Create a vApp

A vApp allows you to perform resource management and certain other management activities such as power operations for multiple virtual machines at the same time. You can think of the vApp as the container for the virtual machines, and you can perform the operations on the container.

When you create a vApp, you can add it to a folder, standalone host, resource pool, cluster enabled for DRS, or another vApp.

Prerequisites

Verify that one of those objects is available in your datacenter.

• A standalone host that is running ESX 4.0 or greater.
• A cluster that is enabled for DRS.

Procedure

1. Navigate to an object that supports vApp creation and select the Create New vApp icon ().
2. Select Create a new vApp and click Next.
3. In the vApp Name text box, type a name for the vApp.
4. Select the location or resource and click Next.
   • If you start the action from a folder or vApp, you are prompted for a host, cluster, or resource pool.
   • If you start the action from a resource pool, host, or cluster, you are prompted for a folder or data center.
5. In the Deployment section, click CPU resources to allocate CPU resources to this vApp.

   Option	Description
   Shares	CPU shares for this vApp with respect to the parent’s total. Sibling vApps share resources according to their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. Select Low, Normal, or High, which specify share values respectively in a 1:2:4 ratio. Select Custom to give each vApp a specific number of shares, which express a proportional weight.
   Reservation	Guaranteed CPU allocation for this vApp.
   Reservation Type	Select the Expandable check box to make the reservation expandable. When the vApp is powered on, if the combined reservations of its virtual machines are larger than the reservation of the vApp, the vApp can use resources from its parent or ancestors.
   Limit	Upper limit for this vApp's CPU allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit.

6. In the Deployment section, click Memory resources to allocate memory resources to this vApp.

   Option	Description
   Shares	Memory shares for this vApp with respect to the parent’s total. Sibling vApps share resources according to their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. Select Low, Normal, or High, which specify share values respectively in a 1:2:4 ratio. Select Custom to give each vApp a specific number of shares, which express a proportional weight.
   Reservation	Guaranteed memory allocation for this vApp.
   Reservation Type	Select the Expandable check box to make the reservation expandable. When the vApp is powered on, if the combined reservations of its virtual machines are larger than the reservation of the vApp, the vApp can use resources from its parent or ancestors.
   Limit	Upper limit for this vApp's memory allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit.

7. Click Next.
8. Review the vApp settings and click Finish.