Installation guide
Table Of Contents
- vSphere Basic System Administration
- Contents
- Updated Information
- About This Book
- Getting Started
- vSphere Components
- Starting and Stopping the vSphere Components
- Using vCenter Server in Linked Mode
- Linked Mode Prerequisites
- Linked Mode Considerations
- Join a Linked Mode Group After Installation
- Reconciling Roles When Connecting vCenter Server to a Linked Mode Group
- Isolate a vCenter Server Instance from a Linked Mode Group
- Change the Domain of a vCenter Server System in a Linked Mode Group
- Configure the URLs on a Linked Mode vCenter Server System
- Linked Mode Troubleshooting
- Monitor vCenter Server Services
- Using the vSphere Client
- Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server
- Host Configuration
- Configuring vCenter Server
- Access the vCenter Server Settings
- Configuring Communication Among ESX, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Client
- Configure vCenter Server SMTP Mail Settings
- Working with Active Sessions
- SNMP and vSphere
- System Log Files
- Managing the vSphere Client Inventory
- Managing Hosts in vCenter Server
- Virtual Machine Management
- Consolidating the Datacenter
- Consolidation First Time Use
- Consolidation Prerequisites
- About Consolidation Services
- Configuring Consolidation Settings
- Find and Analyze Physical Systems
- Viewing Analysis Results
- Converting Physical Systems to Virtual Machines
- Viewing Consolidation Tasks
- Troubleshooting Consolidation
- Negative Impact on vCenter Server Performance
- Windows Systems Not Discovered
- Windows Operating Systems Prevent Guided Consolidation from Collecting Performance Data
- Available Domains List Remains Empty
- Guided Consolidation Erroneously Reports Analysis Disabled
- Disable Guided Consolidation
- Uninstall Guided Consolidation
- Deploying OVF Templates
- Managing VMware vApp
- Creating Virtual Machines
- Access the New Virtual Machine Wizard
- Select a Path Through the New Virtual Machine Wizard
- Enter a Name and Location
- Select a Resource Pool
- Select a Datastore
- Select a Virtual Machine Version
- Select an Operating System
- Select the Number of Virtual Processors
- Configure Virtual Memory
- Configure Networks
- About VMware Paravirtual SCSI Adapters
- Select a SCSI Adapter
- Selecting a Virtual Disk Type
- Complete Virtual Machine Creation
- Installing a Guest Operating System
- Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools
- Install VMware Tools on a Windows Guest
- Install VMware Tools on a Linux Guest from the X Window System
- Install or Upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the tar Installer
- Install or Upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the RPM Installer
- Install VMware Tools on a Solaris Guest
- Install VMware Tools on a NetWare Guest
- Display the VMware Tools Properties Dialog Box
- VMware Tools Upgrades
- Upgrade VMware Tools Manually
- Configure Virtual Machines to Automatically Upgrade VMware Tools
- Custom VMware Tools Installation
- WYSE Multimedia Support
- Managing Virtual Machines
- Changing Virtual Machine Power States
- Transitional Power States
- Automatically Start or Shutdown Virtual Machines with Host Start or Shutdown
- Configure vSphere Toolbar Power Controls
- Power On or Power Off a Virtual Machine Manually
- Suspend a Virtual Machine
- Resume a Suspended Virtual Machine
- Scheduling a Power State Change for a Virtual Machine
- Adding and Removing Virtual Machines
- Configure Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Behavior
- Changing Virtual Machine Power States
- Virtual Machine Configuration
- Virtual Machine Hardware Versions
- Virtual Machine Properties Editor
- Edit an Existing Virtual Machine Configuration
- Virtual Machine Hardware Configuration
- Change the Video Card Configuration
- Change the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Configuration
- Change the Floppy Drive Configuration
- Change the SCSI Device Configuration
- Change the Virtual Disk Configuration
- Change the Memory Configuration
- Change the Virtual Ethernet Adapter (NIC) Configuration
- Change the Parallel Port Configuration
- Change the SCSI Controller or SCSI Bus Sharing Configuration
- Change the Serial Port Configuration
- Change the Virtual Processor or CPU Configuration
- Virtual Machine Options
- Virtual Machine Resource Settings
- Adding New Hardware
- Rescan a Host
- Start the Add Hardware Wizard
- Add a Serial Port to a Virtual Machine
- Add a Parallel Port to a Virtual Machine
- Add a DVD/CD-ROM Drive to a Virtual Machine
- Add a Floppy Drive to a Virtual Machine
- Add an Ethernet Adapter (NIC) to a Virtual Machine
- Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine
- Add a SCSI Device to a Virtual Machine
- Add a PCI Device
- Add a Paravirtualized SCSI Adapter
- Converting Virtual Disks from Thin to Thick
- Working with Templates and Clones
- Customizing Guest Operating Systems
- Preparing for Guest Customization
- Customize Windows During Cloning or Deployment
- Customize Linux During Cloning or Deployment
- Create a Customization Specification for Linux
- Create a Customization Specification for Windows
- Managing Customization Specification
- Completing a Guest Operating System Customization
- Migrating Virtual Machines
- Cold Migration
- Migrating a Suspended Virtual Machine
- Migration with VMotion
- Host Configuration for VMotion
- CPU Compatibility and Migration
- Virtual Machine Configuration Requirements for VMotion
- Migrating Virtual Machines with Snapshots
- Migration with Storage VMotion
- Migrate a Powered-Off or Suspended Virtual Machine
- Migrate a Powered-On Virtual Machine with VMotion
- Migrate a Virtual Machine with Storage VMotion
- Storage VMotion Command-Line Syntax
- Using Snapshots
- Consolidating the Datacenter
- System Administration
- Managing Users, Groups, Roles, and Permissions
- Managing vSphere Users
- Groups
- Removing or Modifying Users and Groups
- Best Practices for Users and Groups
- Using Roles to Assign Privileges
- Permissions
- Best Practices for Roles and Permissions
- Required Privileges for Common Tasks
- Monitoring Storage Resources
- Using vCenter Maps
- Working with Alarms
- Working with Performance Statistics
- Working with Tasks and Events
- Managing Users, Groups, Roles, and Permissions
- Appendixes
- Defined Privileges
- Alarms
- Datacenter
- Datastore
- Distributed Virtual Port Group
- Distributed Virtual Switch
- Extensions
- Folders
- Global
- Host CIM
- Host Configuration
- Host Inventory
- Host Local Operations
- Host Profile
- Network
- Performance
- Permissions
- Resource
- Scheduled Task
- Sessions
- Tasks
- vApp
- Virtual Machine Configuration
- Virtual Machine Interaction
- Virtual Machine Inventory
- Virtual Machine Provisioning
- Virtual Machine State
- Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools
- Performance Metrics
- Defined Privileges
- Index
Deploying OVF Templates 9
The VMware vSphere Client (vSphere Client) allows you to import and export virtual machines, virtual
appliances, and vApps stored in Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF). An appliance is a pre-configured virtual
machine that typically includes a preinstalled guest operating system and other software.
Deploying an OVF template allows you to add pre-configured virtual machines to your vCenter Server or
ESX/ESXi inventory. Deploying an OVF template is similar to deploying a virtual machine from a template.
However, you can deploy an OVF template from any local file system accessible from the vSphere Client
machine, or from a remote web server. The local file systems can include local disks (such as C:), removable
media (such as CDs or USB keychain drives), and shared network drives.
Exporting OVF templates allows you to create virtual appliances that can be imported by other users. You can
use the export function to distribute pre-installed software as a virtual appliance, or as a means of distributing
template virtual machines to users, including users who cannot directly access and use the templates in your
vCenter Server inventory.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“About OVF,” on page 101
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“Deploy an OVF Template,” on page 101
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“Browse VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace,” on page 103
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“Export an OVF Template,” on page 103
About OVF
OVF is a file format that allows for exchange of virtual appliances across products and platforms.
The OVF format offers the following advantages:
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OVF files are compressed, allowing for faster downloads.
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The vSphere Client validates an OVF file before importing it, and ensures that it is compatible with the
intended destination server. If the appliance is incompatible with the selected host, it cannot be imported
and an error message appears.
Deploy an OVF Template
You can deploy an OVF template from a local file system accessible to the vSphere Client machine, or from a
web URL.
NOTE To import a virtual machine that was created by another VMware product and is not in OVF format,
use the VMware vCenter Converter module. See the VMware Converter Enterprise for vCenter Server
documentation for more information.
VMware, Inc.
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