2.4

Table Of Contents
VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
46 VMware, Inc.
About Templates
Atemplateisavirtualmachineimageloadedwithanoperatingsystem,applications
anddata.Youcanthinkofatemplateasarawvirtualmachine.
Onceyou“publish”atemplate(makeitavailabletothepublic),youcanlaythe
foundationformultimachineconfigurationswithoutthetimeconsumingprocessof
reinstallingsoftwareorperformingsetuptasksagain.Theuseoftemplatesensuresthat
virtualmachinesareconsistentlyconfiguredwithoperatingsystems,versions,system
packs,andmoreacrossanentireorganization.
VMwarerecommendsinstallingLMToolsontemplates.LMToolsisafeaturewhich
allowsLabManagertoautomaticallyconfigurenetworksettings
(IPaddress,MAC
address,SecurityIdentifier,andmore)forvirtualmachines.Thesetoolssaveyouthe
troubleofmanuallyconfiguringthesettings.See“InstallingLMTools”onpage 58for
moreinformation.
Accessing the Templates Page
UsetheTemplateslinkintheleftpanetoaccesstheTemplatespage.
Figure 4-1. Templates Page
Thepageincludesthesehighlights:
TemplatesViewthetemplates,status,owner,andotherdetailsonthispage.
WhiterowsreflectdeployedtemplatesontheManagedServerpool.