How to Create a Virtual Machine Template

Article
01/17/2008

In Virtual Machine Manager, a template is configured to include a standardized set of hardware and software configuration settings and can be used repeatedly to create virtual machines that share those settings. You can use the following procedure to create a template from an existing virtual hard disk, template, or virtual machine.

To create a virtual machine template

In the Library view Actions pane, click New template to open the New Template Wizard.
On the Select Source page, use one of the following options to select the source for the new template:

Option 1: Select Use an existing template or virtual hard disk stored in the library; click Select to open the Select Library Resource dialog box; click Group by, and then click Type to sort the entries into groups of templates and virtual hard disks; select the template or virtual hard disk that you want to use as the source for the new template; and then click OK. (You can also use the Library group and Look for fields to narrow the list of resources to choose from.)

Important

If you create a template from a virtual hard disk, Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server must be installed on it; The boot disk partition must be the same as the Windows partition; Virtual Server 2005 Virtual Machine Additions must be installed on it; and Sysprep.exe must have been run on this virtual hard disk.

Option 2: Select From an existing virtual machine currently located on a host; click Select to open the Select Library Resource dialog box; click Group by, and then click Operating System (or click Owner) to sort the entries into groups; select the virtual machine that you want to use as the source for the new template; and then click OK. (You can also use the Library group and Look for fields to narrow the list of resources to choose from.)

In the VHD containing OS drop-down list box, select the sysprepped virtual hard disk that contains the operating system you want to use on this template.

Important

If you create a template from a deployed virtual machine, the files associated with that virtual machine (.vhd, .iso, and so on) are copied from the host on which the virtual machine is deployed to the Library server, at the location the user specifies. Virtual Machine Manager indexes the files and adds the files to the library so that these files can be used by other templates in the future.
On the Template Identity page, configure the following options:

In the Name field, type a name for the new template.

In the Owner field, do one of the following:

Option 1: If you want to specify yourself as the owner, accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username.

Option 2: If you want to specify another person as the owner, click Select to open the Select User dialog box. Type a domain account name under Enter the object name to select (click examples to view the available formats that you can use to specify the account), click Check Names to verify that the user account exists, and then click OK to close the Select User dialog box.

In the Description field (optional), type a description for the template.
On the Configure Hardware page, choose one of the following options:

Option 1: If you want to accept the default settings on the Configure Hardware page for all virtual hardware components, click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 2: If you want to import an existing stand-alone hardware profile, select the name of the existing profile that you want to import from the Hardware profile drop-down list box, and then click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 3: If you want to configure one or more of the virtual hardware components directly on the Configure Hardware page:
1. Use the appropriate procedure to configure each component:
  How to Configure CPU Requirements for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure the Amount of Memory for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure the Floppy Drive for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure IDE Devices for a Virtual Machine
  How to Add and Configure SCSI Adapters for a Virtual Machine
  How to Add and Configure Network Adapters for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure Virtual Machine Priority for Host CPU Resources
2. Save the wizard-based hardware profile settings that you just configured by using one of the following options:
  Option 1: Click Next to save your settings and continue to the next wizard page.
  Option 2: Click Save Profile to open the Hardware Profile Properties dialog box (which is identical to the stand-alone hardware profile dialog box). On the General tab, configure the following fields:
  Name. Type a name for the hardware profile.
  Description (optional). Type a description for the hardware profile.
  Owner. Accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username to identify yourself as the owner of the new stand-alone hardware profile. Alternatively, click Select to specify a different user or group as the owner. The account specified must be an Active Directory account.
  Click Apply and then click OK to return to the Configure Hardware page; and then click Next to continue to the next wizard page.
On the Guest Operating System page, choose one of the following options:

Option 1: If you want to accept the default settings on the Guest Operating System page for all guest operating system settings, click Next to continue to the next page and complete the wizard as usual.

Option 2: If you want to import an existing stand-alone guest operating system profile, select the name of the existing profile that you want to import from the Guest operating system profile drop-down list box, and then click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 3: If you want to configure one or more of the guest operating system components directly on the Guest Operating System page:
1. Use the appropriate procedure to configure each component:
  How To Configure Guest Operating System Profile General Settings
  How to Configure Guest Operating System Profile Networking Settings
  How to Configure Guest Operating System Profile Scripts
2. Save the wizard-based guest operating system profile settings that you just configured by using one of the following options:
  Option 1: Click Next to save your settings and continue to the next page.
  Option 2: Click Save Profile to open the Guest OS Properties dialog box (which is identical to the stand-alone hardware profile dialog box). On the General tab, configure the following fields:
  Name. Type a name for the guest operating system profile.
  Description (optional). Type a description for the guest operating system profile.
  Owner. Accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username to identify yourself as the owner of the new stand-alone guest operating system profile. Alternatively, click Select to specify a different user or group as the owner. The account specified must be an Active Directory account.
  Click Apply and then click OK to return to the Guest Operating System page; and then click Next to continue to the next wizard page.
Depending on the source you chose to create the new template, the next wizard page is one of the following:

Option 1: If you selected an existing virtual hard disk or template as the source for the new template, the current page is the Summary page:
1. Review the settings that you chose (and click Previous if you want to change any settings).
2. Optionally, click View Script to view the Windows PowerShell script that creates this template, and then click OK to return to the Summary page.
3. Accept the default selection of Automatically open the Jobs window to view the progress of this operation (or, optionally, clear this option).
4. Click Create to create the new template.
5. In Jobs view, monitor the progress of the new template creation job and confirm that the template is created successfully. (If the job fails, read the error message at the bottom of the Jobs windows for information about the cause of the failure and the recommended action to resolve the error.)
Option 2: If you selected an existing virtual machine as the source for the new template, the current wizard page is the Select Path page.

Configure the following options:
1. Under Library Server, click the library server on which you want to store the files associated with this new template (such as .iso files or .vhd files that the template derived from the virtual machine that you used as the source for the template).
2. For Library path, click Browse to open the Select Destination Folder dialog box, and then click the library share on which you want to store the files used by this template. For example, click MSSCVMMLibrary to store the files used by this template in the Virtual Machine Manager default library share, and then click OK to return to the Select Path page.
3. Click Next (or, optionally, first select Transfer over the network even if a SAN transfer is available, and then click Next).
On the Summary page:
1. Review the settings that you chose (and click Previous if you want to change any settings).
2. Optionally, click View Script to view the Windows PowerShell script that creates this template, and then click OK to return to the Summary page..
3. Accept the default selection of Automatically open the Jobs window to view the progress of this operation (or, optionally, clear this option).
4. Click Create to create the template.
5. In Jobs view, monitor the progress of the new template creation job and confirm that the template is created successfully. (If the job fails, read the error message at the bottom of the Jobs windows for information about the cause of the failure and the recommended action to resolve the error.)

How to Create a Virtual Machine Template

See Also

Concepts

Additional resources