7.5.4. Assemblies

An assembly is a kind of infrastructure template containing a configuration of multiple virtual machines with their virtual disks and even the inter connectivity between them. Assemblies can be created as a set of .ovf (Open Virtualization Format) and .img (disk image) files, or may all be contained in a single .ova (Open Virtualization Format Archive) file.

To use an assembly, you must first import it into a repository, then create one or more templates from the assembly. You create one virtual machine template for each virtual machine in the assembly. You can then use the template(s) to deploy the virtual machines that originated from the assembly. You cannot deploy all virtual machines in an assembly in one step; you must deploy each virtual machine individually. To perform deployment of all virtual machines, including the associated networking configuration, you should use Oracle Enterprise Manager.

For ease of use, you should use a single .ova file when working with assemblies in Oracle VM. You can also use the .ovf format with the associated disk image files, but you must import all the disk files individually as virtual disks, then import the .ovf file as an assembly before you can use the assembly to create a template.

To import an assembly:

  1. Create or locate an assembly file. This should be a single .ova file, which contains the .ovf descriptive file(s), and disk image file(s) for the assembly. If you do not have the assembly in the archive (.ova) format, but instead have a series of virtual disk images and the .ovf file, you must first import all the virtual disk files, then continue with this procedure to import the .ovf file. See Section 7.5.6, “Virtual Disks” for information on importing virtual disk files.

  2. Place the assembly file in a location accessible from your Oracle VM Manager host computer using either of these protocols: HTTP, HTTPS or FTP.

  3. In the Home view click Server Pools in the navigation pane, then open the Repositories tab in the management pane.

  4. Select the storage repository of your choice and open the Assemblies tab below.

  5. Click Import to open the Import Assembly dialog box. Select an Oracle VM Server from the Server list to perform the import, and enter the URL to the assembly file you want to import.

  6. Click OK to import the assembly file. When the import is complete, the assembly file appears in the table. The virtual machines contained in the assembly are listed in the Assembly Virtual Machines pane.

When the assembly file(s) are imported, you can use the assembly to create a template for each virtual machine in the assembly. Select the assembly and click the Create Template icon in the Assemblies sub-tab to create a template for a virtual machine in the assembly. The template is created in the same repository as the assembly is located. When you have created a template from the assembly, you can use the template to create and deploy virtual machines. See Section 7.5.3.2, “Using a Virtual Machine Template” for information on using a template to create a virtual machine.