vmware host profiles issue and B200 M4's with Cisco flexflash

[Russ Givens]

I'm having an issue with VMware host profiles.  I successfully deploy a stateless installation of ESXi with autodeploy.    I then configure the ESXi host with settings I want to make a host profile from.  I create the host profile that I want to use as a template for all additional ESXi hosts.  I would like to change the additional ESXi hosts from stateless to stateful installations.  That setting is called System Image Cache Configuration in the host profile.  I change this setting to Enable stateful installs on the host.  I don't know what to put in the Arguments for first disk.  The hardware is B200 M4's with the Cisco flexflash.  I'd like to have the stateful install go onto the Cisco flexflash.  I tried using local, usb, CiscoVD, and some other variants in the Arguments for first disk but none of them work. I get the following error when I attempt to remediate - A general system error occurred:  No eligible disk was found with the first disk arguments: usb or local or whatever I've put in the field.

I've done a manual installation on the hardware with the same ISO I'm using for autodeploy and can successfully install ESXi on the flexflash drives.  I'm looking to see if anybody has experience with autodeploy / host profiles and doing the stateful install on the Cisco flexflash.  I opened a case with VMware but haven't gotten much assistance so I thought I'd try here.

Thanks for the help.

[Jon Glennie]

I had the same issue... brand new B200 M4's and this is the first time we tried to use auto deploy with SD cards and no internal disks.  Its confusing because the installer lists the SD card as an acceptable installation location, and when you look at the host later on in vCenter, it lists the HBA and datastore on the SD card.  However, if you auto deploy the hosts, the available storage adapters will show up blank and you won't see a place to add it.  It turns out I had to create a host profile off of the host in question, change the System Image Cache Configuration to "Enable stateful installs to a USB disk on the host", update my auto deploy rule sets to include the host profile, then re-image the host.  After that, stateful installs on the SD card succeeded.  Oh, and don't forget to set the boot policy of the server to use "SD Card" and not local storage... that was another item I overlooked for a while.