You must prepare some elements outside of VMware Aria Automation to support provisioning of VMs. To prepare the environment, you must create resources in the vSphere server.

Creating Resources in the vSphere Server

Create the following resources in vSphere:

• VM template

• Distributed port group

• (optional) VM customization specification as described in the below section.

Creating a Customization Specification in the vSphere Server

You need to have a VM template and a customization specification in the VMware vSphere server to create VMs in vSphere using VMware Aria Automation. Customization specifications are XML files containing guest operating system settings for virtual machines. Specifications are handy for defining global features such as the guest OS host’s name, domain name, and other settings in guest operating systems. For more information, refer to Creating and Managing Customization Specifications.
To create a customization specification complete the following steps:

1. In vSphere, from the Menu drop-down list, choose Policies and Profiles.

2. On the VM Customization Specifications page, click New.
   The New VM Customization Specification wizard opens.

3. On the Name and target OS tab, complete the following and click NEXT:

   • Name: Enter a name for the new specification.

   • Target guest OS: Select the guest OS type as Linux.
     If the guest OS is Windows, then select Windows and specify the registration information for the OS in the Owner name and Owner organization fields.

4. On the Computer name tab, complete the following and click NEXT:

   • Use the virtual machine name: Select this option to use the same name for the VM as the guest operating system. This makes locating VMs easier for administrative purposes.

   • Domain Name: Enter the domain name for the VM.

5. For Windows OS only: If the guest OS is Windows and your VM requires licensing information, enter it in the Product key field.

6. Keep the default settings on the Time zone and Customization script tabs and click NEXT.

7. On the Network tab, ensure that Use standard network settings for the guest operating system, including enabling DHCP on all network interfaces is selected.

8. On the DNS settings tab, complete the following and click NEXT:

   1. Primary DNS server: Enter the IP address of the primary DNS server.

   2. DNS Search Paths: Enter the domain name that you created and click ADD.
      An example DNS search path: testrollout.infobloxIPAMdemo.com.

   3. Click NEXT.

9. Click FINISH.
   The vSphere client appears, showing the new customization specification in the table.