Updating VM templates

VM template update procedure

To update a VM template:

1. Shut down the deployed template gracefully and create an instance

2. Update the instance (e.g. install new service pack or security patch)

3. Promote the template to a master template, with a name that denotes it as the new version. See  Promote an Instance to a Main template: Manage VM templates | Promote an instance to a main template

4. Propagate the new template to all the relevant datacenters' appliance libraries

5. Share the new template in the catalogue to all enterprises as applicable

6. Rename or change the description of the old template 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 being used by a virtual appliance in the datacenter (deployed or undeployed).

• An instance of a template can be created by any user/enterprise with the appropriate privilege

• You cannot remove a master template if an instance has been created. As a cloud admin user, you will need to impersonate each enterprise and check the repository for instances

• Abiquo will not allow you to overwrite a template, so you cannot download a template from a remote repository to the same datacenter's catalogue more than once

• You cannot delete a template to download a new version if it is being used by any virtual appliance in the datacenter

• You cannot 'un-share' a template if it is being used by any virtual appliance in the datacenter

Updating VM template disk files using the appliance manager API

You can update VM template disk files. The use case is as follows.

• Upload or download a template

• Use it to create a VM 

• Update the template. Abiquo supports changes to:

  • file content

  • size

  • format

    • see Template compatibility table

  • capacity

• Update the disk using the Appliance manager API 

• When the user next deploys the VM, the platform will copy the updated disk

Please contact Abiquo Support for further information.

Changing VM template files on the filesystem

Changing the virtual disks of a template on the NFS filesystem, such as 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 may also need to be updated if you change the underlying virtual disk because sometimes this information may be required to maintain platform coherence.