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.