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How to create a RHEL 7 template in VSphere ESXi 6.7

October 7, 2019 at 12:07 pm 1 comment

Unlike for Windows , RHEL based template creation requires additional steps to make it work. During this process , I came across very valuable information from the linuxtechi blog . I am summarizing the steps and some additional steps that I followed during the whole. process. ( But , I am not adding the steps that you need to follow in ESXi to convert a VM in to template)

Source: https://www.linuxtechi.com/create-vm-template-ovirt-environment/

Environment Details:

• RHEL 7.3
• ESXi 6.7

+ Create a RHEL 7.3 VM

+ Install the Operating System and all other Packages needed.

+ Yum update it (If you have a valid RHEL subscription).

Thereafter , we need to follow the below steps to generalize the VM by removing any VM specific configuration and you need to do the below:

+ Remove the SSH host keys
# rm -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*

+Clear the history
# history -c

+Clear Yum
#yum clean all

Update#1: In case , if the sys-unconfig command does not work, you must use the virt-sysprep command . Details steps can be found in the below article
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/virtualization_deployment_and_administration_guide/sect-guest_virtual_machine_disk_access_with_offline_tools-using_virt_sysprep

NOTE: VM Customization specification is mandatory to avoid the VM’s getting the same hostids. Steps are as below;

+ Login to the VCenter.
+ Open Policies & Profiles.
+ Select VM Customization Specification.
+ Provide the details , based on your environment.
+ In the Network screen , select “Manually Select Custom Settings”.
+ Click on Add.
+ In the IPv4 section , select ” Prompt the user for an IPv4 address when the
specification is used “.

Good Luck .

Entry filed under: VMware. Tags: Linux, rhel 7.3, rhel vm template, vcenter.