliance Manager to check compliance by specifying profiles, entities (hosts), or both. See ProfileComplianceManager.CheckCompliance_Task.
Profile Plug-Ins
The vSphere architecture uses VMware profile plug-ins to define profile extensions. For information about using a plug-in to extend a host profile, see the VMware Technical Note Developing a Host Profile Extension Plug-in.
For access to host configuration data that is defined by plug-ins, use the ApplyProfile.policy[] and ApplyProfile.property[] lists. The HostApplyProfile and its subprofiles, which collectively define host configuration data, are derived from the ApplyProfile.
- Policies store ESX configuration data in PolicyOption objects.
- Profile property lists contain subprofiles defined by plug-ins. Subprofiles can be nested.
- Subprofile lists are available as an extension to the base host profile (HostProfile.config.applyProfile.property[]).
- Subprofile lists are available as extensions to the host subprofiles - for example, the network subprofile (HostApplyProfile.network.property[]).
If you make changes to host profile data, later versions of profile plug-ins may not support the host configuration implied by the changes that you make. When a subsequent vSphere version becomes available, you must verify that the new version supports any previous configuration changes that you have made.