You can use templates to create new virtual machines repeatedly with standardized hardware and software settings. Self-service users must use assigned templates to create their virtual machines.

A virtual machine template is a library resource consisting of the following parts:

• Hardware profile. To define a standard set of hardware settings, you can create a hardware profile and associate it with a template. When you create a new template or create a virtual machine from a template, you can specify the virtual hardware settings or reuse an existing hardware profile from the library. Like operating system profiles, hardware profiles are logical entities that are stored in the database. For more information, see Working with Hardware Profiles
  
  
• Virtual hard disk. You can use a generalized virtual hard disk from the library or create a virtual hard disk from an existing virtual machine. If the source virtual machine for your template has multiple virtual hard disks, select the disk that contains the operating system. To simplify the generalization process, include Virtualization Guest Services (such as Virtual Machine Additions or Integration Components) in your template. For more information, see How to Create a Template from a Virtual Hard Disk
  
  
• Guest operating system profile. To use the same product key, administrator password, time zone, etc. in a set of templates, you can create a guest operating system profile and store it in the library. When you create a new template or create a virtual machine from a template, you can specify the settings manually or use an operating system profile associated with your answer files. For more information, see Working with Guest Operating Systems.
  
  

  Note
  Optionally, you can create a template with no operating system profile.  This template will not be customized and must be set up manually by the user.

When you start the New Virtual Machine Wizard and select a template from the library, the virtual machine settings will be set to those specified in the template. You can override the settings if you choose.

Note
If you create a new virtual machine from a template, you cannot store the virtual machine in the library but must place it on a host. That is because the customization step cannot be completed offline.

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