Upload OVA templates from the local filesystem

This section describes how to upload an OVA file from a local file system to create a VM template in the catalogue.
If your file is very large, you may prefer to save it directly to the VM repository or use the AM API, see Appliance manager template API upload and download

The enterprise you are working in when you upload and save the VM template will be the owner of the VM template.

Privileges: Upload virtual machine template

Before you begin, check these requirements:

Abiquo reads OVA files created with VMware and from the VM marketplace. See also Export an OVA from ESXi vSphere 7 with OVF tool
The file name must have the .ova extension and it must contain an OVF file
The OVA must have a single VM (virtual system)
Abiquo uses the Name tag in the VirtualSystem as the template name. If the Name is not set, the platform uses the ID. The template name will be the default name for VMs that users create from this template
To deploy a VM from an OVA with parameters, the template must have guest tools. See Deploy a VM from an OVA with parameters

If you do not have any hypervisors, the platform will convert the template into ALL possible hypervisor formats. So add your hypervisors first, to reduce use of the NFS repository space.

To add a new template from an OVA file

Go to Catalogue
In the Private cloud section, select the datacenter
On the Virtual machine templates tab, at the bottom of the templates panel, click the + add button
Select Create from OVA file
Create a template from an OVA file
Click Select file and browse for the file.
Browse for an OVA file on your local filesystem

Abiquo will display the File name.
Click Save. Abiquo will upload the file and create the template. When Abiquo has created the template, it will open the Edit template dialog

Basic steps to configure a VM template

Here is a brief description of some initial steps to edit a VM template:

On the Disks tab, you can add an extra empty hard disk for your application data.
To add OVA parameters to all VMs, add them on the Variables tab. See Deploy a VM from an OVA with parameters.
On the Advanced tab, if your VM template requires UEFI boot, select the checkbox. If you are not sure, check with your system administrator because a UEFI VM will not boot without this configuration
For the User, enter the default user for the template
For the Password, enter the default password of the user on the VM template
Check and select the Operating system and if required, the OS version. For more details see Set the guest operating system for VMware
Click Save

Advanced VM template configuration

To use advanced VM configuration with cloud_init or guest tools:

Install cloud_init (or cloudbase_init) or VMware guest tools on your VM template
Follow the steps on the page for your tool:
- Prepare for guest setup with cloud-init or similar
- Prepare for guest setup with hypervisor tools

For a diagram and comparison of these features, see Guest setup

Related links

For general information about Abiquo templates, see Catalogue view
Upload an ISO disk from the local filesystem
Upload a template disk from the local filesystem for a single file.
For Abiquo OVF file specifications, see OVF reference
For Abiquo disk compatibility, see Template compatibility table
To upload or download templates, the AM remote service must use HTTPS, which means that you must also configure certificates on the Remote services server. See Configure Abiquo Tomcat with HTTPS for Remote RS
Deploy a VM from an OVA with parameters