Help me understand Windows Cloning and Custom Specs

[awjudge]

Hi,

I've been doing a bunch of reading, and it seems that the more I read, the more confused I get...

I need to build a Win2012 and Win2008 template for deployment via vCAC.

From the documentation, it seems that you need to set a Customisation Specification for this to work, is that correct?

How much of the customisation of the VM can be done via the VCAC custom properties, what is the mechanism by which vCAC hooks into the custom spec?

Finally, are custom specs optional, or do you have to specify one?

Confused I am...

[willonit]

vCAC's custom properties do not really do anything to customize the VM when it is cloned unless you create something in orchestrator to use them. If you would normally use a custom spec when cloning in vCenter to sysprep the VM, set IP, add to domain, run a script, etc. then you should use it in vCAC. If you elect to do those steps manually then a custom spec is not required. How vCAC uses the custom spec is just how you would use it doing a manual clone in vCenter. vCAC preforms the clone then boots the VM at which point the custom spec is applied.

[awjudge]

Thanks for the reply.

So if I wanted to have vCAC set the IP address of the VM, from a Network Profile, is that not possible if I use a Custom Spec?

Can I clone a VM from vCenter without using a Custom Spec, and just use vCAC properties to get the same result as a Custom Spec?

[stvkpln · Accepted solution]

vCAC properties are not going to take hold within the operating system. Using your network profiles, the profile will provision all of the relevant information into custom properties within vCAC, but vCAC itself will not initiate (for Windows) the sysprep action to set the IP address within the VM at time of provisioning.. it will, however, passthrough those network variables to the customization spec so that the IP address gets set on the VM during sysprep.

So, no, you still need to have a customization specification setup if you want more than a simple clone operation to occur.. Unless you're going to use other means to perform those post-provisioning actions. They won't magically occur on their own.