Import an Image from vCenter into the Image Catalog

Use the following procedure to import an image from vCenter into the image catalog and prepare it for publication to your cloud-connected Horizon pods. When you import an image, it is added to the catalog as version 1.0 of a new image.

Prerequisites

• Set up the participating vCenter Server instances. See Cloud-Connected Horizon Pods - Configure the vCenter Server Instances for Use with Horizon Image Management Service.
• Verify that VMware Tools is installed on the image's operating system. The import operation fails if VMware Tools is not installed on the operating system.
• For best results, verify that the latest Windows update patches are installed on the image's operating system. These updates facilitate any silent installations of Horizon Agent on the image in the future.
• Follow the standard and traditional Horizon guidance for preparing the image's guest Windows operating system for use in desktop pools. For example, to use a Windows Server operating system type as a single-session virtual desktop, the Horizon documentation states you must perform certain steps before the Horizon Agent is installed in the VM. For the standard Horizon guidance, refer to the information according to your pod's Connection Server software version:
  • Version 7.13 - Setting Up Virtual Desktops in Horizon, available at Horizon 7 Documentation.
  • VMware Horizon 8 versions - Windows Desktops and Applications in Horizon, available at Horizon Documentation.

Procedure

1. In the left pane of the Horizon Universal Console, select Inventory > Images - Multi-Pod.
2. On the Multi-Pod Images page, take one of the following actions.

   The action labels you see in the console will vary depending on the deployment types in your pod fleet — solely Horizon deployments that run Connection Server, solely Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure deployments, or both types in the fleet. Follow the on-screen guidance and prompts.

   • Click New > Import from vCenter.
   • Click New.
   The Import Images wizard appears.
3. On the Definition page of the wizard, specify the filtering parameters for the type of image that you want to import into the catalog. To import a VM template or VM snapshot that is in use by a desktop assignment, enable the In Use By Pool toggle. Then specify search filters as described in Filtering Parameters for VM Templates and VM Snapshots.
   The Images list displays all the available images that match the filtering parameters you specified.
4. Select an image and click Next.
   Note: If you select an image that has the Horizon Agent already installed, you can choose not to install the agent during the image publishing process. See Publish an Image Version.
5. On the Details page of the wizard, enter configuration options for the image.

   Option	Description
   Name	Enter a name for the image. Horizon Image Management Service uses this name when displaying the image in the image catalog.
   Username	Enter the correct user name of the built-in Windows super-administrator account for this image. If you enter the incorrect user name, the publishing operation fails. Note: Horizon Image Management Service requires the privileges of the full, built-in Windows administrator to create a directory and install Horizon Agent on the VMs cloned from this image.
   Password	Enter the correct password of the built-in Windows super-administrator account for this image. If you enter the incorrect password, the publishing operation fails.
   Description	(Optional) Enter a description for the image.
   Marker(s)	Define one or more reference markers that you want to associate with the image. The markers are associated with version 1.0 of the image. Attention: In order for an image to be assignable, it must have at least one marker on it.

6. Click Next.
7. On the Summary page of the wizard, review the information for the image and then click Finish.
   Horizon Image Management Service starts to import the image into the catalog and creates a new image in the list.

   On the Multi-Pod Images page, while the activity is going on, the Status column indicates the activity using an in-progress () icon.

8. To monitor the import progress, you can click the name of the displayed image.
   When you click the image's name, its details page appears. A Status column on this page also indicates the current activity status.

Results

During the import process, Horizon Image Management Service creates a copy of the image in the content library of the source pod. It also registers the image with the service by storing the image's metadata in the image catalog. When the import is complete, the status of image version 1.0 changes to indicate the activity is complete.

What to do next

Publish image version 1.0 to your cloud-connected pods. See Publish an Image Version.