Image Profile – a logical container representing an ESXi image ultimately consisting of a base and other VIBs.

VIB – this is the software packaging format used by VMware and 3 rd party providers that write software for ESXi.

īefore moving, let me go over the various components we will be working with while using Image Builder. You should now see the Auto Deploy icon displayed on the Home screen. Once you make sure that both services are running, log off and log in back again using the vSphere client. Starting the Auto Deploy and ImageBuilder services in vSphere Web Client Select both services (4), one at a time, and click on the play button (5) to start them. Click on System Configuration and then select Services. Using the vSphere Web client, select Administration (2) from the Home (1) menu. To start using Image Builder, and Auto Deploy for that matter, we need to enable the Auto Deploy and ImageBuilder services. You’ll also be needing an ESXi 6.5 ISO image and this conversion tool, the use of which I’ll explain later in the post. The tool is accessed via the vSphere Web client. The Image Builder component is part of vCenter Server 6.5.

Since I mentioned Auto Deploy, do have a look at the Testing ESXi Auto Deploy in a nested environment post if you’re interested in learning how to test this feature. We like to do things the easy way, so in today’s post, I’ll show how to use the Image Builder tool to customize your ESXi image. The alternative is to install the basic ESXi and update each host individually at a later stage using Update Manager or manually.

The ideal course of action is to take your existing ESXi 6.5 ISO image and add to it the latest patches, updates, and drivers released to date.

Consider the case where you need to deploy ESXi to 10 new servers. Starting with vSphere 6.5, it is now possible to customize ESXi ISO images for deployment using Auto Deploy or any other provisioning method.

Vmware image builder