Virtual Images

Overview

The Virtual Image section displays a list of all images, local and synced, that are available to deploy. HPE VM Essentials includes a rich catalog of pre-configured default images for HPE VME clusters or for VMware vCenter Cloud targets as well. User Images are automatically synced from Cloud Integrations and added to the Virtual Images section. Images can also be uploaded directly into HPE VM Essentials via local file or url. Understanding the process of prepping images for consumption in HPE VM Essentials is a very important step toward building an effective HPE VM Essentials environment.

Tip

HPE VM Essentials includes a wide catalog of system image types as examples to show how the product can be used and to give users a starting point for implementing their own library. The included images are not intended to be production-ready images. HPE VM Essentials always recommends its users create their own gold images which meet their required specifications.

Important

Invalid Image Settings cause provisioning failures. HPE VM Essentials syncs in as much metadata as possible for synced images, but additional configuration may be needed to ensure successful provisioning.

Warning

Cloud-init is enabled by default for all Linux images. If your Linux image does not have Cloud-init installed, Cloud-init Enabled must be unchecked before provisioning the image or it will fail immediately.

Configuring Virtual Images

System Images

System Virtual Images are pre-configured with metadata and have Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init installed. These images are ready to be provisioned with no configuration necessary, however it is required to populate Administration > Settings > Provisioning, Cloud-Init section, with user data as well as User Profile(s) users data when creating additional users prior to provisioning, as the user data from these sections is required when provisioning System provided Virtual Images.

Note

System Images settings are not editable.

User Images

Typically HPE VM Essentials does not have sufficient metatdata to successfully provision synced User Images with no additional configuration. After integrating Clouds and User Images have synced, it is highly recommended to configure the images prior to provisioning.

To edit and configure an existing Virtual Image:

  1. Select the pencil icon at the right of any row on the Virtual Images list page, or click EDIT on a Virtual Image detail page.

  2. Configure the following on the Image:

    Name

    Name of the Virtual Image in HPE VM Essentials. This can be changed from the name of the image, but editing will not change the name of the actual image

    Operating System

    Specifies the platform and OS of the image. All Windows images will need to have the operating system specified on the Virtual Image, as HPE VM Essentials will assign Linux as the platform for all images without an operating system specified

    Minimum Memory

    The Minimum Memory setting will filter available Service Plan options during provisioning. Service Plans that do not meet the minimum value set on the Virtual Image will not be provided as Service Plan choices

    Cloud Init Enabled?

    On by default, uncheck for any Image that does not have Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init installed

    Install Agent?

    On by default, uncheck to skip Agent install. Note this will result in the loss of utilization statistics, logs, script execution, and monitoring. (Some utilization stats are still collected for Agent-less hosts and VMs depending on the cloud)

    Username

    Existing username on the image. This is required for authentication, unless HPE VM Essentials is able to add user data, Cloud-Init, Cloudbase-Init or Guest Customizations. If Cloud-Init, Cloudbase-Init or Guest Customizations are used, credentials are defined in Administration > Settings > Provisioning and User Settings. If credentials are defined on the image and Cloud-Init is enabled, HPE VM Essentials will add that user during provisioning, so ensure that user does not already exist on the image (such as root). For Windows Guest Customizations, HPE VM Essentials will set the Administrator password to what is defined on the image if Administrator user is defined. Do not define any other user than Administrator for Windows Images unless using Cloudbase-init. HPE VM Essentials recommends running Guest Customizations for all Windows Images, which is required when joining Domains as the SID will change

    Password

    Password for the user on the image if username is populated

    Bucket

    Location where the Virtual Image will be stored. Default Virtual Image Storage location is /var/opt/morpheus/morpheus-ui/vms. Additional Storage Providers can be configured in Infrastructure > Storage

    Cloud-Init User Data

    Accepts what would go in runcmd and can assume Bash syntax. Example use: Script to configure satellite registration at provision time

    Create Image ID

    Select FILE to browse locally for an image or drop an image file into the dropzone. Alternatively, select URL to download the image from an accessible URL. It is recommend to configure the rest of the settings below prior to uploading the source Image File(s)

    Permissions

    Set Tenant permissions in a multi-tenant HPE VM Essentials environment. Select private visibility and select specific Tenants to which the Virtual Image will be made available. Select public visibility to share the Virtual Image with all Tenants

    Auto Join Domain?

    Enable to have Instances provisioned with this image auto-join configured domains (Windows only, domain controller must be configured in Infrastructure > Network and the configured domain set on the provisioned to Cloud or Network)

    VirtIO Drivers Loaded?

    Enable if VirtIO Drivers are installed on the image for provisioning to KVM-based hypervisors

    FIPS Compliant Image?

    When selected, HPE VM Essentials will install the FIPS-compliant HPE VM Essentials Agent package

    VM Tools Installed?

    On by default, uncheck if VMware Tools (including OpenVMTools) are not installed on the Virtual Image. HPE VM Essentials will skip network wait during provisioning when deselected

    Force Guest Customization?

    VMware only, forces guest customizations to run during provisioning, typically when provisioning to a DHCP network where guest customizations would not run by default. This options requires that VMware Tools is installed on the image

    Trial Version

    Enable to automatically re-arm the expiration on Windows Trial Images during provisioning

    Enabled Sysprep?

    Applicable to VMware vCenter Clouds. Enable if the Windows Image has been sysprepped. If enabled, HPE VM Essentials will inject unattend.xml

  1. Click Save Changes

Note

Cloud-Init is enabled by default on all images. Images without Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init installed must have the cloud-init flag disabled on the Virtual Image setting or Provisioning may fail.

Provisioning Images

When provisioning a system image, HPE VM Essentials will stream the image from Amazon S3 to the target Cloud if the image is not local to the Cloud.

When using images that already exist in the destination Cloud, such as synced or previously copied images, no image stream from S3 through the HPE VM Essentials Appliance to the destination cloud will take place.

Note

The HPE VM Essentials Appliance must be able to download from Amazon S3 when provisioning system images.

Note

The HPE VM Essentials Appliance must be able reach and resolve the destination Host when provisioning System Images or uploaded Images for the first time. This included being able to resolve ESXi host names in VMware vCenter clouds, and reach the destination ESXi host over port 443.

Add Virtual Image

Virtual Images can be uploaded to HPE VM Essentials from local files or URLs.

Warning

Be conscious of your Storage Provider selection. The default Storage Provider is the HPE VM Essentials Appliance at /var/opt/morpheus/morpheus-ui/vms. Uploading large images to the HPE VM Essentials Appliance when there is inadequate space will cause upload failures and impact Appliance functionality. Ensure there is adequate space on your selected Storage Provider. Additional Storage Provider can be added at Infrastructure > Storage, which can be configured as the default Virtual Image Store or selected when uploading Images.

Note

VMware-type OVF Virtual Images do not support mounted ISO uploads

To Add Virtual Image:

  1. Select + Add in the Virtual Images page.

  2. Select Image format:

    • ISO

    • QCOW2

    • RAW

    • VMware (vmdk/ovf/ova)

  3. Configure the following on the Virtual Image:

Name

Name of the Virtual Image in HPE VM Essentials. This can be changed from the name of the image, but editing will not change the name of the actual image

Operating System

Specifies the platform and OS of the image. All Windows images will need to have the operating system specified on the Virtual Image, as HPE VM Essentials will assign Linux as the platform for all images without an operating system specified

Minimum Memory

The Minimum Memory setting will filter available Service Plan options during provisioning. Service Plans that do not meet the minimum value set on the Virtual Image will not be provided as Service Plan choices

Cloud Init Enabled?

On by default, uncheck for any Image that does not have Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init installed

Install Agent?

On by default, uncheck to skip Agent install. Note this will result in the loss of utilization statistics, logs, script execution, and monitoring. (Some utilization stats are still collected for Agent-less hosts and VMs depending on the cloud)

Username

Existing username on the image. This is required for authentication, unless HPE VM Essentials is able to add user data, Cloud-Init, Cloudbase-Init or Guest Customizations. If Cloud-Init, Cloudbase-Init or Guest Customizations are used, credentials are defined in Administration > Settings > Provisioning and User Settings. If credentials are defined on the image and Cloud-Init is enabled, HPE VM Essentials will add that user during provisioning, so ensure that user does not already exist on the image (such as root). For Windows Guest Customizations, HPE VM Essentials will set the Administrator password to what is defined on the image if Administrator user is defined. Do not define any other user than Administrator for Windows Images unless using Cloudbase-init. HPE VM Essentials recommends running Guest Customizations for all Windows Images, which is required when joining Domains as the SID will change

Password

Password for the user on the image if username is populated

Bucket

Location where the Virtual Image will be stored. Default Virtual Image Storage location is /var/opt/morpheus/morpheus-ui/vms. Additional Storage Providers can be configured in Infrastructure > Storage

Cloud-Init User Data

Accepts what would go in runcmd and can assume Bash syntax. Example use: Script to configure satellite registration at provision time

Create Image ID

Select FILE to browse locally for an image or drop an image file into the dropzone. Alternatively, select URL to download the image from an accessible URL. It is recommend to configure the rest of the settings below prior to uploading the source Image File(s)

Permissions

Set Tenant permissions in a multi-tenant HPE VM Essentials environment. Select private visibility and select specific Tenants to which the Virtual Image will be made available. Select public visibility to share the Virtual Image with all Tenants

Auto Join Domain?

Enable to have Instances provisioned with this image auto-join configured domains (Windows only, domain controller must be configured in Infrastructure > Network and the configured domain set on the provisioned to Cloud or Network)

VirtIO Drivers Loaded?

Enable if VirtIO Drivers are installed on the image for provisioning to KVM-based hypervisors

FIPS Compliant Image?

When selected, HPE VM Essentials will install the FIPS-compliant HPE VM Essentials Agent package

VM Tools Installed?

On by default, uncheck if VMware Tools (including OpenVMTools) are not installed on the Virtual Image. HPE VM Essentials will skip network wait during provisioning when deselected

Force Guest Customization?

VMware only, forces guest customizations to run during provisioning, typically when provisioning to a DHCP network where guest customizations would not run by default. This options requires that VMware Tools is installed on the image

Trial Version

Enable to automatically re-arm the expiration on Windows Trial Images during provisioning

Enabled Sysprep?

Applicable to VMware vCenter Clouds. Enable if the Windows Image has been sysprepped. If enabled, HPE VM Essentials will inject unattend.xml

Note

Default Storage location is /var/opt/morpheus/morpheus-ui/vms. Additional Storage Providers can be configured in Infrastructure > Storage. Ensure local folders are owned by morpheus-app.morpheus-app if used.

Warning

Provisioning will fail if Cloud init Enabled is checked and Cloud-Init is not installed on the Image.

Note

Existing Image credentials are required for Linux Images that are not Cloud-Init enabled and for Windows Images when Guest Customizations are not used. Cloud-Init and Windows user settings need to be configured in Administration > Settings > Provisioning when using Cloud-Init or Guest Customizations and new credentials are not set on the Virtual Image.

  1. Upload Image
    Images can be uploaded by File or URL:
    File

    Drag and Drop the image file, or select Add File to select the image file.

    Url

    Select the URL radio button, and enter URL of the Image.

    Note

    The Virtual Image configuration can be saved when using a URL and the upload will finish in the background. When selecting/drag and dropping a file, the image files must upload completely before saving the Virtual Image record or the Image will not be valid.

  2. Save Changes.

VMware - VM Templates Copies

In a VMware environment, you may have a single VM template that you use across different vCenters. Uploading an image to HPE VM Essentials, mentioned in the Add Virtual Image section, is one method to solve this. Alternatively, an organization may decide to create a VM template in one vCenter and then transfer it to other vCenters, which then could be synced into HPE VM Essentials.

If all the vCenters are added as Clouds into HPE VM Essentials and the templates are named the same in each vCenter, they will be aggregated under a single virtual image in HPE VM Essentials. This means that as you deploy to the various vCenter Clouds in HPE VM Essentials using this virtual image, it will choose the correct VM template to use based on the Cloud deployed to.

HPE VM Essentials supports VMware Content Libraries storing VM templates and syncing into HPE VM Essentials, the same as a template in a folder. Additionally, the Content Library can be used to house the same template in multiple libraries. If they have the same name, these templates will be aggregated under a single virtual image. If the Content Library is stored on a datastore that the target host/cluster has access to, it will use that library first, to reduce the cloning time. If the Content Library is not stored in a datastore accessible by the cluster/host, a copy of the VM template will be performed to the target host/cluster instead.

Note

VM templates are a Datacenter level object. The same process above applies to a single VMware cloud with multiple logical datacenters. It will not apply to clusters, as a template is not associated with a cluster, only when it is converted to a VM.