ESXi Image Builder CLI can be used to create an Image Profile from scratch. Unlike the GUI method, you are not required to create a custom depot for this activity, since the VMware PowerCLI session becomes the work desk in this case.
Here is how you do it:
- Launch a VMware PowerCLI session.
- Use the Add-SoftwareDepot cmdlet to import an offline bundle. The command requires you to provide the path to an offline depot or the URL of the online repository.
- Use the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet to add all the needed offline bundles to the vSphere PowerCLI session.
- Assign the Get-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet output to an array variable.
- Use the Get-EsxSoftwarePackage cmdlet to generate a list of required software packages.
- Assign the output ...