You can choose to save and manage a virtual machine from the vCenter Server inventory as a content library item of either the OVF Template or the VM Template type. Each VM Template library item is backed by a corresponding VM template in the vCenter Server inventory.

VM Templates in the Content Library and VM Templates in the vCenter Server Inventory

When you create a VM template in a content library, the library item is backed by a VM template in the vCenter Server inventory. The content library item and the corresponding inventory object are related in the following ways.
  • If you convert the VM template in the vCenter Server inventory to a virtual machine, the corresponding VM template library item is also deleted.
  • If you rename the VM template in the vCenter Server, the corresponding VM template library item is also renamed.
  • If you rename the VM template library item the associated VM template in the vCenter Server inventory is also renamed.
  • If you delete the VM template in the vCenter Server inventory, the corresponding VM template library item is also deleted.
  • If you delete the VM template library item, the associated VM template in the vCenter Server inventory is also deleted.

VM Templates and OVF Templates in the Content Library

You can use both VM templates and OVF templates to deploy new virtual machines in your vSphere environment. However, the two types of templates have different properties and support different deployment options.

See the following table for a detailed list of the differences between VM templates and OVF templates in a content library.
Table 1. VM Templates and OVF Templates Properties
Property VM Templates in Content Library OVF Templates in Content Library
Datastore VM templates can be stored on any datastore that you have privileges to.
Note: VM templates cannot be stored in a library that uses NFS or SMB storage.
OVF templates can only be stored on the datastore that is associated with the content library.
Footprint The default one. Compressed or Thin.
Host/Datastore Maintenance Mode

When the host becomes inaccessible, VM templates are automatically migrated to another host.

When either the host or the datastore becomes inaccessible, you must manually migrate the OVF templates to another host or datastore.
Associated with a Host Yes. No.
Storage DRS Supported. Not supported.
Cross-vendor Compatibility Not supported. Supported.
Software License Agreement Not supported. Supported.
Encryption Supported.

You can create encrypted VM templates.

Not supported.

While OVF templates cannot be encrypted themselves, you can still deploy an encrypted virtual machine from an OVF template.

Deployment Options During the deployment of a VM template, hardware customization and guest OS customization are both supported. During the deployment of an OVF template, only guest OS customization is supported. Hardware customization is not supported.

The supported operations on a content library template are different depending on the template type. You can edit the settings for both OVF and VM templates. However, you can update, export, and clone a template only if it is an OVF template.