v1.2.0 — The image is taken from a host before the enable

The first ESXi 8 cluster behind a 9.1.1 vCenter, continued: the cluster had been created before its hosts joined, so it had no vLCM image - nothing was in the inventory to seed it from - and the VCF import refuses a baseline-managed cluster.

deploy_vc.py's image step now sets the desired image before the one-way enable, from a host already in the cluster, over the documented calls behind Setup Image > Import image from a host: the depot import from the host, the specification it returns as a draft, the commit, then the enablement check and the enable. The desired image is what the hosts run, so nothing is non-compliant and nothing is remediated; the specification is kept as evidence. The objects step seeds a fresh vCenter's first cluster from the site's first host, which joins the cluster as it is created. cluster.image_seed_from: auto (the default), a host name, or none. 289 self-test checks; the conversion sequence is exercised call by call against a stubbed REST side, and the plan sends nothing.

Built and proved out for essential.coach.
Full write-up: https://essential.coach/importing-esxi-8-into-vcf-9-1/

GPL-3.0. Example names only. Nothing secret is printed.