Importing templates into the catalogue

Manually upload VM template files

In a manual upload, you copy the template files directly to the NFS repository. You can unzip an OVA file to obtain the template files, which are virtual disk file(s) and an OVF definition. See Export an OVA from ESXi vSphere 7 with OVF tool.

Abiquo reads the OVF to obtain the template details, such as operating system, disk capacity, and the name and description (from the product section of the OVF). See OVF reference and Guest operating system definition for VMware.

To upload VM templates to the Abiquo Platform, do these steps.

1. Copy the file(s) to the Abiquo NFS repository

   1. Go the /opt/vm_repository folder. Here there should be folders for each enterprise in Abiquo

   2. Open the folder for your enterprise ID. See How to find the enterprise that owns a template

   3. Create a separate directory for each OVF Package.

   4. Copy the disk files (e.g. .vmdk, .vdi ...) and the OVF descriptor document (.ovf). We recommend that you use the same base name for the system disk and the OVF file. For example:

      /opt/vm_repository/{ID_ENTERPRISE}/{MY_FOLDER}/myVMTemplate.vmdk
      /opt/vm_repository/{ID_ENTERPRISE}/{MY_FOLDER}/myVMTemplate_HardDisk.vhd
      /opt/vm_repository/{ID_ENTERPRISE}/{MY_FOLDER}/myVMTemplate.ovf  

2. In Abiquo, go to the Catalogue view for Private cloud, and click the round-arrow refresh button next to your datacenter name.

   

When you refresh the Catalogue, Abiquo will detect the disk files in the NFS repository folders and match them with the OVF description.

The templates will appear in the Catalogue view and as soon the conversion files are ready, they will be ready to deploy.

Manual upload example

In this example we will upload images to the default enterprise repository for Abiquo.

1. Copy the files to the NFS repository

   1. Go to /opt/vm_repository

   2. The Abiquo enterprise ID is 1, so we will open the folder 1, which is /opt/vm_repository/1.

   3. Create a separate directory for the template, which in this case is ubuntu_server

      $ mkdir ubuntu-server
      $ cd ubuntu-server

   4. Copy the system disk file, an extra disk, and the OVF descriptor

      $ scp username@10.10.10.10:/home/username/ubuntu_vxxx.vmdk /opt/vm_repository/1/ubuntu-server/
      $ scp username@10.10.10.10:/home/username/ubuntu_vxxx_extra_disk.vmdk /opt/vm_repository/1/ubuntu-server/
      scp username@10.10.10.10:/home/username/ubuntu_vxxx.ovf /opt/vm_repository/1/ubuntu-server/

2. Log in to Abiquo and refresh the Catalogue for your datacenter.

Your VM template should now be available in the Catalogue.

Manually upload an extra disk to an existing template

You can manually upload a new disk to add to an existing template, but you must also add the disk to the OVF file for that template. When the appliance manager checks the file system, it will detect the new disk, but it will only add the disk to the Abiquo template if the disk is defined in the OVF file.

Create an OVF descriptor if necessary

Abiquo recommends that you always use an automatically generated OVF descriptor, and it is easy to export one from vCenter, for example. See Export an OVA from ESXi vSphere 7 with OVF tool

However, if you are feeling lucky, you can create one following these instructions.

1. Copy a sample Abiquo OVF file, such as the Example OVF Descriptor in OVF referenceor copy one from a valid template. Save the OVF file with the image file name and .ovf extension.

2. Edit the OVF file according to the guidelines in the OVF for Abiquo section of OVF reference.

   1. Remember that you must enter the disk size. See Determine the size of a VM disk file

See also Modify a VM template in the section on Replace a disk file, and Appliance manager template API upload and download.