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12.6. Creating a Template from an Existing Virtual Machine

Once you have at least one VM set up in the way you want, you can use it as the prototype for other VMs.
  1. Create and start a virtual machine using any of the techniques given in Section 10.4, “Creating VMs”.
  2. Make any desired configuration changes on the running VM, then click Stop.
  3. Wait for the VM to stop. When the status shows Stopped, go to the next step.
  4. Click Create Template and provide the following:
    • Name and Display Text. These will be shown in the UI, so choose something descriptive.
    • OS Type. This helps CloudStack and the hypervisor perform certain operations and make assumptions that improve the performance of the guest. Select one of the following.
      • If the operating system of the stopped VM is listed, choose it.
      • If the OS type of the stopped VM is not listed, choose Other.
      • If you want to boot from this template in PV mode, choose Other PV (32-bit) or Other PV (64-bit). This choice is available only for XenServere:

        Note

        Note: Generally you should not choose an older version of the OS than the version in the image. For example, choosing CentOS 5.4 to support a CentOS 6.2 image will in general not work. In those cases you should choose Other.
    • Public. Choose Yes to make this template accessible to all users of this CloudStack installation. The template will appear in the Community Templates list. See Section 12.5, “Private and Public Templates”.
    • Password Enabled. Choose Yes if your template has the CloudStack password change script installed. See Adding Password Management to Your Templates.
  5. Click Add.
The new template will be visible in the Templates section when the template creation process has been completed. The template is then available when creating a new VM