VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 8.0

8.0 7.0 6.7 6.5

Create a VM Template in a Content Library from a Virtual Machine

By using the
vSphere Automation
REST
API, you can create a VM template in a content library from an existing virtual machine in your
vCenter Server
 inventory.
  • Verify that you have administrative privileges on your
    vCenter Server
     instance.
  • Verify that you created a
    vSphere Automation
     session to your
    vCenter Server
    .
  • Verify that you created a local library by using the
    vSphere Client
     or the
    vSphere Automation
     APIs.
When you call the
create
 function of the
com.vmware.vcenter.vm_template.LibraryItems
 service, a VM template is created as a library item in your local content library. If the operation is successful, the
LibraryItems
 service returns the ID of the newly created library item.
To create a library item that contains a VM template, you can use the
POST https://<
vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
>/api/vcenter/vm-template/library-items
 HTTP request
. You can review the information about a VM template by using the
GET https://<
vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
>/api/vcenter/vm-template/library-items/<
vm_template_item_id
>
 HTTP request
. For information about how to create a VM template by using the
vSphere Client
, see the
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
 documentation.
For information about the available and mandatory parameters, see the
API Reference
 documentation.
  1. Get the ID of your
    ESXi
     host on which you want to store the VM template.
    You can use the
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/host
     HTTP request
    .
  2. Get the ID of the datastore on which you want to store the VM template files.
    You can use the
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/datastore
     HTTP request
    .
  3. Get the ID of the virtual machine that you want to save as a VM template.
    You can use the
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/vm
     HTTP request
    .
  4. Get the ID of your local library.
    You can get the list of the local libraries in your
    vCenter Server
     and review the information about each library by using the
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/com/vmware/content/local-library
     and
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/com/vmware/content/library/id:<
    library_id
    >
     HTTP requests
    .
  5. Create a library item specification for the VM template.
    You can use the
    body of the
    POST https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/vm-template/library-items
     HTTP request
    .
    1. Specify the local library, source virtual machine, and the name of the library item by using the
      library
      ,
      source_vm
      , and
      name
       parameters. You must use the IDs of the local library and source virtual machine.
    2. Specify the placement information for your VM template.
      You can use the
      placement
       parameters in the body of the HTTP request
      . To specify the host, resource pool, cluster, and folder, you must use their IDs.
    3. Specify the datastore on which you want to store the log, configuration, and disk files of your VM template.
      To specify the storage backing for the VM template, you can use the
      vm_home_storage
       and
      disk_storage
       parameters in the body of the HTTP request
      . You must use the ID of the datastore.
    4. Include the placement and storage specifications in the library item specification.
  6. Create a library item for storing the VM template.
    You can use the
    POST https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/vm-template/library-items
     HTTP request
    .
If the operation is successful, the
LibraryItems
 service returns the ID of the library item that contains the VM template. For information about the available responses, see the
API Reference
 documentation.
  • Review the information stored in the library item by using the
    GET https://<
    vcenter_ip_address_or_fqdn
    >/api/vcenter/vm-template/library-items/<
    library_item_id
    >
     HTTP request
    . If you did not save the ID of the library item holding the VM template, you can check the UUID by using the
    vSphere Client
    . The URN ends with the ID of the library item and has the following format:
    urn:vapi:com.vmware.content.library.Item:<
    VMTemplateItemID
    >
    .

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