An architect is designing a new greenfield environment that will install ESXi on local disks. There is a requirement to streamline initial and future installations of
ESXi hosts.
Which configuration option should the architect recommend for installing ESXi hosts to meet these requirements?
Auto Deploy with stateful install mode is the most suitable configuration option for installing ESXi on local disks while ensuring that the initial and future installations of ESXi hosts are streamlined. In this setup, ESXi is installed on the local disks during the first boot. Future boots utilize the locally installed ESXi, making subsequent boots and updates easier to manage. This approach matches the requirement for local disk installation and simplifies ongoing updates, aligning with the objective of streamlining both initial and future installations.
I'll go for D. "will install ESXi on local disks" so Auto deploy with stateful install mode will install image locally
100%. That is the key requirement - "will install ESXi on local disks.", hence D. Auto Deploy with stateful install mode
key requirement "initial and future" => B, local disk to be used for caching mode. Next boot untill use Auto Deploy.
it's D without doubt. refer to the doc about auto deploy
D. Auto Deploy with stateful install mode Stateful Install: When a host is booted for the first time, the host profile configuration states Auto Deploy is to install ESXi on local host storage. All consecutive host boots, only the local storage is used until the image profile configuration is changed. Stateless: Auto Deploy is used to install ESXi in memory on the target host. The state information of the ESXi host is managed by Auto Deploy. No local storage is required.
Obviously D
added to previous reply Stateless Caching: Similar to Stateless installations. However, the ESXi image and configuration is cached on local storage. If communication with the Auto Deploy server is disrupted, the host is able to boot using the cached data.
should this not be D?
D because that is the only Install option. The stateless cache is stateless. Future upgrades could be handled by LCM or using autodeploy. The key is to use local disks hence the only viable option is statefull install on local disk.
There is a requirement to streamline initial and future installations of ESXi hosts. Therefore, I would go for Stateless cache rather than stateful. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.esxi.install.doc/GUID-A5F8F467-4E8D-467A-9A40-3B18E18120B4.html
The answer is D Auto Deploy Stateful Installs – This feature allows you to install hosts over the network without setting up a complete PXE boot infrastructure. After the initial network boot, these hosts boot like other hosts on which ESXi is installed. https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2005131
I am in doubt between the B and D. They state streamline initial and future installations. With D its' installed once but then future updates must go manually, but with B stateless caching we just change image and its again booted from auto deploy updated so also future is covered.
Changing to D. Statefull install does the same and it's really "install" not just "cache".