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Importing operating-system images

Before you can deploy a licensed operating system to managed servers, you must import the image into the OS images repository.

About this task

For information about operating system images that you can import and deploy, including supported base and custom operating systems, see Supported operating systems.

For ESXi only, you can import multiple ESXi images with same major/minor version to the OS images repository.

For ESXi only, you can import multiple customized ESXi images with same major/minor version and build number to the OS images repository.

When you import an operating system image, XClarity Orchestrator:
  • Ensures that there is sufficient space in the OS-images repository before importing the operating system. If you do not have sufficient space to import an image, delete an existing image from the repository and attempt to import the new image again.
  • Creates one or more profiles of that image and stores the profile in the OS-images repository. Each profile includes the OS image and installation options. For more information about predefined OS image profiles, see Operating-system image profiles.
Note
Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge web browsers have an upload limit of 4 GB. If the file that you are importing is greater than 4 GB, consider using another web browser (such as Chrome or Firefox).

Procedure

To import an operating-system image into the OS-images repository, complete the following steps.

  1. Obtain a licensed ISO image of the operating system.
    Note
    You are responsible for obtaining applicable licenses for the operating system.
  2. From the XClarity Orchestrator menu bar, click Provisioning (Provisioning icon) > OS Deployment, and click the OS Management tab to display the OS Management page.
  3. Click OS Images in the left navigation to display the OS Images card.

    OS Images card
  4. Click the Import Files icon (Import icon) to display the Import OS Images dialog.
  5. Drag and drop the .iso image that you want to import, or click Browse to find the ISO image that you want to import
  6. Optional: Select a checksum type, and copy and paste the checksum value in the provided text field.

    If you select a checksum type, you must specify a checksum value to check the integrity and security of the uploaded OS image. The value must come from a secure source from an organization that you trust. If the uploaded image matches with the checksum value, it is safe to proceed with deployment. Otherwise, you must upload the image again or check the checksum value.

    The following checksum types are supported: MD5, SHA1, and SHA256.

  7. Click Import.

    XClarity Orchestrator uploads the OS image in the OS images repository and add the predefined OS profiles to the OS Profiles tab.

    Tip
    The ISO image is uploaded over a secure network connection. Therefore, network reliability and performance affect how long it takes to import the image.

After you finish

From this page, you can perform the following actions.

  • Delete a selected OS image by clicking the Delete icon (Delete icon).
  • View and edit OS profiles by clicking click XClarity Orchestrator menu bar, click Provisioning (Provisioning icon) > OS Deployment, and click the OS Profiles tab, select the profile, and click the Edit icon (Edit icon) (see Configuring operating-system profiles).
  • Delete OS profiles by clicking click XClarity Orchestrator menu bar, click Provisioning (Provisioning icon) > OS Deployment, and click the OS Profiles tab, select the profiles, and click the Delete icon (Delete icon).
    Note
    If you delete the last remaining predefine profile for an operating system, the operating system is also deleted.