You can perform various tasks with the items in a content library. For example, you can synchronize an item from a subscribed library to download all its contents and use the item to deploy a virtual machine. You can delete items you no longer need to use, and so on.

Each template or other type of file in a content library is a library item. An item can contain a single file or multiple files. For example, when you add an OVF template to the library, you actually upload all the files that are associated with the template, but in the vSphere Client you only see one library item of the OVF Template type.

Update a Content Library Item

Managing and keeping your virtual environment up-to-date might require you to update the content of a library item. For example, you can directly update a template when you want to add a patch to it, instead of deleting the existing template and creating a new one.

You cannot update the contents of a subscribed library. In local and published libraries, you can update only templates of the OVF Template type.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have the Content Library Administrator role.

Note: You can update only templates from the OVF and OVA Templates type. Updating templates from the VM Templates type is not supported.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
  2. Click a content library and select the file that you want to update.
    • From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Update Item.
    • From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Update Item.
    The Update Library Item dialog box opens.
  3. In the Source section, select a file to overwrite the item in your library with.
    Option Description
    URL Enter the URL to a web server where the item is stored .
    Browse Navigate to an item that is stored on your local system.
  4. (Optional) In the Destination section, change the name of the item, the description of the item, or both. Click OK.

Results

The content of the item is updated. On the Summary tab for the item, you can view the time of the last update of the item.

Export an Item from a Content Library to Your Local Computer

You might need to export an item from a content library to your local system.

Prerequisites

Required privilege: Content library.Download files on the library.
Note: You can export only items from the OVF and OVA Templates type. Exporting items from the VM Templates type is not supported.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
  2. Select a content library.
  3. Select the type of file you want to export.
    • From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Export Item.
    • From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Export Item.
  4. In the Export Library Item dialog box click OK.
  5. If you are exporting an OVF template, you are prompted to save each file associated with the template to the browser download location (for example, .vmdk and .mf files).

Clone Library Items from One Library to Another Library

You can clone a template from one content library to another in the same vCenter Server instance. The cloned template is an exact copy of the original template.

When cloning a template between libraries, you can select the source library to also be a destination library in the clone wizard.

A subscribed library can be the source of an item you want to clone, but you cannot clone items to a subscribed library. The subscribed libraries are filtered out from the list with destination libraries in the Clone Library Item dialog box. When the source library of an item you want to clone is a subscribed library with the setting to download items only when needed, the item is first downloaded to the source subscribed library and then cloned to the destination library.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
  2. Click a content library and click the Templates tab.
  3. Right-click a template and select Clone Item.
    The Clone Library Item dialog box opens.
  4. (Optional) Change the name and notes for the item you clone.
  5. From the list of content libraries, select the library in which you want to clone the template and click OK.
    You can select the destination library to be the same as the source library if you want to have identical copy of the template in the same library.

Results

A new task for cloning the template appears in the Recent Tasks pane. After the task is complete, a clone of the template appears on the Templates tab of the destination content library.

What to do next

Deploy a virtual machine from template on a host or a cluster in your vSphere inventory.

Edit a Content Library Item

Edit a library item to change its name, description or tag properties.

You can edit items only in a local library, regardless of whether it is published or not. Library items in subscribed libraries cannot be modified.

You can edit both VM templates and OVF templates.

Prerequisites

Required privileges on the library:
  • Content library.Update library item
  • Content library.Update local library

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
  2. Open a local library by clicking its name.
  3. Navigate the library item to edit.
    • To edit a template, click the Templates tab.
    • To edit another type of file, click the Other Types tab.
  4. Right-click the item and select your task from the context menu.
    • To edit the description of the item, select Edit Notes.
    • To rename the item, select Rename.
    • To assign a tag to the item, select Tags > Assign Tag.
    • To remove a tag from the item, select Tags > Remove Tag.

Delete a Content Library Item

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 completely delete a library item such as a template.

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 Client you can delete an item altogether.

Prerequisites

Required privileges
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. Select Menu > Content Libraries.
  2. Click a content library, select the type of item, and select the task you want to perform with the item.
  3. From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Delete.
  4. From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Delete.