Intro
Welcome to Part 3 of the NSX-T AVI/ALB Lab In the previous post, we covered configuring the permissions and users needed.
In this post we’ll cover the creation of the vCenter content library.
What is a content library?
Content libraries are container objects for VM and vApp templates and other types of files, such as ISO images, text files, and so on. You can use the templates in the library to deploy virtual machines and vApps in the vSphere inventory. You can also use content libraries to share content across vCenter Server instances in the same or different locations. Sharing templates and files results in consistency, compliance, efficiency, and automation in deploying workloads at scale.
A content library stores and manages content in the form of library items. A single library item can consist of one file or multiple files. For example, the OVF template is a set of files (.ovf, .vmdk, and .mf). When you upload an OVF template to the library, you upload the entire set of files, but the result is a single library item of the OVF Template type.
Why do we need it?
In order for Avi to deploy Service Engines (SEs) we need a content library on the vCenter, the Avi Controller uploads the Service Engine image to the content library on the VC and then uses it to create new VM every time a new Service Engine is required.
Content Library Creation
First off log into the vCenter 😉 then navigate to Content Libraries either from the menu or via the home page.
Now click the Create button
Enter a name and select the correct vCenter then click NEXT
Make sure Local content library is selected then click NEXT
Select the datastore that you want to use for the library then click NEXT
Review the settings then click FINISH
Thats all there is to it, when we deploy the Controller we will configure it to use this content library, the first time we deploy a virtual service it will upload the SE OVA and then deploy the VM automatically 🙂
AVI/ALB NSX-T Lab Part 4: – NSX-T Segments