Host Profile

What is Host Profile ?

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 more than one host or cluster in vCenter Server.

Host profiles eliminates per-host, manual, or UI-based host configuration and maintains configuration consistency and correctness across the datacenter by using host profile policies. These policies capture the  blueprint of a known, validated reference host configuration and use this to configure networking, storage, security, and other settings on multiple hosts or clusters. You can then check a host or cluster against a profile’s configuration for any deviations.

How to Use Host Profile ?

You perform host profiles tasks in a certain workflow order.

You must have an existing vSphere installation with at least one properly configured host.

•  Set up and configure the host that will be used as the reference host.
•  A reference host is the host from which the profile is created.
• Create a profile using the designated reference host.
• Attach a host or cluster to the profile.
• Check the host's compliance to the reference host's profile. If all hosts are compliant with the  reference host, they are correctly configured.
• Apply the host profile of the reference host to other hosts or clusters of hosts (Host need to be in maintenance mode to apply the profile).

Note:- Using host profiles is only supported for VMware vSphere 4.0 hosts or later

Creating a Host Profile

You create a new host profile by using the designated reference host's configuration.

A host profile can be created from:

•  Host Profile main view
•  Host's context menu

Create a Host Profile from Host Profiles View

You can create a host profile from the Host Profiles main view using the configuration of an existing host.

Prerequisites

You must have a vSphere installation and at least one properly configured host in the inventory.

Procedure

1 In the Host Profiles main view, click Create Profile.The Create Profile wizard appears.

2 Select the option to create a new profile and click Next.

3 Select the host you want to designate as the reference host for the new host profile and click Next.

   The reference host must be a valid host.

4 Type the name and enter a description for the new profile and click Next.

5 Review the summary information for the new profile and click Finish to complete creating the     

  profile. The new profile appears in the profile list.

  

Create a Host Profile from Host

You can create a new host profile from the host's context menu in the Hosts and Clusters inventory view.

Prerequisites

You must have a vSphere installation and at least one properly configured host in the inventory.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host that you want to designate as the reference host for   

   the new host profile. The host must be a valid host to use as a reference host.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Create Profile from Host

    The Create Profile from Host wizard opens.

3 Type the name and enter a description for the new profile and click Next.

4 Review the summary information for the new profile and click Finish to complete creating the     

    profile. The new profile appears in the host's Summary tab.

Attach Profiles from the Host

Before you can apply the profile to a host you need to attach the host to the profile or the profile to the host. You can attach a profile to a host from the host's context menu in the Hosts and Clusters inventory view. When a host profile is attached to a cluster, the host or hosts within that cluster are also attached to the host profile. However, when the host profile is detached from the cluster, the association between the host or host within the cluster and that host profile remain.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host to which you want to attach a profile.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Manage Profile.

   NOTE   If no host profiles exist in your inventory, a dialog appears asking if you want to create   
   and attach the host to this profile.

3 In the Attach Profile dialog, select the profile to attach to the host and click OK.

   The host profile is updated in the Summary tab of the host.

Apply a Profile from the Host

You can apply a profile to a host from the host's context menu.

Prerequisites

The host must be in maintenance mode before a profile is applied to it.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host to which you want to apply a profile.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Apply Profile.

3 In the Profile Editor, enter the parameters and click Next.

4 Continue until all the required parameters are entered.

5 Click Finish.

Compliance Status is updated.

For more details:-
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-host-profiles-guide.pdf