For a solution to integrate with ESX Agent Manager, it must register with vCenter Server as an extension, and create an ESX agency that defines the configuration of the solution and the ESX agents that the solution deploys.
ESX agencies encapsulate the ESX agents that they deploy from a solution. When you create an ESX agency, you must provide configuration information that the solution applies to the individual ESX agents that it deploys.
You must set the scope of the ESX agents that the agency defines and the ESX agency goal state. You provide a URL to an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) file that defines the ESX agent virtual machines. You also provide a URL to an optional vSphere installation bundle (VIB) that provides a function that extends an ESXi host, for example, a VMkernel module or a custom ESXi server application. Finally, you provide optional configuration instructions for integrating ESX agents with DvFilter virtual switches.
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| When you create an ESX agency, you must define the scope of the agency. You define the scope of an ESX agent in terms of compute resources, namely standalone hosts or clusters. |
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| When you create an ESX agency, you define a goal state for that ESX agency. The goal state of an ESX agency defines the state in which all the ESX agents in that ESX agency should be when the solution is running correctly. |
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| When you create an agency, you define the goal state of the ESX agents that the agency contains. The status of an ESX agency reflects the situation of the ESX agency in relation to its goal state. |
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| When a solution updates its ESX agency scope, ESX Agent Manager provisions new ESX agents on new hosts and removes ESX agents from hosts that are no longer in the scope. |