Software Depots

A software depot represents a well-defined file structure used for storing and hosting the

ESXi

software updates, patches, and upgrades that VMware, partners, and third-party vendors provide. You can use the

vSphere Automation

APIs to manage the life cycle of the hosts in your environment by applying software updates hosted on different depots.

Software depots are managed by the Depot Manager which is part of the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

. Software depots contain the actual payloads and the metadata of the software updates. Depending on the way you access the software updates, the Depot Manager recognizes three types of software depots: online, offline, and UMDS.

The following section of the documentation explains the concept of a software depot in terms of the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

feature. You can also find common use cases available through the APIs for working with the different types of depots and their content.

Managing the Life Cycle of Hosts and Clusters

Types of Software Depots

Depot Manager works with the software updates provided by three different types of software depots: online, offline, and UMDS.

Regardless of the different way in which you access each type of software depot, all depots have the same structure. The same depot structure allows content from different vendors to be uploaded to one depot. By default, you can access the content of the VMware online depot at

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/...

. Furthermore, partners and third-party customers can use the ESXi Packaging Kit to build and distribute software updates in the form of offline or online depots. You can access their content by adding the online vendor depot to the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

or by downloading the content of the offline depot to the

vCenter Server

instance.

You can choose between the online, offline, and UMDS depots to download the
desired software updates. — Types of Software Depots

Online Depot

VMware and partners upload software updates to the VMware online depot at

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/...

or to a custom online depot. Software updates can be patches of the

ESXi

base image, different versions of the partner add-ons, the IOVP drivers certified by VMware, and the VMware Tools™ updates. Online depots are accessible through a URL. By default, you can see the base images, add-ons, and components provided within the VMware online depot at the following locations:

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/addon-main/vmw-depot-index.xml

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/iovp-main/vmw-depot-index.xml

https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/vmtools-main/vmw-depot-index.xml

When you deploy the

vCenter Server

, the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

is configured to access the VMware online depot, by default. You can use the

vSphere Automation

APIs to add a custom online depot to be managed by Depot Manager. The metadata of the newly added online depot is not synchronized immediately. To synchronize the metadata, you can run a synchronization operation or wait for the scheduled synchronization to take place.

The Depot Manager stores in the

vCenter Server

database only the metadata of the software updates and the location of the added online depots. You can create a schedule to synchronize the software updates metadata stored in the

vCenter Server

with the metadata available in the accessible depots. The payloads of the software updates are downloaded only during the cluster remediation process.

To add, remove, list, and retrieve information about the online depots, you can use the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Online

interface

. See Working with Online Depots.

Offline Depot

The offline depot is also called an offline bundle and is distributed as a downloadable ZIP file. Offline depots contain both the metadata and the payloads of the software update. Partners and third-party customers can use the ESXi Packaging Kit to build and distribute offline bundles. You can download offline bundles from the VMware website or from the websites of third-party vendors. When you add an offline depot to the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot, the software updates are downloaded to the

vCenter Server

database.

To manage offline depots, you can use the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Offline

interface

. See Working with Offline Depots.

UMDS Depot

In case, the

vCenter Server

instance is in an air-gapped environment and has no access to any wire or wireless network, you can use a UMDS depot. The Update Manager Download Service (UMDS) is available as a

VMware-UMDS-8.0.1.-build_number.tar.gz

file within the ISO image of the

vCenter Server

appliance 8.0 UMDS is a 64-bit application and requires a 64-bit Linux-based system. Install UMDS on a machine that has Internet access and is different from the machine on which the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

is running. For further information about how to install and configure the UMDS module, see the

Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle

You can set up a synchronization schedule for downloading specific software updates from online vendor depots to the UMDS depot. Then use these updates to create desired software state for the clusters in your environment.

To manage UMDS depots through the

vSphere Automation

API, you can use the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Umds

interface

Working with Online Depots

You can use the

vSphere Automation

APIs to add online depots to the list of currently configured online software depots.

Use online depots to add new content over time to the management scope of Depot Manager. Depot Manager periodically updates the software depots metadata stored on the

vCenter Server

instance. In case, new software updates are uploaded to the online depots, the Depot Manager makes sure that the metadata stored on the

vCenter Server

database is updated accordingly.

To add an online depot to the Depot Manager, you must first create the online depot specification by using the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.OnlineTypes.CreateSpec

class

. To specify the URI to the

vendor-index.xml

file of the online depot,

use the

setLocation(location)

method of the

OnlineTypes.CreateSpec

class

. Optionally, you can add a description and enable the depot. By default, when you add an online depot to the Depot Manager, the depot is enabled and its metadata is synchronized following the defined schedule. If you want to synchronize the added online depot immediately,

call the

sync_Task()

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.Depots

interface

. When you complete the depot specification,

call the

create(spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Online

interface to add the depot

You can edit the depot description and deactivate the depot by

creating an

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.OnlineTypes.UpdateSpec

object and pass it to the

update( depot, update_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Online

interface

You can remove an online depot from the list of currently configured depots by using the

delete(depotID)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Online

interface

. This operation does not remove the already downloaded metadata and payloads from the deleted depot. You cannot delete the default VMware online depot, you can only deactivate it.

To retrieve a list of currently configured online depots,

call the

list()

method of the

Online

interface

. You can also retrieve information about a currently configured online depot by using the

get(depotID)

method of the

Online

interface

Working with UMDS Depots

In an air-gapped

vCenter Server

environment, you can use the

vSphere Automation

API to add a UMDS depot to the depots managed by Depot Manager.

After you install and configure the Update Manager Download Service (UMDS) on a physical machine with Internet access, you can add the UMDS depot to Depot Manager. Only one UMDS depot can be added at a time to Depot Manager. When you add a UMDS depot, its content is not immediately synchronized. To synchronize the content of the UMDS depots, you must

call the

sync_Task()

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.Depots

interface

or wait for the scheduled synchronization to take place.

To add a UMDS depot,

call the

set(set_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Umds

interface and pass a

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.UmdsTypes.SetSpec

object as an argument

. The UMDS specification must contain the URI location to the

index.xml

file of the depot. Optionally, you can set a description and indicate whether the depot must be enabled. By enabling the UMDS depot, you instruct Depot Manager to synchronize only the content that is available on that depot.

You can always edit the initial UMDS depot settings, by

calling the

update(update_spec)

method of the

Umds

interface and passing an

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.UmdsTypes.UpdateSpec

object.

To retrieve information about the currently configured UMDS depot, use the

get()

method of the

Umds

interface

. You can remove a currently configured UMDS depot and all its downloaded content from Depot Manager by

calling the

delete_Task()

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Umds

interface.

Synchronizing Software Depots

The VMware online depot, the vendor online depots, and the UMDS depot must be synchronized regularly if you want to have the most recent software updates delivered by VMware, partners, and other third-party vendors. Use the

vSphere Automation

APIs to create a synchronization schedule or to synchronize the added depot immediately.

The Depot Manager does not synchronize immediately the metadata of the newly added online and UMDS depots. If you want to force the synchronization and not wait for the scheduled synchronization to take place,

call the

sync_Task()

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.Depots

interface

. You can also define a custom schedule to sync the metadata from the currently configured online or UMDS depots.

To create a custom schedule for checking for new software updates, you must first define the schedule parameters by using the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.SyncScheduleTypes.Schedule

class

. Then you can add the schedule to the schedule specification by using the

setSchedule(schedule)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.SyncScheduleTypes.Spec

class

. Optionally, you can use the schedule specification to add an email to which notifications will be sent and define whether updates will be downloaded automatically. To apply the custom schedule,

call the

set(spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.SyncSchedule

interface

The default schedule is set to update the metadata daily at a random time. To reset the schedule to the default settings,

call the

set(spec)

of the

SyncSchedule

interface and pass

null

as an argument

Working with Offline Depots

An offline depot is a ZIP file that contains the metadata and payloads of software updates and follows the same structure as the online depot. Use the

vSphere Automation

APIs to import the content of an offline depot to the

vCenter Server

database.

To add an offline depot to the depots managed by the Depot Manager, you must create an offline depot specification by using the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.OfflineTypes.CreateSpec

class

. When you define the offline depot parameters,

call the

create_Task(create_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depots.Offline

interface

. Depending on the location of the offline depot, when you create the offline depot specification, you must provide either the URI location or the file ID returned by the Jetty Web server embedded in the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

. You set the type of the source from which the offline depot is downloaded by using the

setSourceType(sourceType)

method of the

OfflineTypes.CreateSpec

class

Pull Depot Content from a URI

To indicate that the offline depot resides on a URI location,

call the

setLocation(java.net.URI location)

method of the

OfflineTypes.CreateSpec

class. You can pass as an argument the depot location in one of the following URI schemes:

http

https

, or

file

. If you provide an HTTPS location to the offline depot, make sure you also provide a certificate trusted by the VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) or a custom certificate from the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store (VECS). For detailed information about how to manage certificates, see the

vSphere Authentication

documentation.

Push Depot Content to the Depot Manager

To push the content of an offline depot to the Depot Manager, you must first upload the ZIP file to the Jetty Web server at the

https://<vcenter_FQDN>:9087/vum-fileupload

URL. The server returns a file identifier that you can

pass as an argument to the

setFileId(fileId)

method of the

OfflineTypes.CreateSpec

class

Managing Depot Overrides

In case, you have a smaller Remote Office/ Branch Office (ROBO) cluster environment, or Edge computing environment, your clusters have no, or limited access to the Internet and limited connection to a

vCenter Server

instance. In such an environment, you can use Depot Manager to fetch the metadata and payloads of a desired software state from a local to the cluster depot.

To remediate a ROBO cluster, you must have access to a local software depot that hosts the components of the desired state. You can use Depot Manager to either export the whole

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot to an offline bundle, or export only the content of the desired state required for remediating the ROBO cluster.

To export the desired state image from the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot,

call the

export(cluster,export_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.clusters.Software

interface. The method returns the URI of the offline bundle that is hosted on the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

Jetty Web server

. To move the content of the offline bundle to the ROBO location, you must physically copy the ZIP file, unarchive, and mount its content to an HTTP server inside the ROBO environment.

To redirect a ROBO cluster to download software updates from a local repository and not from the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot on the

vCenter Server

instance, the

vSphere Automation

API offer the cluster

DepotOverrides

service. To add a depot override location to a ROBO cluster,

call the

add(cluster,override_depot)

method of the

DepotOverrides

interface

. Specify the URI location of the local depot with the

setLocation(location)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.clusters.DepotOverridesTypes.Depot

class

. During the ROBO cluster remediation, Depot Manager instructs the hosts in the ROBO cluster to download the software updates from the configured local depots within the ROBO cluster.

Inspecting Depot Contents

You can use the

vSphere Automation

API to inspect the contents of the already synchronized and imported depots. You can list the available base images, add-ons, and components, or retrieve some detailed information about a specific software update.

To retrieve a list of the base images available on a

vCenter Server

instance,

call the

list(filter_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.BaseImages

interface. To narrow the list of returned base images and retrieve only items matching to specific criteria, you must pass a

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.BaseImagesTypes.FilterSpec

instance as an argument to the list method. Use the retrieved list to get some information about each base image, including their display name and version, release date, and their category. You can also get some detailed information about a single base image by using the

get(version)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.base_images.Versions

interface. The information includes a list of the components present in this base image.

To retrieve a list of all currently available add-ons in the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot,

call the

list(filter_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.AddOns

interface and pass

null

as an argument. You can filter the available add-ons by using some specific criteria such as the add-on vendor, name, versions, or minimum version. You can retrieve some detailed information about a single add-on version, by calling the

get(name,version)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.add_ons.Versions

interface. The information includes the list of components part of the add-on, and the list of components that were removed by this add-on version.

To retrieve a list of all components currently available in the

vSphere Lifecycle Manager

depot, you can

call the

list(filter_spec)

method of the

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.Components

interface and pass

null

as an argument. To retrieve a list of components that matches some specific criteria, define your preferences with a

com.vmware.esx.settings.depot_content.ComponentsTypes.FilterSpec

instance and pass it as an argument to the list method. Use the retrieved list to get some information regarding each component.

Content feedback and comments

VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 8.0

Software Depots

Types of Software Depots

Online Depot

Offline Depot

UMDS Depot

Working with Online Depots

Working with UMDS Depots

Synchronizing Software Depots

Working with Offline Depots

Pull Depot Content from a URI

Push Depot Content to the Depot Manager

Managing Depot Overrides

Inspecting Depot Contents