.png?width=100&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "Picture of John Savill")
.png?width=400&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "John Savill")
Sign up for the ITPro Today newsletter
Stay on top of the IT universe with commentary, news analysis, how-to's, and tips delivered to your inbox daily.
Using Customizations for Templates in VMM
Learn how customizations to virtual machine templates can be used in System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
John Savill
June 4, 2013
1 Min Read
Q: I've configured a virtual machine template in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 to install roles, features, and applications--however, they're not applied when I apply the template, why?
A. System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager allows a lot of customization as part of virtual machine (VM) templates. These can include the following:
Specifying answer files
RunOnce commands
Adding Roles and Features
Application configurations such as running scripts, SQL Server data-tier applications, virtual applications, and web applications
All of those customizations except for the answer file apply only if the VM is part of a Service Template. It's possible to have a single VM service template in VMM, which would be a way to utilize this functionality even if you don't want multi-tiered services. If you absolutely don't want to use service templates, then you could try the following:
Use the answer file to perform all the customization
Use a Windows PowerShell script or service such as System Center Orchestrator to perform customization after deployment
Note that for Linux VM templates, the RunOnce commands are used even outside of a Service Template.
About the Author
You May Also Like
.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)