You can modify the settings in an existing Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) template. The updated settings will be incorporated into new virtual machines that you create from the template, however, the updated template will not affect existing virtual machines that you created previously from the template.

When you modify an existing template, there are additional properties than those available when creating the template in the New Template Wizard. Use the following procedure to navigate to a specific template and to modify template properties.

To modify the properties of a template
  1. In Library view, expand the Library Server node in the navigation pane, navigate to the library server on which the template is stored, click VMs and Templates, and then double-click the template.

  2. On the General tab, modify any of the following fields.

    • Name (required). Identifies the template to Virtual Machine Manager.

    • Description (optional). Describes the characteristics and purpose of this template.

    • Owner (required). Identifies the Active Directory domain account of the owner of this template.

    • Cost Center (optional). Specifies the cost center for a virtual machine created from this template. Identifying a cost center enables you to collect data about the allocation of virtual machines (or resources allocated to virtual machines) by cost center.

    • Tag (optional). Specifies a word or phrase that you can use to group specific virtual machines as a set. You can use the tag as a filter to search for that set of virtual machines.

  3. On the Hardware Configuration tab, Use the procedures available in one or more of the following topics to modify hardware components on this template.

    • Startup Order—Select the order of devices to start the operating system.

    • CPU Requirements—Specify the processor requirements of a virtual machine on a new host.

    • Memory—Specify the amount of memory to allocate on a host for a new virtual machine.

    • Floppy Drive—Configure the virtual floppy drive to read a physical floppy disk on the host or to read a virtual floppy disk file stored in the library.

    • DVD or CD Drive—Add a virtual DVD or CD drive to an IDE bus.

    • Virtual Hard Disk—Add a virtual hard disk to an IDE device or a SCSI adapter.

    • Network Adapters—Configure one or more virtual network adapters for a virtual machine.

    • Priority and Availability—Configure how CPU resources are allocated and whether virtual machines are highly available.

  4. On the OS Configuration tab, use the procedures available in one or more of the following topics to modify the guest operating system components.

  5. On the Custom Properties tab, add or modify the custom fields.

    • Custom 1Custom 10 (optional). You can add up to 10 custom properties to virtual machines created with this template by typing values in the Custom fields. In the Administrator Console, you can add columns for custom properties to the results pane and sort or group your virtual machines by those properties.

      Note
      For more information about custom properties, including methods to add custom properties to virtual machine displays in the Administrator Console, see How to Add and Display Custom Properties for a Host.
  6. On the Settings tab, add or modify the following setting.

    • Quota Points (optional; used only for self-service users who share a self-service policy). You can specify a value for the Quota Points setting if the virtual machines created with this template are for self-service users. You can use quota points to limit the number of virtual machines that self-service users can deploy at one time. The quota applies to all virtual machines deployed on a host, including virtual machines that are not currently running.

      The simplest schema is setting a limit of one point per virtual machine. For example, if you assign one point for each virtual machine and assign a quota of 5, the self-service user or members of the self-service group can own up to 5 virtual machines. In this example, a point is consumed each time a user creates a virtual machine and is returned each time a user stores a virtual machine, deletes a virtual machine, or assigns a virtual machine to a new owner.

See Also


For the most up-to-date Help information, go to the Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Help Online. To find additional Virtual Machine Manager 2008 documentation, go to the Virtual Machine Manager 2008 TechCenter Library.