There are many ways you can control a VM after it has been deployed. All actions from provisioning to shutting down the VM can be managed directly from the Orchestration Console, through provisioning adapter jobs, and through custom jobs written by the user.
Review the following sections for ways to manage running VMs:
You can perform provisioning actions by right-clicking a VM in the Explorer tree of the Orchestration Console.
For information on provisioning adapters, see Section 2.1, Provisioning a Virtual Machine.
The provisioning actions available from the right-click menu are as follows:
Table 2-2 Right-Click VM Commands
Action |
Description |
---|---|
Provision |
Starts a VM to a running state. The Orchestration Server automatically looks for the best VM host machine to run the VM on, unless you have specifically designated another server to run the VM. If a VM has snapshots, you cannot start the VM on a different host. If a VM that has snapshots is on a shared repository, you can register the VM to a different host and start the VM if the host is also connected to the shared repository. |
Pause |
Prevents the VM from gaining access to the processor of the host machine, although it is still resident in the memory of the host machine. |
Resume |
Allows a paused VM to access the processor of the host machine again. |
Suspend |
Pauses the VM and takes a snapshot of its disk and memory status. In the suspended state, a VM can be moved or migrated to another host machine. NOTE:A suspended VM must be provisioned to make it active again. The action does not perform this function. |
Shutdown |
Stops a VM from running, just like shutting down a physical machine. The operating system stops and acts as if it is shut down. |
Restart |
Shuts down and restarts a running VM. |
Migrate |
vSphere: Migrates the VM from one host machine to another only if both the source and destination host machines have VMotion enabled. VM migrations can be of the following types:
Hyper-V: VM migration is not supported by Cloud Manager Orchestration. Xen: VM migrations can be of the following types:
NOTE:Migration of a Xen VM on Fibre Channel SAN disks is not supported. |
Resync State |
Ensures that the state of the VM displayed in the Orchestration Console is accurate. |
Rediscover VM |
If changes have been made to a virtual machine in the hypervisor’s native management console, that new configuration might not be reflected in Orchestration fact values. The action triggers an Orchestration event that rediscovers the fact configuration of a single VM in the hypervisor and then updates the facts of the counterpart VM Grid Object represented in the Orchestration Server.NOTE:This action is supported only for VMs managed by the KVM hypervisor. |
Save Config |
Requests that the runtime VM configuration be persisted on the VM image for future use. NOTE:If you add a vNIC or a vDisk to a VM, you must initiate the action. Clicking the icon on the Orchestration Console toolbar does not save the change. |
Apply Config |
Updates the VM transient configuration. The VM must be running. |
Create Template (VM only) |
Creates a new template object based on the VM. Other versions of the VM can be cloned from this template. This menu item is replaced by the menu item when you right-click a template VM. |
Clone (VM template only) |
Creates a standalone VM instance from the template but does not power on that instance. This action is unlike the action from a template, which performs a action, powers on the instance, then destroys the VM instance when it is powered off. |
Delete/Destroy Resource |
Removes a VM from the list in the Orchestration Console. If you want to delete the VM from the host machine, select the option.NOTE:If you previously added a vDisk to the VM, it is not deleted with the VM unless the vDisk is marked moveable. |
Move Disk Images |
A “move” is the relocation of VM disk images between two storage devices when the VM is in a not running state (including VMs that are suspended with a checkpoint file). This function does not require shared storage; the move is between separate repositories. Select the storage location from the drop-down menu. You can also move a VM from one VM host machine to another. This is a “cold” migration. VMware Server VMs must be migrated in this manner. If you want to move a VM of considerable size, appropriately increase the timeout fact value in the VM policy. The default value is 2400. For more information on editing the policy, see Section 4.0, Orchestration Provisioning Adapter Information. If a VM has snapshots, you cannot move the VM but you can register it to a different host if the VM and the host are connected to a shared repository. |
Checkpoint |
Creates a named snapshot of a VM image. This image is stored on the disk of the repository machine. Xen VMs cannot have a checkpoint applied to them. All the snapshots of a VM are chronologically listed in the resoruce.vm.snapshots fact, and the latest snapshot is listed in the resource.vm.current_snapshot fact. If the vSphere VM or the Hyper-V VM already has snapshots taken through other management consoles, the snapshots are synchronized with the latest snapshot taken through the Orchestration Console, and are listed in the resource.vm.snapshots fact. |
Restore |
Starts a Checkpoint VM (that is, resumes the operations of a VM made into a stored checkpoint from the moment of storage). If the vSphere VM already has snapshots taken through other management consoles, the snapshots are synchronized with the latest snapshot taken through the Orchestration Console, and are listed in the resource.vm.snapshots fact. |
Remove Template Dependency |
Changes a cloned instance of a VM into a VM instance. |
Install Agent |
Launches a job that automatically installs the Orchestration Agent on a Xen-managed VM the next time you provision the VM. IMPORTANT:If you stop or cancel a running Install Agent job, the VM is locked and you cannot provision the VM. The VM is automatically released after a period of time. |
Personalize |
Allows you to customize the VM. This includes changing elements like the DNS server. The changes are made to a VM that is shut down. This action relates to all guest OS-level changes, not hardware changes. With vSphere, guest customization occurs the next time the VM is powered on. The vSphere administrator must have properly configured the vCenter server to handle sysprep and the VMware tools must be installed to the VM. IMPORTANT:If you stop or cancel a running Personalize job, the VM is locked and you cannot provision the VM. The VM is automatically released after a period of time. |
Shutdown Agent |
Shuts down the Orchestration Agent and makes the VM unavailable as a resource. |
Create Virtual NIC |
Manually creates a vNIC on the VM to configure its network interface configuration by way of a vBridge connection. For more information, see NOTE:You can manually delete the new vNIC after it is created by right-clicking the vNIC object in the Explorer tree, then selecting |
Create Virtual Disk |
Manually creates a vDisk image of a specified size (measured in Mb) to associate to the VM. For more information, see NOTE:You can manually delete the new vDisk after it is created by right-clicking the vDisk object in the Explorer tree, then selecting |
Cancel Action |
Stops an action that has been requested. |
Check Host Assignment |
Opens a window so you can compare the VM hosts capable of hosting the VM. |
Launch Remote Desktop |
Launches a VNC terminal in which you can view and control the VM. Specify the credentials configured for the Web service in the appropriate VM policy. Some provisioning adapters require additional setup before you can launch a remote desktop. For more information about this setup for the vsphere provisioning adapter, see |
If you unsuccessfully attempt to provision a VM whose Host/Repository selection has been designated as Automatic, it is possible that a policy with an authorization constraint has been associated to that VM. In this scenario, no message explaining the restriction is displayed.
To confirm that the provisioning has an authorization constraint:
In the Explorer tree of the Orchestration Console, select the VM that you want to provision.
In the Orchestration Console toolbar, select
to open the provisioning monitor view for that VM.Select the
tab to open the provisioning log.Scan the log to find errors indicating that the VM could not be provisioned because of authorization constraints in its policy.
Although you can create vNICs and vDisks on Windows VMs managed by the Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor, there is a prerequisite for creating or deleting these objects on a Linux VM managed by Hyper-V.
To make these actions work, it is necessary to install Linux Integration Components from Microsoft. For download and installation information, see the Linux Integration Components page at the Microsoft downloads Web site.
When the demand and load on your data center decreases, the Orchestration Server analyzes the remaining resources and releases the most appropriate resource. If a VM meets the requirements of the remaining job demands better than a physical machine, the physical machine is released before the VM is released. This dynamic analysis allows you to make sure that the needs of your data center are met.
A VM template is a special kind of VM that is not deployed separately.
Review the following tasks to manage VM templates:
This section also includes some information about support for the provisioning actions of a VM template created from a Hyper-V VM. See Hyper-V VM Template Actions.
In the Orchestration Console, right-click the VM.
Select
.Name the template.
Specify a repository.
Specify a visible VM host.
Select a recommended host for the VMs to be launched on, if any are present.
Click
.When the instance of the template VM is provisioned, it appears as a sub-branch of the template’s location in the resources tree.
This clone functions as an instance of a VM and runs as though it were its own version with its own MAC address and other unique identifiers. The UUID is the only new information that is automatically generated for the clone. All the rest of the new information comes from autoprep, including the MAC address if an asterisk (*) is placed in the Template dialog box.
field in the section of the tab for the template (the default is a blank field, meaning no MAC address is created), and if the check box is enabled in the Create VM fromIf you decide to keep a clone VM, go to the Cloud Manager Orchestration Console, right-click it, and select
.The Remove Template Dependency dialog box is displayed.
Click
.NOTE:This procedure works only when a VM instance has been cloned from a template. It does not work when a VM instance is provisioned from a template.
VM templates created in the Cloud Manager Orchestration Server from discovered Hyper-V VMs have limited functionality. The following actions are supported in a Hyper-V VM template:
Provision
Move Disk Images
Clone
Delete/Destroy Resource
Resync State
IMPORTANT:Even though the
and actions appear to be legitimate actions on the right-click menu of a Hyper-V VM template (that is, they are not dimmed), these are not supported actions.The following actions are not supported in a Hyper-V VM template:
Save Config
Checkpoint
Restore
Install Agent
Personalize
Create Virtual NIC
Create Virtual Disk
You can perform many actions on the VM through the Orchestration Console, from Cloud Manager itself, or you can write jobs to have actions performed on the VMs in your data center. The following table lists the managed VM actions that you can perform or use in a written job.
Table 2-3 Managed VM Actions
Action |
Description |
---|---|
Provision |
Starts a VM. This action clones and start a cloned VM template. |
Clone |
Creates a new, unique instance of a VM template. |
Cold Migrate |
Moves the storage location of the configuration and first disk files to another physical storage host. This might allow the VM to start faster. |
Shutdown |
Stops an active VM instance (including a started template VM). NOTE:If you manually shut down a running VM (either by logging in to the VM and shutting it down manually or by using any hypervisor-specific tool to shut down the VM), that VM is still displayed in the Orchestration Console as running. If you then choose the action rather than the action for that VM, the Orchestration Server job log shows that the shutdown job fails. This condition always exists unless a Resync operation occurs on the VM or when an Orchestration Agent on the VM relays its current state to the Orchestration Server. |
Delete/Destroy |
Removes a VM from the list in the Orchestration Console. If you want to delete the VM from the host machine, select the option. |
Suspend |
Takes a snapshot of an active VM and pauses it in order to move it to another VM host. |
Pause |
Prevents the VM from obtaining CPU cycles, but it stays resident. |
Resume |
Allows a paused VM to access the CPU again. |
Create Template |
Creates a VM template from a VM instance. |
Hot Migrate |
Changes the association of the VM, which is residing in a shared storage location, from one host machine to another. |
Checkpoint |
Create a named snapshot of a moment that can later be accessed to restart from the same point |
Restore |
Resumes a VM at a previously stored checkpoint. |
Install Orchestrator Agent |
Opens a VM image and installs the Orchestration Agent. |
Make Standalone |
Removes the association of a template and makes the active VM into its own instance. |
Check Status |
Checks the current state of the VM to verify if the VM is provisioned or shut down. |
Personalize |
Modifies the Orchestration Agent properties and disk image that are currently part of a clone. |
Save Config |
Transfers changes made to a VM to its permanent image storage. |
For a detailed breakdown of the actions you can perform on and with a VM, see the appropriate VM technology and configuration section in Section 4.0, Orchestration Provisioning Adapter Information.