Publish Layered Images (MCS for Nutanix AHV)

In this article:

A Layered Image is a virtual machine that Unidesk has composited from the Layers and settings specified in an Image Template. You can publish one or more Layered Images to Nutanix Acropolis, and add each one to a collection, provisioning service, or other method for provisioning your systems.

Prerequisites

• Create Image Templates (MCS for Nutanix AHV)

• Specify a script to run when you publish Layered Images (optional)

  If you want the VM to shut down on its own, you can specify a script to run when publishing the Layered Image. For details about enabling and using Scripts, see MCS for Nutanix AHV Connector Configuration.

Publish a Layered Image

1. In the Images module, select one or more Image Templates to publish.

2. From the Action menu, select Publish Layered Image.

3. On the Confirm and Complete page, select Publish Layered Images. For each template, this starts a task called, Publishing Layered Image. When each task completes, the task description provides the information you need to navigate to the image in your environment.

    

4. Use the information in the expanded Packaging Disk Task shown above to navigate to the location in Nutanix AHV where the Layered Image has been published.

5. In the Prism console, power on the Packaging Machine VM. This enables the Guest OS to run and execute any Layer scripts via Unidesk's kmssetup.cmd functionality.

   You can use scripts to perform important Layer-specific steps, for example, activating Microsoft Office, which may need to be done before the VM is used to create or update an MCS catalog.

   Note: You can execute Layer scripts using Unidesk's kmssetup.cmd functionality, Unidesk's Run-once script support, or even manual execution.

6. Once the VM is in the desired state the VM must be shut down. If you need to shut it down manually, do so now. Otherwise, wait for the script you've configured to do so.

   When using the MCS for Nutanix AHV connector, once the VM is shutdown, a snapshot is taken to preserve the state of the VM for use in MCS. The snapshot name is prefixed with "XD_" and contains the name of the VM. This is required for the MCS for Nutanix AHV plugin and enables MCS administrators to easily identify the published Layer VM/snapshot. If the job is canceled while the connector is waiting for the VM to shutdown, the VM will not be deleted as part of the cleanup, in case you want to keep the VM and perform additional steps to prepare it for MCS.

Next Step

Next you can move the image to a collection or other location for provisioning servers.