When you manage a cluster or host with a single image, you can change the image at any time. You can edit the image by changing the software that it includes, for example, you can add or remove components, and you can also change the version of the included components. You can also reuse an image by exporting it and importing it into a different cluster or a standalone host.

Using vSphere Lifecycle Manager images starts with setting up an image for a cluster or a host. After you start managing a cluster or a host with a single image, you can edit the image at any time. You can validate the image before saving it to verify that it includes no conflicting components or missing dependencies.

Setting Up an Image for a Cluster or a Host

You can set up an image during the creation of the cluster or when you add a standalone host to a data center or a folder or later. During the creation of a cluster or the addition of a standalone host to a data center or a folder, you can only define the ESXi version and, optionally, a vendor add-on to be included in the image for the cluster or host. You can later edit the image to include additional components or a firmware add-on. For detailed information about creating a cluster and adding hosts to it, and about adding a standalone host to a data center or folder, see the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.

Note:

When you set up an image, you select an ESXi version and a vendor add-on from the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot. If no ESXi base images and vendor add-ons are available in the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot, you must populate the depot with software updates by synchronizing the depot or uploading updates to the depot manually. For detail information about the corresponding procedures, see Synchronize the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot and Import Updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.

If you do not set up an image during the creation of the cluster or the addition of the standalone host to a data center or folder, the cluster or the host use baselines, but you can switch to images at any time. When you set up an image during the transition workflow, you can define the full stack of software to run on the hosts in the cluster or on the standalone host. For more information about switching from baselines to images, see Convert a Cluster or a Host That Uses Baselines Into a Cluster or a Host That Uses vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images.

Whereas switching from baselines to images is possible, the reverse operation is not. If a cluster or a host use a single image, regardless of whether you set up the image during the cluster creation or the host addition to the data center or folder, you cannot switch to using baselines for that cluster or standalone host.

Viewing Details About the Image of a Cluster or Host

You can view the software elements that the image for a cluster or host contains on the Updates tab for that cluster or host.

The Image pane consists of two cards.

The Image card contains information about the image that the cluster or host uses. In that card, you perform all image-related operations. You edit the image, you export the image, you validate your selections, and so on. You can also check and view the recommendations that VMware provides.

The Image Compliance card contains compliance information about the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host. In that card, you perform host-related operations. You check the compliance of the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host, you run remediation pre-checks, you remediate the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host, and so on.

In the Image Compliance card, you edit remediation settings for that cluster or host and manage depot overrides.

Edit a vSphere Lifecycle Manager Image

For a cluster or host that you manage with a single image, you can edit the image at any time to add, remove, or update an image element. For example, you can edit the image to update the vendor add-on version that it includes, to add or remove a driver, to upgrade the ESXi version in the image, and so on.

Working with Image Drafts
When you edit an image, vSphere Lifecycle Manager saves the working copy of the image as a draft. The draft is an edited but unsaved version of an image. If you edit an image but for some reason you do not save the new image set-up, when you restart editing the image, you can use the saved draft version as a starting point or you can altogether discard the changes that you previously made.
Validation

You can validate an image draft before you save it. Validation checks whether the image is correct and complete. During validation, vSphere Lifecycle Manager checks for missing dependencies and conflicting components. In case of issues, vSphere Lifecycle Manager returns messages with information about the existing issues. You must resolve all issues before you can save the image.

Editing an image and validating a draft before saving it are supported operations for clusters with hosts or standalone hosts that have a DPU device. During validation, vSphere Lifecycle Manager validates both the VIBs that are applicable to the ESXi version on the host and to the ESXi version on a DPU device.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have the proper privileges. See vSphere Lifecycle Manager Privileges For Using Images.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster or host that you manage with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
  2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image.
  3. In the Image card, click the Edit button.
  4. In the Edit Image card, modify the image set-up.
    Image Element Possible Modifications
    ESXi Version From the ESXi Version drop-down menu, select a new ESXi base image.
    Vendor Addon
    • To add a vendor add-on to the image, click Select and select a vendor add-on.
    • To change the version of the vendor add-on in the image or to select a new vendor add-on, click the pencil icon and make your changes.
    • To remove the vendor add-on from the image altogether, click the trash icon.
    Firmware and Drivers Addon
    • To add a firmware add-on to the image, click Select. In the Select Firmware and Drivers Addon dialog box, specify a hardware support manager and select a firmware add-on to add to the image.
    • To select a new firmware add-on, click the pencil icon and make your changes.
    • To remove the firmware add-on element from the image altogether, click the trash icon.

    Selecting a firmware add-on for a family of vendor servers is possible only if the respective vendor-provided hardware support manager is registered as an extension to the vCenter Server where vSphere Lifecycle Manager runs.

    Components Click Show details and view the list of additional components in the image.
    • To add components to the image, click Add Components and select the components and their corresponding versions to add to the image.
      Caution: If your vCenter Server instance and all ESXi hosts in the cluster are of version 8.0 Update 3 or later, you can select and retain a lower version for an additional component that is part of the ESXi base image. To avoid critical errors on any of the hosts in the cluster, make sure you perform thorough testing of the customized image before remediating the cluster.
    • To delete a component from the image, click the trash icon in the table with components.
      Caution: If your vCenter Server instance and all ESXi hosts in the cluster are of version 8.0 Update 3 or later, you can remove the VMware Host Client and ESXi VM Tools components from the base image. To avoid critical errors on any of the hosts in the cluster, make sure you perform thorough testing of the customized image before remediating the cluster.
    • To delete a manually added component that overrides a component in the selected vendor add-on or base image, click the undo icon in the table with components.

      This action reverts the override.

  5. (Optional) To validate the image, click the Validate button.
    You validate an image to check for missing dependencies and component conflicts.
  6. Click Save.
    The save operation triggers validation. If the image is valid, vSphere Lifecycle Manager saves it and runs a compliance check against the new image. You can view compliance information in the Image Compliance card.

    If the image is invalid, saving the image fails and vSphere Lifecycle Manager returns an error.

Results

The new image is validated and displayed in the Image card. vSphere Lifecycle Manager performs an automatic hardware compatibility check against the new image.

If there are recommended images generated for the cluster or host, those recommendations become invalidated and updated. vSphere Lifecycle Manager automatically generates a new recommendation based on the new image.

Export or Import a vSphere Lifecycle Manager Image

You can reuse an image that you already set up for a cluster by exporting it and importing it to another cluster in the same or different vCenter Server instance. Depending on your goal, the image can be exported, distributed, and consumed in three different formats.

You can export the image of a cluster as an ISO image, ZIP file, or a JSON file.

You can import an image to a cluster that uses vSphere Lifecycle Manager images only in the JSON format.

In vSphere 8.0, the export and import operations work for clusters with hosts that have DPU devices.

ISO Image

Distributing an image created with vSphere Lifecycle Manager in an ISO format is useful when you need the image to perform clean installs of ESXi and for bootstrapping purposes, for example the kickstart workflow.

You cannot use an image exported as an ISO file with another cluster that uses vSphere Lifecycle Manager images.

ZIP File

Distributing an image created with vSphere Lifecycle Manager as an offline bundle is useful when you want to import the components that the image contains into the depot of the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance.

Unlike the ISO image, you cannot use a ZIP file to create upgrade baselines. You also cannot use the ZIP file to create a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image for a cluster.

JSON File

Distributing an image created with vSphere Lifecycle Manager as a JSON file is useful when you want to reuse the same image for other clusters that use images for host management.

When you distribute the JSON file to clusters in a different vCenter Server instance, you must make sure that the depot of the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance contains all components that the JSON file contains.

The JSON file contains only metadata and not the actual software payloads.

Which Distribution Format to Choose?

To reuse an existing image for a cluster in the same vCenter Server system, you must export the image as a JSON file and then import the JSON file to the target cluster.

However, when you want to use an existing image for a cluster in another vCenter Server instance, exporting the image as a JSON file might not be enough. You might also need to export the image as a ZIP file. At the target location, you must import the JSON file as an image to the target cluster. But you might also need to import the ZIP file to the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot to make sure that all components included in the image are available to the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance.

To reuse an existing cluster image for a cluster that you manage with baselines, you must export the source image as an ISO image. You must then import the ISO image into the local depot of the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance and use the imported ISO file to create an upgrade baseline.

Export an Image

You export an image when you want to use the same image for another cluster or standalone host in the same or in a different vCenter Server instance.

Depending on your goals, you can export an image as a JSON file, as an installable ISO image, or as an offline bundle that contains all software packages included in the image. The export format depends on your needs and goals.

For example, if you intend to use the image for a cluster or host in another vCenter Server, you must export it as a JSON file and as a ZIP file. Afterwards, you must import both the JSON file and the ZIP file to the target vCenter Server system. For information about importing updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot, see Import Updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have the proper privileges. See vSphere Lifecycle Manager Privileges For Using Images.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster or host that you manage with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
  2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image.
  3. Click the horizontal ellipsis icon and select Export.
  4. In the Export Image dialog box, select a file format, and click Export.
    You can export the image in one file format at a time.

Results

The exported file is saved on your local machine.

What to do next

Import the image to a target cluster or standalone host in the same or in a different vCenter Server instance.

Import an Image

Instead of setting up a new image manually, you can reuse an existing image by importing it to a cluster or a standalone host. Upon remediation, the imported image is applied to all hosts in the cluster or to the standalone host.

You can import an image only if it is in a JSON format. The JSON file contains only the image metadata, but not the actual software payloads. To successfully import an image to a cluster or host and apply the software specification to the hosts in the cluster or to the standalone host, all the components must specified in the image be available in the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot.

So, if you want to distribute and reuse an image across vCenter Server instances, importing the JSON file might not be enough if the components from the image are not available in the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot. In such cases, before you import the JSON file to the target cluster or host, you must first import an offline bundle that contains all components included in the image to the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot. If you try to import a JSON file to a cluster or host but the target vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot does not contain the corresponding components, the import operation fails due to validation errors.

For information about importing updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot, see Import Updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster or host that you manage with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
  2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image.
  3. Click the horizontal ellipsis icon and select Import.
  4. In the Import Image dialog box, select a JSON file and click Next.
    • Enter a URL address to the JSON file that you want to import.
    • Browse to a JSON on your local machine.
  5. (Optional) In the Edit Image card, modify the image set-up.
    Image Element Possible Modifications
    ESXi Version From the ESXi Version drop-down menu, select a new ESXi base image.
    Vendor Addon
    • To add a vendor add-on to the image, click Select.
    • To change the version of the vendor add-on in the image or to select a new vendor add-on, click the pencil icon.
    • To remove the vendor add-on element from the image altogether, click the trash icon .
    Firmware and Drivers Addon
    • To add a firmware add-on to the image, click Select.
    • To select a new firmware add-on, click the pencil icon.
    • To remove the firmware add-on element from the image altogether, click the trash icon.

    Selecting a firmware add-on for a family of vendor servers is possible only if the respective vendor-provided hardware support manager is registered as an extension to the vCenter Server where vSphere Lifecycle Manager runs.

    Components Click Show details and view the list of additional components in the image.
    • To add components to the image, click Add Components and select components to add to the image.
    • To delete a component from the image, click the trash icon in the table with components.
    • To delete a manually added component that overrides a component in the selected vendor add-on, click the undo icon in the table with components.

      This action reverts the override.

  6. If the image contains conflicting components or unresolved dependencies, resolve the issues and retry the procedure.
  7. (Optional) To validate the image, click the Validate button.
    You validate an image to check for missing dependencies and component conflicts.
  8. Click Save.
    A compliance check task is automatically triggered. You can view compliance information in the Image Compliance card.

Results

The imported JSON file is imported and set as your new image for the target cluster or host. At that stage, nothing is installed on the hosts in the cluster or on the standalone host. The installation of software on the hosts happens during remediation.

What to do next

Remediate the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host against the new image. See Run a Remediation Pre-Check for a Cluster, a Host Within a Cluster, or a Standalone Host and Remediate a Cluster Against a Single Image.