7.4

Machine Blueprints
A blueprint that contains a machine component specifies the workflow used to provision a machine and
includes information such as CPU, memory, and storage. Machine blueprints specify the workflow used to
provision a machine and include additional provisioning information such as the locations of required disk
images or virtualization platform objects. Blueprints also specify policies such as the lease period and can
include networking and security components such as security groups, policies, or tags.
A machine blueprint typically refers to a blueprint that contains only one machine component and the
associated security and networking elements. It can be published as a standalone blueprint and made
available to users in the service catalog. However, published machine blueprints also become available
for reuse in your design library, and you can assemble multiple machine blueprints, along with Software
components and XaaS blueprints, to design elaborate application blueprints for delivering catalog items
that include multiple machines, networking and security, software with full life cycle support, and custom
XaaS functionality to your users.
An example of a standalone virtual machine blueprint might be one that specifies a Windows 7 developer
workstation with one CPU, 2 GB of memory, and a 30 GB hard disk. A standalone cloud machine
blueprint might specify a Red Hat Linux web server image in a small instance type with one CPU, 2 GB of
memory, and 160 GB of storage.
Blueprints can be specific to a business group or shared among groups in a tenant, depending on the
entitlements that are configured for the published blueprint .
You can add custom properties to a machine component in a blueprint to specify attributes of a machine
or to override default specifications. You can also add property groups as a convenience for specifying
multiple custom properties.
Machine Leases and Reclamation
Machine lease and reclamation options provides mechanisms for controlling resource use and controlling
prices.
Machine leases provide access to a machine for a limited period.
Deployment reclamation allows you to identify underused resources and reclaim them from their owners.
Machine Leases
A blueprint can optionally define a lease duration for machines provisioned from that blueprint.
If a blueprint does not specify a lease period, machines are provisioned from that blueprint with no
expiration date. If a blueprint specifies a single value for lease duration, machines are provisioned from
that blueprint with an expiration date based on the blueprint lease duration. The expiration date is
calculated from the time of the request, not from when the machine is provisioned.
If a blueprint specifies a range of possible lease durations, a user can select the desired lease duration
within that range when submitting the machine request. Machine requests can be subject to approval
based on the requested lease duration.
Foundations and Concepts
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