Import an Existing Image (2024)

Table of Contents

Prerequisites Procedure Results What to do next

To take advantage of all new functionalities that vSphere Lifecycle Manager introduces in vSphere 7.0, you must switch to using vSphere Lifecycle Manager images instead of baselines.

If you switch to using images, you cannot revert to using baselines for the cluster. You can move the hosts to another cluster, which uses baselines, but you cannot change the cluster that already uses a single image.

For conceptual information about vSphere Lifecycle Manager images, see vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images.

Prerequisites

Verify that all ESXi hosts in the cluster are of version 7.0 and later.
Verify that all ESXi hosts in the cluster are stateful. A stateful install is one in which the host boots from a disk.
Verify that all ESXi hosts in the cluster are from the same hardware vendor.
Verify that no unintegrated solution is enabled for the cluster.
Verify that you have the proper privileges. See vSphere Lifecycle Manager Privileges For Using Images.

Procedure

In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster that you manage with baselines and baseline groups.
On the Updates tab, click Image.
Click the Import Image button.
The Import Image dialog box appears.
Select a JSON file to import and click Next.
- Click the Browse button and select a JSON file on your local machine.
- Enter a valid URL to a JSON file on a remote web server.
vSphere Lifecycle Manager starts checking if the cluster is eligible for using images. If no problems are reported, the Convert to an Image pane appears. The elements of the imported image appear in the Define Image card.
(Optional) Customize the imported image by changing any of its elements.
(Optional) To validate the image, click the Validate button.
You validate an image to check for missing dependencies and component conflicts.
Click Save.
Saving the image triggers an automatic compliance check. All hosts in the cluster are checked against the image.
In the Convert to an Image pane, finish the image setup.
1. Click the Finish image setup button.
2. In the Finish image setup dialog box, click Yes, finish image setup.

Results

You now manage all hosts in the cluster collectively with a single image for the cluster. Upon remediation, the image is installed on all hosts in the cluster.