Delete a Content Library Item or Item Content

If you use a subscribed library, and you synchronize it, you can later delete the library from storage but keep the metadata. You can also delete a library item such as a template completely.

If a subscribed library is created with the option to download library content only when needed, only metadata for the library items is stored in the associated with the library storage. When you want to use a library item, for example use a VM template to deploy a virtual machine, you have to synchronize the item. Synchronization downloads the entire content to the associated storage.

In the vSphere Web Client, after you are done using the template, you can delete the item contents to free space on the storage. The template remains visible in the subscribed library because the metadata for it remains on the storage that is associated with the library. This also applies for vApp templates, and other files that exist in the subscribed library. In the vSphere Client your only option is to delete the item altogether.

Prerequisites

Required privileges depend on the task you want to perform.

Task	Required Privileges
Delete the contents of a library item	Content library.Evict library item
Delete a library item	Content library.Delete library item

Procedure

1. Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
2. Click a content library, select the type of item, and select the task you want to perform with the item.

   Client	Description
   vSphere Client	In the vSphere Client, you can only delete the selected item. From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Delete . From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Delete .
   vSphere Web Client	In the vSphere Web Client, you can delete the contents of an item or delete the item altogether. To delete the contents of an item, do the following. From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Delete Item Content. From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Delete Item Content. To delete an item, do the following. From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Delete . From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Delete . Important: Deleting a VM template library item also deletes the associated VM template in the vCenter Server inventory.