Hey everyone! I'm relatively new to VMware and I'm looking for some guidance. I'm about to deploy around 50 VMs running RHEL, with some intended for elastic setups, others for a Yum server, and various other uses. My plan is to install RHEL, set up a local admin, and configure basic partitions including swap and var, then save this setup as a template to streamline the deployment process. I even want to apply patches and STIGs to create a 'golden image.'
Currently, a teammate who knows a lot about RHEL but not so much about VMware suggests starting with a bare VM, just the essentials like cores and RAM, and use an .iso to set everything up. I think my approach may be more effective since we can easily change the hostname, set the IPs, and add more drives later on. Am I on the right track here? What should I be mindful of to avoid any potential issues? I'd appreciate any advice!
2 Answers
Yeah, your plan sounds solid! We actually use something similar, starting with a 'blank' VM template. From there, we can scale it up as needed and utilize Ansible for configuration. The nice thing is that we maintain a consistent base, and it simplifies the process. Just keep in mind that in Linux, starting with a base memory of 4G helps avoid some common issues when adjusting memory dynamically. It's a bit more than what some might expect, but it's worth it to minimize headaches later on.
Your intuition makes sense, and it seems you’ve got a good handle on things. Just for clarity, when you say you're creating a base image, that does include having Linux, the local admin, and partitions set up, right? After you deploy, you can also use Ansible to manage configurations like installing elastic or Yum, and applying STIGs. That way, once your VM is networked and ready, you streamline the rest of the setup. And hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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