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Deploy a VM from the template, shut it down gracefully, and create an Abiquo instance (as a backup)
Update the VM (e.g. install a new service pack or security patch), then create another instance template
Promote the new instance to a master template, and change the name to show users that it is a new version. See https://abiquo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/doc/pages/311371382/Manage+VM+templates#Promote-an-instance-to-a-master-template
Copy the new template to the catalogue in each of your datacenters (with Duplicate VM template)
In each datacenter catalogue, share the VM template to your enterprises (with Scopes)
Rename the old VM template or change the description to show users that it is deprecated
Considerations
When you want to update a template, remember:
You can rename and change descriptions of any template (or instance) in the catalogue, even if the template is used by a virtual appliance in the datacenter (deployed or undeployed)
Any user with the appropriate privileges can create an instance of a template, and the instance will be stored in the user’s enterprise
You cannot remove a master template if there is an instance in any enterprise. As a cloud admin user, you will need to impersonate each enterprise and check the repository for instances. Or you can check this directly in the repository file system
You cannot 'un-share' a template if it is being used by any virtual appliance in the datacenter
You can remove a template disk to make the template Unavailable to users. If you later replace the template disk with the same disk, then the template will become Available again
To update the template disk, you also need to update the template definition in Abiquo. You can update a template disk file using the Abiquo UI or API, as described in the documentation. After you update the template disk, users will deploy with the new disk
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Updating VM template disk files
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for the UI method, see https://abiquo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/doc/pages/311378488/Modify+VM+template+disks#Replace-a-template-disk
for the API method, see Upload and replace template disks via API
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Do not change VM template files on the filesystem
Changing the virtual We do not recommend that you change the disks of a VM template on the NFS filesystem, for example, such as by replacing a VMDK file in the NFS repository, is not recommended. This is because you would also need to correctly update fields such as virtualimage.diskFileSize in the underlying Abiquo database. Changes to the Abiquo database are not recommended or supported by Abiquo. The OVF information You may also need to be updated update the OVF information if you change the underlying virtual disk because sometimes this information may be required to maintain platform coherence.
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Considerations when updating VM templates
When you want to update a VM template, remember:
You can rename and change descriptions of any VM template (or instance) in the catalogue, even if the template is used by a virtual appliance in the datacenter (deployed or undeployed)
Any user with the appropriate privileges can create an instance of a template, and the instance will be stored in the user’s enterprise
You cannot remove a master template if there is an instance in any enterprise. As a cloud admin user, you will need to switch to each enterprise and check the repository for instances. Or you can check in the repository file system
You cannot 'un-share' a template if it is being used by any virtual appliance in the datacenter
You can remove a template disk from the filesystem to make the template Unavailable to users. If you later replace the template disk with the exact same disk, then the template will become Available again
You can update a template disk, but you also need to update the template definition in Abiquo. To do this, follow the instructions for the Abiquo UI or API. After you update a template disk, users will deploy VMs with the new disks