Manage resources across sites with the VMware Content Library

A VMware vSphere environment includes many components to deliver business-critical workloads and services. However, there is a feature of today’s modern VMware vSphere infrastructure that is arguably underutilized – the VMware Content Library. Nevertheless, it can be a powerful tool that helps businesses standardize the workflow using files, templates, ISO images, vApps, scripts, and other resources to deploy and manage virtual machines. So how can organizations manage resources across sites with the VMware Content Library?

What is the VMware Content Library?

Most VI admins will agree with multiple vCenter Servers in the mix, managing files, ISOs, templates, vApps, and other resources can be challenging. For example, have you ever been working on one cluster and realized you didn’t have the ISO image copied to a local datastore that is accessible, and you had to “sneakernet” the ISO where you could mount and install it? What about virtual machine templates? What if you want to have the virtual machine templates in one vCenter Server environment available to another vCenter Server environment?

The VMware Content Library is a solution introduced in vSphere 6.0 that allows customers to keep their virtual machine resources synchronized in one place and prevent the need for manual updates to multiple templates and copying these across between vCenter Servers. Instead, administrators can create a centralized repository using the VMware Content Library from which resources can be updated, shared, and synchronized between environments.

Using the VMware Content Library, you essentially create a container that can house all of the important resources used in your environment, including VM-specific objects like templates and other files like ISO image files, text files, and other file types.

The VMware Content Library stores the content as a “library item.” Each VMware Content Library can contain many different file types and multiple files. VMware gives the example of the OVF file that you can upload to your VMware Content Library. As you know, the OVF file is a bundle of multiple files. However, when you upload the OVF template, you will see a single library entry.

VMware has added some excellent new features to the VMware Content Library features in the past few releases. These include the ability to add OVF security policies to a content library. The new OVF security policy was added in vSphere 7.0 Update 3. It allows implementing strict validation for deploying and updating content library items and synchronizing templates. One thing you can do is make sure a trusted certificate signs the templates. To do this, you can deploy a signing certificate for your OVFs from a trusted CA to your content library.

Another recent addition to the VMware Content Library functionality introduced in vSphere 6.7 Update 1 is uploading a VM template type directly to the VMware Content Library. Previously, VM templates were converted to an OVF template type. Now, you can work directly with virtual machine templates in the VMware Content Library.

VMware Content Library types

VMware Content Library enables managing resources across sites using two different types of content libraries. These include the following:

• • Local Content Library – A local content library is a VMware Content Library used to store and manage content residing in a single vCenter Server environment. Suppose you work in a single vCenter Server environment and want to have various resources available across all your ESXi hosts to deploy VMs, vAPPs, install from ISO files, etc. In that case, the local content library allows doing that. With the local content library, you can choose to Publish the local content library. When you publish the Content Library, you are making it available to be subscribed to or synchronized.

• • Subscribed Content Library – The other type of Content Library is the subscribed content library. When you add a subscribed VMware Content Library type, you are essentially downloading published items from a VMware Content Library type that has published items as mentioned in the Local Content Library section. In this configuration, you are only a consumer of the VMware Content Library that someone else has published. It means when creating the Content Library, the publish option was configured. You can’t add templates and other items to the subscribed VMware Content Library type as you can only synchronize the content of the subscribed Content Library with the content of the published Content Library.

• • • With a subscribed library, you can choose to download all the contents of the published Content Library immediately once the subscribed Content Library is created. You can also choose to download only the metadata for items in the published Content Library and download the entire contents of the items you need. You can think of this as a “files on-demand” type feature that only downloads the resources when these are required.

Below is an example of the screen when configuring a content library that allows creating either a Local Content Library or the Subscribed Content Library:

Choosing the content library type

Create a local or subscription Content Library in vSphere 7

Creating a new VMware Content Library is a relatively straightforward and intuitive process you can accomplish in the vSphere Client. Let’s step through the process to create a new VMware Content Library. We will use the vSphere Web Client to manage and configure the Content Library Settings.

Using the vSphere Web Client to manage the Content Library

First, click the upper left-hand “hamburger” menu in the vSphere Client. You will see the option Content Libraries directly underneath the Inventory menu when you click the menu.

Choosing the Content Libraries option to create a manage Content Libraries

Under the Content Libraries screen, you can Create new Content Libraries.

Creating a new Content Library in the vSphere Client

It will launch the New Content Library wizard. In the Name and Location screen, name the new VMware Content Library.

New Content Library name and location

On the Configure content library step, you configure the content library type, including configuring a local content library or a subscribed content library. Under the configuration for Local content library, you can Enable publishing. If publishing is enabled, you can also enable authentication.

Configuring the Content Library type

When you configure publishing and authentication, you can configure a password on the content library.

Step 3 is the Apply security policy step. It allows applying the OVF default policy to protect and enforce strict validation while importing and synchronizing OVF library items.

Choosing to apply the OVF default policy

The VMware Content Library needs to have a storage location that will provide the storage for the content library itself. First, select the datastore you want to use for storing your content library. The beauty of the content library is that it essentially publishes and shares the items in the content library itself, even though they may be housed on a particular datastore.

Select the storage to use for storing items in the VMware Content Library

Finally, we are ready to complete the creation of the Content Library. Click Finish.

Finishing the creation of the VMware Content Library

Once the VMware Content Library is created, you can see the details of the library, including the Publication section showing the Subscription URL.

Viewing the settings of a newly created VMware Content Library

As a note. If you click the Edit Settings hyperlink under the Publication settings pane, you can go in and edit the settings of the Content Library, including the publishing options, authentication, changing the authentication password, and applying a security policy.

Editing the settings of a VMware Content Library

Creating a subscribed VMware Content Library

As we mentioned earlier, configuring a subscribed content library means synchronizing items from a published content library. In the New Content Library configuration wizard, you choose the Subscribed content library option to synchronize with a published content library. Then, enter the subscription URL for the published content library when selected. As shown above, this URL is found in the settings of the published content library.

You will need to also place a check in the Enable authentication setting if the published content library was set up with authentication. Then, enter the password configured for the published content library. Also, note the configuration for downloading content. As detailed earlier, you can choose to synchronize items immediately, meaning the entire content library will be fully downloaded. Or, you can select when needed, which acts as a “files on demand” configuration that only downloads the resources when needed.

Configuring the subscribed content library

Choose the storage for the subscribed Content Library.

Add storage for the subscribed VMware Content Library

Ready to complete adding a new subscribed VMware Content Library. Click Finish.

Ready to complete adding a subscribed VMware Content Library

Interestingly, you can add a subscribed VMware Content Library that is subscribed to the same published VMware Content Library on the same vCenter Server.

Published and subscribed content library on the same vCenter Server

What is Check-In/Check-Out?

A new feature included with VMware vSphere 7 is versioning with the VMware Content Library. So often, with virtual machine templates, these are frequently changed, updated, and configured. As a result, it can be easy to lose track of the changes made, the user making the modifications, and track the changes efficiently.

Now, VMware vSphere 7 provides visibility into the changes made to virtual machine templates with a new check-in/check-out process. This change embraces DevOps workflows with a way for IT admins to check in and check out virtual machine templates in and out of the Content Library.

Before the new check-in/check-out feature, VI admins might use a process similar to the following to change a virtual machine template:

1. 1. Convert a virtual machine template to a virtual machine
   2. Place a snapshot on the converted template to machine VM
   3. Make whatever changes are needed to the VM
   4. Power the VM off and convert it back to a template
   5. Re-upload the VM template back to the Content Library
   6. Delete the old template
   7. Internally notify other VI admins of the changes

Now, VI admins can use a new capability in vSphere 7.0 and higher to make changes to virtual machine templates more seamlessly and track those changes effectively.

Clone as template to Library

The first step is to house the virtual machine template in the Content Library. Right-click an existing virtual machine to use the new functionality and select Clone as Template to Library.

Clone as Template to Library functionality to use the check-in and check-out feature

As a note, if you see the Clone to Library functionality instead of Clone as Template to Library, it means you have not converted the VM template to a virtual machine. If you right-click a VM template, you only get the Clone to Library option. If you select Clone to Template, it only allows cloning the template in a traditional way to another template on a datastore.

Right-clicking and cloning a VM template only gives the option to Clone to Library

Continuing with the Clone to Library process, you will see the Clone to Template in Library dialog box open. Select either New template or Update the existing template.

Clone to Template in Library

In the vCenter Server tasks, you will see the process begin to Upload files to a Library and Transfer files.

Uploading a virtual machine template to the Content Library

When you right-click a virtual machine and not a virtual machine template, you will see the additional option of Clone as Template to Library.

Clone as Template to Library

It then brings up a more verbose wizard for the Clone Virtual Machine To Template process. The first screen is the Basic information where you define the Template type (can be OVF or VM Template), the name of the template, notes, and select a folder for the template.

Configuring basic information for the clone virtual machine to template process

On the Location page, you select the VMware Content Library you want to use to house the virtual machine template.

Select the VMware Content Library to house the virtual machine template

Select a compute resource to house your cloned VM template.

Select the compute resource for the virtual machine template

Select the storage for the virtual machine template.

Select storage to house the VM template

Finish the Clone Virtual Machine to Template process.

Finish the clone of the virtual machine to template in the VMware Content Library

If you navigate to the Content Library, you will see the template listed under the VM Templates in the Content Library.

Viewing the VM template in the Content Library

Checking templates in and out

If you select the radio button next to the VM template, the Check Out VM From This Template button will appear to the right.

Launching the Check out VM from this template

When you click the button, it will launch the Check out VM from VM Template wizard. First, name the new virtual machine that will be created in the check-out process.

Starting the Check out VM from VM template

Select the compute resource to house the checked-out virtual machine.

Selecting a compute resource

Review and finish the Check out VM from VM template process. You can select to power on VM after check out.

Review and Finish the Check out VM from VM Template

The checked-out virtual machine will clone from the existing template in the Content Library. Also, you will see an audit trail of the check-outs from the Content Library. You are directed to Navigate to the checked-out VM to make updates. Note you then have the button available to Check In VM to Template.

Virtual machine template is checked out and deployed as a virtual machine in inventory

If you navigate to the Inventory view in the vSphere Client, you will see the machine has a tiny blue dot in the lower left-hand corner of the virtual machine icon.

Viewing the checked-out VM template as a virtual machine in vSphere inventory

After making one small change, such as changing the virtual network the virtual machine is connected to, we see the option appear to Check In VM to Template.

Check In VM to Template

It will bring up the Check In VM dialog box, allowing you to enter notes and then click the Check In button.

Check In the VM

We see the audit trail of changes reflected in the Content Library with the notes we entered in the Check in notes.

Virtual machine template checked back in with the notes entered in the check-in process

You will also see a new Versioning tab displayed when you view the virtual machine template in the inventory view.

Viewing the versioning of a virtual machine template in the inventory view

VMware Content Library Roles

There are various privileges related to Content Library privileges. VMware documents the following privileges that can be assigned to a custom VMware Content Library Role.

Advanced Content Library settings

Several advanced configuration settings are configurable with the VMware Content Library. You can get to these by navigating to Content Libraries > Advanced.

Content Library advanced settings

These include the following settings as detailed by VMware:

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Wrapping up

The VMware Content Library provides a centralized repository that allows keeping required file resources, virtual machine templates, ISO images vApps, and other files synchronized and available across the vSphere datacenter. In vSphere 7, the Content Library allows organizations to have a better way to keep up with and track changes to virtual machine templates. Using the new check-in/check-out process, VI admins can track changes made with each check-out and ensure these are documented and synchronized back to the Content Library.

It effectively provides a solution to remove the need to copy files between ESXi hosts or vSphere clusters and have what you need to install guest operating systems or deploy virtual machine templates. In addition, the subscribed Content Library allows synchronizing vCenter Server content libraries so that many other vCenter Servers can take advantage of the files already organized in the published Content Library.

The VMware Content Library is one of the more underutilized tools in the VI admin’s toolbelt that can bring about advantages in workflow, efficiency, and time spent finding and organizing files for deploying VMs and OS’es. In addition, the recent feature additions and improvements, such as check-ins/check-outs, have provided a more DevOps approach to tracking and working with deployment resources.