When you copy a vApp to another virtual data center, the original vApp remains in the source virtual data center.

For more information on VMs with TPM devices, see Working with Virtual Machines in the VMware Cloud Director Tenant Portal.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that you are at least a vApp author.
  • Verify that the vApp is powered off.
  • To enable operations across vCenter instances where the source and destination vCenter instances are not the same, verify that the vCenter instances trust each other independently of VMware Cloud Director. To view the certificates that a vCenter instance trusts, see the Explore Certificate Stores Using the vSphere Client in the VMware vSphere Product Documentation. Verify that each vCenter instance trusts the other vCenter instances that it needs to interact with. See also KB 89906.
  • If you want work with VMs with TPM devices, verify that the following criteria are met.
    • A VDC that supports TPM backs the VM.
    • For operations across vCenter instances, verify that the key provider used to encrypt each VM is registered on the target vCenter instance under the same name.
    • For operations across vCenter instances, verify that the VM and the target vCenter instance are on the same shared storage or that fast cross vCenter vApp instantiation is enabled.

Procedure

  1. On the Virtual Data Center dashboard screen, click the card of the VDC you want to explore, and from the secondary left panel, select vApps.
  2. Click Card Icon to view the vApps in a card view.
  3. From the Actions menu of the vApp you want to copy, select Copy.
  4. Type a name and description.
  5. Select the virtual data center in which you want to create the copy of the vApp.
  6. If one or more VMs in the vApp have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) device, select to copy or replace the devices.

    This option copies or replaces all TPM devices within the vApp. The availability of the Replace option depends on the backing vCenter instance. Copying a vApp to a VDC backed by vCenter 7.x automatically copies the TPM device. If you copy a vApp to a VDC backed by vCenter 8.x, you can choose to copy or replace the TPM device.

    When you copy the TPM devices, you create identical copies of the devices with the same secrets. You might need to use this option if the VMs on the copied vApp cannot work without the same secrets. When you use the replace option, you create TPM devices with new secrets. Replacing the TPM devices improves the security of the VMs because less devices use the same secrets.

  7. (Optional) Select a storage policy.
  8. Click OK.

Results

The vApp is copied with the name and description you provided to the specified virtual data center.