well, unfortunately, changing the host profile rule did nothing... back to square one.
Looking at the syslog the difference between the two hosts is apparent. The successfully autodeployed host finishes like this:
2014-01-27T13:09:22Z ComplianceManager: [2014-01-27 13:09:22,868 vmware.runcommand INFO] runcommand called with: args = '/bin/ticket --generate', outfile = 'None', returnoutput = 'True', timeout = '0.0'.^@
2014-01-27T13:09:22Z 2014-01-27 13: 09:22,880 Host Profiles[37521]: INFO: Created CIM ticket a48629d2-00b3-47d1-b473-159ef87a5e65^@
2014-01-27T13:09:23Z 2014-01-27 13: 09:23,112 Host Profiles[37521]: INFO: Calling GatherData() for profile type MotdProfile^@
2014-01-27T13:09:23Z 2014-01-27 13: 09:23,113 Host Profiles[37521]: INFO: Calling GatherData() for profile type PAMLoginMapProfile^@
2014-01-27T13:10:01Z crond[34338]: crond: USER root pid 37691 cmd /sbin/hostd-probe ++group=host/vim/vmvisor/hostd-probe
2014-01-27T13:10:01Z syslog[37692]: starting hostd probing.
2014-01-27T13:10:02Z syslog[37692]: hostd probing is done.
2014-01-27T13:15:01Z crond[34338]: crond: USER root pid 38443 cmd /sbin/hostd-probe ++group=host/vim/vmvisor/hostd-probe
2014-01-27T13:15:01Z syslog[38444]: starting hostd probing.
2014-01-27T13:15:02Z syslog[38444]: hostd probing is done.
while the unsuccessfull host has messages about the watchdog-fdm pid file not existing, and can't terminate the fdm process...
2014-01-27T12:57:27Z 2014-01-27 12: 57:27,388 Host Profiles[36777]: INFO: Calling GatherData() for profile type MotdProfile^@
2014-01-27T12:57:27Z 2014-01-27 12: 57:27,389 Host Profiles[36777]: INFO: Calling GatherData() for profile type PAMLoginMapProfile^@
2014-01-27T12:57:28Z watchdog-fdm: Watchdog for fdm is now 35691
2014-01-27T12:57:28Z watchdog-fdm: Terminating watchdog process with PID 35691
2014-01-27T12:57:28Z watchdog-fdm: [35691] Signal received: exiting the watchdog
2014-01-27T12:57:30Z watchdog-fdm: PID file /var/run/vmware/watchdog-fdm.PID does not exist
2014-01-27T12:57:30Z watchdog-fdm: Unable to terminate watchdog: No running watchdog process for fdm
2014-01-27T12:57:30Z python: autodeploy notify response -- 200 OK
2014-01-27T12:57:30Z python: autodeploy has been notified
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: GetManagementInterface: Tagging vmk0 as Management
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: SetTaggedManagementInterface: Writing vmk0 to the ManagementIface node
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: NotifyDCUI: Notifying the DCUI of configuration change
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: NotifyDCUI: Skipping DCUI notify, since we are in DCUI
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: GetManagementInterface: Tagging vmk0 as Management
2014-01-27T12:59:03Z DCUI: SetTaggedManagementInterface: Writing vmk0 to the ManagementIface node
2014-01-27T13:00:01Z crond[34343]: crond: USER root pid 37291 cmd /usr/lib/vmware/vmksummary/log-heartbeat.py
2014-01-27T13:00:01Z crond[34343]: crond: USER root pid 37292 cmd /sbin/hostd-probe ++group=host/vim/vmvisor/hostd-probe
2014-01-27T13:00:01Z syslog[37294]: starting hostd probing.
2014-01-27T13:00:02Z syslog[37294]: hostd probing is done.
2014-01-27T13:01:01Z crond[34343]: crond: USER root pid 37447 cmd /sbin/auto-backup.sh
2014-01-27T13:05:01Z crond[34343]: crond: USER root pid 38232 cmd /sbin/hostd-probe ++group=host/vim/vmvisor/hostd-probe
2014-01-27T13:05:01Z syslog[38233]: starting hostd probing.
2014-01-27T13:05:02Z syslog[38233]: hostd probing is done.
2014-01-27T13:10:01Z crond[34343]: crond: USER root pid 39012 cmd /sbin/hostd-probe ++group=host/vim/vmvisor/hostd-probe
2014-01-27T13:10:02Z syslog[39013]: starting hostd probing.
2014-01-27T13:10:02Z syslog[39013]: hostd probing is done.
and it is notifying autodeploy... and I don't see this in the syslog from the good host. But I don't know what it means.
I hvae looked at the autodeploy logs and I can't see any errors there, FDM was added to the imageprofile. so I am guessing that I am getting closer to what the problem might be... but so far I can't seem to find anything that makes this change its behaviour.
Thanks for taking the time to read and think about this! It's a stubborn problem