9.3. Managing Templates Storage¶
You may want to list the virtual environment templates that are currently available on any of the physical servers registered in Virtuozzo Automator. The whole list of the virtual environment templates present on your physical servers is given in the Templates table on the Templates page:
Column |
Description |
|---|---|
Name |
The name of the virtual environment template. It can be a container or a virtual machine template. |
VT |
The physical server virtualization technology. |
OS |
The operating system icon the template is based on. |
VT Arch |
Virtualization Architecture. The microprocessor architecture of the physical server where the template is stored. |
Description |
The explanatory text intended to help users understand the virtual environment template purpose or to provide additional information on it. |
Operating System |
The detailed description of the operating system type and version the template is based on. |
Size |
The size of the template. |
Status |
The availability of the status, i.e. whether it is online or offline. |
To add or remove any of the columns, use the Select Columns button above the table.
The Search section comprises four fields: VT, Name, OS, and Description. This allows you to search the templates according to any of these parameters. If you use only some of these fields, you can add or remove them according to your needs with the help of the Customize button. If you do no need the search section at all, just hide it with the Hide Search button above the table. To restore the Search section, click the Show Search button that appears on the place of the Hide Search one.
To edit a template, click its name in the Name column.
The toolbar buttons on this screen let you quickly perform the following operations:
To create a new template, click New and select template.
To create a new template by dividing the physical server resources by a specified number of virtual environments, click the Split Hardware Node link.
To delete those templates that are not needed any more, select the check boxes next to the corresponding templates and click Delete.
Setting Up a Virtual Machine Storage
To create a global template of a virtual machine, you should first register a VM Templates Storage. Thus the system will know where to place the hard disk image file and other files of the resulting virtual machine templates. If you use Virtuozzo Automator console to place a VM template to the Templates Storage, it is added to the Templates List on this page. If you add a VM template manually, you will need to synchronize the Storage contents and the Templates list.
The container template, being a configuration file, does not necessarily need a registered Template Storage.
The VM Templates Storage table enables you to perform the following actions:
Operation Name |
Description |
|---|---|
Configure |
Click this link to register an external VM template storage in Virtuozzo Automator. |
Check Status |
Click this link to check whether the storage is online or not. |
Synchronize |
Click this link to refresh the storage content in Virtuozzo Automator. |
Unregister |
Click this link to unregister the external storage from Virtuozzo Automator. |
9.3.1. Setting Up an External Templates Storage¶
The Setup page enables you to register a physical server a new template storage where you can store the template-related files.
You should fill in the following information to register a storage:
Network Path. Specify the path to the Samba share storage.
Login Name. Specify the valid login name to the Samba share storage.
Login Password. Specify the correct password to the Samba share storage.
When finished, click Save to complete registration.
9.3.2. Creating Template Initial Configuration¶
If you are not satisfied with the container templates shipped with the Virtuozzo software or want to have virtual machine templates storage, you can create your own templates. Virtuozzo Automator provides a special wizard for creating virtual environment templates. The New Template wizard will guide you through the process and gather all the necessary information. To launch the wizard, click the Template link on the Virtuozzo Automator left menu, then click the New template link on the Template screen.
The first page of the New template wizard enables you to define the main parameters for the virtual environment template being created.
Use an existing Template for initial configuration. Choose one of the virtual environment templates currently existing in the Templates library to create a new template on its basis. In this case, the new virtual environment template will inherit all the properties of the template selected on the drop-down menu.
Create a new Template from scratch. From the drop-down list, choose what technology your template will belong to: containers or virtual machines.
Note
New virtual machine template, created from scratch, consists of resource preferences and does not have operating system in it.
Use an existing Virtual Environment for initial configuration. Choose among the existing virtual environments the one to copy its resources configuration settings to the template being created. Click the small folder icon next to the Virtual Environment field and select a virtual environment from a new window. The resource parameters configuration page presented next for adjustment will feature the resource parameters values from the chosen virtual environment.
To proceed with the template creation, click Next.
If you have chosen to create a Virtuozzo container template, you will see the Create New template wizard for a container template (see Defining Container Template General Settings in Creating Container Templates). If you have chosen to create a virtual machine template, you will pass on to the New Template: General Settings wizard for virtual machines (see Defining Template General Settings When Creating Virtual Machine Templates in Creating Virtual Machine Templates).