How to Import a VM

Through the HTML5 console interface of the VMware vCloud Director®, you can upload OS images (ISO) and VM templates (OVA, OVF) into content libraries. OS images and VM templates are stored in catalogs. You can share catalog data with other users or organizations inside vCloud Director, or publish it to the external organizations.

Creating a Catalog

You can upload files to an existing catalog or create a new one:

  1. Select Libraries in the vCloud Director panel.
  2. Go to Content Libraries → Catalogs.
  3. Click New.
  4. Enter catalog name and description.
  5. If necessary, select the Pre-provision on specific storage policy.
  6. Click ОК.

The new catalog will appear in the list of available catalogs.

Uploading a VM Template

To upload a VM template, go to Content Libraries → vApp Templates:

  1. Click NEW.
  2. Enter the URL of the OVF/OVA file or upload the file from your computer. Click Next.
  3. Fill in the Name and Description fields for the template and select the Catalog. Click Next.
  4. In the drop-down Catalog menu, select the catalog to which you want to add the template.
  5. Click Finish.

After a while, the new template will appear in the list of available templates. The upload time depends on the size of the uploaded template and the Internet speed.

The new template will appear in the list of available templates in the Content Libraries → vApp Templates list.

Uploading an OS Image

To upload an OS image (ISO), go to Content Libraries → Media & Other:

  1. Click Add.
  2. In the drop-down Catalog menu, select the catalog to which you want to upload the image.
  3. Select an ISO file to upload. The Name field will be filled in automatically (you can change it if necessary).
  4. Click ОК.

After a while, the new template will appear in the list of available templates. The upload time depends on the size of the uploaded template and the Internet speed.

The new template will appear in the list of available templates in the Content Libraries → vApp Templates list.

After installing the OS from ISO, we recommend installing the VMware Tools (Windows)/open-vm-tools (*nix) package.

When Importing a VM Template in OVA Format via HTML, the Task Ends with an Error

Solution using the HTML5 Console

When importing a VM template in OVA format via HTML:

  1. Unpack the OVA file with an archiver (for example, tar, 7zip). The extracted folder will contain VM template files: ovf, mf, vmdk.
  2. In the HTML5 console, proceed to upload the template.
  3. In the first step (Select Source), specify all files in the folder extracted from the OVA.
  4. Follow the remaining steps in the wizard and import the template.

Solution using the VMware vcd-cli Utility

Via the vcd-cli utility, the VM template file can only be imported in OVA format. If you specify any other file format (ovf, vmdk, vmx, etc.), it will not be recognized and will be placed in the Media & Other section:

  1. Install Python 3.6 or greater and the vmware.github.io/vcd-cli utility. For Windows based VMs, you may need to install Microsoft C++ Build Tools (download Microsoft C++ Build Tools).

  2. Connect to the organization:

    vcd login vcd.selectel.ru <s-XXXX> <USERNAME>

    Where:

    • s-XXXX is the client ID in the vDC name;
    • <USERNAME> is the username that can be viewed in the Users section.

    For vDC in the Moscow region, use vcd-msk.selectel.ru instead of vcd.selectel.ru.

  3. Enter your password.

  4. Upload the ova image to the desired catalog:

vcd catalog upload <catalog name> <path to the file on the local PC>
  1. To view a list of catalogs in your organization, run:
vcd catalog list

Official vcd-cli documentation.