Virtual Images¶

Overview¶

The Virtual Image section displays a list of all images, local and synced, that are available to deploy. HPE Morpheus Software includes a rich catalog of pre-configured System Images available for every cloud type. User Images are automatically synced from Cloud Integrations and added to the Virtual Images section. Images can also be uploaded directly into HPE Morpheus Software via local file or url. Amazon and Azure Marketplace images can also be added to the Virtual Images Section.

Understanding the process of prepping images for consumption in HPE Morpheus Software is a very important step toward building an effective HPE Morpheus Software environment. In addition to the information contained in this section on Virtual Images, it may be helpful to see a complete image prep example walkthrough. Our getting started guide for HPE Morpheus Software and VMware includes a section on preparing images that may provide a helpful example.

Image Types¶

HPE Morpheus Software provides a vast System Image repo with pre-configured images for every Cloud. All other images are User Images. User images can be added directly to HPE Morpheus Software, or automatically synced from integrated clouds. It is important to configure synced User Images for metadata, including specifying the Platform and User Credentials, prior to provisioning. Provisioning a User Image that has not been configured may result in failed provisioning.

Linked Clone Images¶

A linked clone Virtual Image is a record backed by a snapshot of an existing VMware or HVM/KVM VM. Provisioning from it creates a small writable disk that shares the snapshot’s base data, reducing deployment time and initial storage consumption. It is not an independent copy of the source disk.

Linked clone images are created from an Instance’s Backups tab, not from the Virtual Images page. Prepare the guest, create a snapshot, and select More > Create Linked Clone for that snapshot. See the Creating Linked Clone Images section in Storage for the complete workflow and platform constraints.

After creation, edit the record in Library ‣ Virtual Images and verify the inherited operating system, cloud-init or Sysprep, guest customization, agent, credentials, and permissions. Keep the source VM and backing snapshot for as long as the image or provisioned linked-clone VMs are needed.

Configuring Virtual Images¶

System Images¶

System Virtual Images are pre-configured with metadata and have Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init installed. These images are ready to be provisioned with no configuration necessary, however it is required to populate Administration ‣ Settings ‣ Provisioning, Cloud-Init section, with user data as well as User Profile(s) users data when creating additional users prior to provisioning, as the user data from these sections is required when provisioning System provided Virtual Images.

User Images¶

Typically HPE Morpheus Software does not have sufficient metatdata to successfully provision synced User Images. After integrating clouds and User Images have synced, it is highly recommended to configure the images prior to provisioning.

To edit and configure an existing Virtual Image:

1. Select the pencil icon at the right of any row on the Virtual Images list page, or click EDIT on a Virtual Image detail page.

2. Configure the following on the Image:

   Name

   Name of the Virtual Image in HPE Morpheus Software. This can be changed from the name of the image, but editing will not change the name of the actual image

   Operating System

   Specifies the platform and OS of the image. All Windows images will need to have the operating system specified on the Virtual Image, as HPE Morpheus Software will assign Linux as the platform for all images without an operating system specified

   Minimum Memory

   The Minimum Memory setting will filter available Service Plan options during provisioning. Service Plans that do not meet the minimum value set on the Virtual Image will not be provided as Service Plan choices

   Cloud Init Enabled?

   On by default, uncheck for any Image that does not have Cloud-Init installed

   Install Agent?

   On by default, uncheck to skip Agent install. Note this will result in the loss of utilization statistics, logs, script execution, and monitoring. (Some utilization stats are still collected for Agent-less hosts and VMs depending on the cloud)

   Username

   Existing username on the image for authentication. Can be left blank if global default credentials are configured in Administration ‣ Settings ‣ Provisioning (separate defaults exist for Linux and Windows). If Cloud-Init or Guest Customizations are used, credentials from Administration ‣ Settings ‣ Provisioning and User Settings are applied. If credentials are defined on the image and Cloud-Init is enabled, HPE Morpheus Software will add that user during provisioning, so ensure that user does not already exist on the image (such as root). For Windows, do not define any user other than Administrator. HPE Morpheus Software recommends running Guest Customizations for all Windows Images, which is required when joining Domains as the SID will change.

   Password

   Password for the user on the image if username is populated. Can be left blank if global defaults are set in Administration ‣ Settings ‣ Provisioning.

   Bucket

   Location where the Virtual Image will be stored. Default Virtual Image Storage location is /var/opt/morpheus/morpheus-ui/vms. Additional Storage Providers can be configured in Infrastructure > Storage

   Cloud-Init User Data

   Accepts what would go in runcmd and can assume Bash syntax. Example use: Script to configure satellite registration at provision time

   Permissions

   Set Tenant permissions in a multi-tenant HPE Morpheus Software environment. Select private visibility and select specific Tenants to which the Virtual Image will be made available. Select public visibility to share the Virtual Image with all Tenants

   Auto Join Domain?

   Enable to have Instances provisioned with this image auto-join configured domains (Windows only, domain controller must be configured in Infrastructure > Network and the configured domain set on the provisioned to Cloud or Network)

   VirtIO Drivers Loaded?

   Enable if VirtIO Drivers are installed on the image for provisioning to KVM-based hypervisors

   FIPS Compliant Image?

   When selected, HPE Morpheus Software will install the FIPS-compliant HPE Morpheus Software Agent package

   VM Tools Installed?

   On by default, uncheck if guest tools are not installed on the Virtual Image (VMware Tools for VMware, QEMU Guest Agent for HVM). HPE Morpheus Software will skip network wait during provisioning when deselected

   Force Guest Customization?

   Forces guest customizations to run during provisioning. On VMware/VME, transfers unattend via VMware Tools and reboots. On HVM, injects unattend via the guest agent. Requires guest tools to be installed on the image.

   Trial Version

   Enable to automatically re-arm the expiration on Windows Trial Images during provisioning

   Enabled Sysprep?

   Applicable to multiple Clouds, including VMware vCenter, SCVMM, Nutanix, Hyper-V, KVM, and Google GCP. Enable if the Windows Image has been sysprepped. If enabled, HPE Morpheus Software will inject unattend.xml

3. Click Save Changes

Provisioning Images¶

When provisioning a system image, HPE Morpheus Software will stream the image from Amazon S3 to the target Cloud if the image is not local to the Cloud.

When using images that already exist in the destination Cloud, such as synced, marketplace, or previously copied images, no image stream from S3 through the HPE Morpheus Software Appliance to the destination cloud will take place.

Add Virtual Image¶

Virtual Images can be upload to HPE Morpheus Software from local files or URL’s. Amazon and Azure Marketplace metadata can also be added to the Virtual Images library, enabling the creation of custom catalog Instance Type from Marketplace images (no image is transferred to HPE Morpheus Software when adding Marketplace images).

To Add Virtual Image:

1. Select + Add in the Virtual Images page.

2. Select Image format:

   • Alibaba

   • Amazon AMI

   • Azure Marketplace

   • Digital Ocean

   • ISO

   • PXE Boot

   • QCOW2

   • RAW

   • VHD

   • VMware (vmdk/ovf/ova)

3. Configure the Virtual Image settings (see Configuring Virtual Images above for a description of each option).

4. Upload Image

   Images can be uploaded by File or URL:

   File

   Drag and Drop the image file, or select Add File to select the image file.

   Url

   Select the URL radio button, and enter URL of the Image.

   Note

   The Virtual Image configuration can be saved when using a URL and the import will finish in the background. When selecting or dragging and dropping a file, the browser upload must complete before saving the Virtual Image record or the Image will not be valid.

   Choose the source method based on where the image is available:

   • Use File when the image is on your workstation. Keep the browser session connected until the file upload completes.

   • Use URL when the image is available from an HTTP or HTTPS endpoint that the HPE Morpheus Software Appliance can resolve and reach. The appliance retrieves the image after the record is saved, so the browser does not carry the image data.

   Transfer duration depends on image size, the path between the source and the appliance, available bandwidth, and the selected Storage Provider. URL import can avoid a slow workstation, VPN, or browser path, but it does not guarantee a faster transfer. Use only a trusted endpoint and verify the image checksum against its publisher-provided value before use.

   If an import appears stalled, do not create a second Virtual Image immediately. Check the Virtual Image status, available capacity on the selected Storage Provider, appliance reachability to a URL source, and any proxy or TLS errors in the appliance logs. Retry only after confirming the first transfer has failed.

5. Save Changes.

Multi-Disk QCOW2 Images for HVM/KVM¶

HVM/KVM supports Virtual Images containing multiple QCOW2 disks. Upload every QCOW2 file and a JSON manifest named exactly metadata.json as files on the same Virtual Image. The manifest maps each QCOW2 file to its guest device, disk size, and order.

Without metadata.json, HPE Morpheus Software treats a QCOW2 Virtual Image as a single-disk image even when multiple QCOW2 files have been uploaded.

The following example defines a 50 GiB boot disk and a 100 GiB data disk:

{
  "disks": [
    {
      "file": "root.qcow2",
      "capacity": 53687091200,
      "guestDeviceName": "vda",
      "position": 0,
      "name": "root",
      "boot": true
    },
    {
      "file": "data.qcow2",
      "capacity": 107374182400,
      "guestDeviceName": "vdb",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "data"
    }
  ]
}

Disk records are sorted by controller bus number, unit number, and then position. For a basic manifest without controller fields, position determines the order. Use distinct filenames, positions, and guest device names to avoid ambiguous mappings.

Only disks and a resolvable file value are strictly needed for file discovery, but include the recommended fields shown above so HPE Morpheus Software can build predictable disk capacities, devices, and ordering.

To upload a multi-disk QCOW2 image:

1. Navigate to Library > Virtual Images and click + ADD.

2. Select QCOW2 as the image format.

3. Configure the Virtual Image, including Operating System, Cloud-Init, Agent, credentials, VirtIO, and guest tools settings as appropriate for the image.

4. Select File upload. Multi-disk upload requires adding multiple files to the same Virtual Image.

5. Upload every referenced .qcow2 file and wait for each upload to complete.

6. Upload metadata.json last. Uploading the manifest triggers disk-map processing, so all referenced disk files must already be present.

7. Confirm the file list contains metadata.json and every filename referenced by its disks array.

8. Save the Virtual Image and wait for its status to become Active.

9. Open the Virtual Image details and verify that every disk is present with the expected capacity, device order, and root disk before provisioning.

Troubleshooting multi-disk uploads:

• Only one disk is shown: Confirm the file is named exactly metadata.json, contains a top-level disks array, and was uploaded after all QCOW2 files.

• A disk is missing: Confirm its file value exactly matches a unique uploaded filename and includes the .qcow2 extension.

• Disk capacity is wrong: Confirm capacity is in bytes rather than GiB. Multiply GiB by 1073741824.

• Wrong disk boots: Set boot to true on the intended root disk and ensure its ordering fields do not conflict with another disk.

• Device order is wrong: Use sequential position values and matching guestDeviceName values such as vda, vdb, and vdc.

• Manifest is ignored or the image remains invalid: Validate the file as JSON, ensure there are no comments or trailing commas, and upload the corrected manifest after the disk files.

Virtual Image Options — Cloud Applicability¶

Not all Virtual Image settings apply to all cloud types. The following matrix clarifies which options have an effect depending on the target cloud. Options marked as having no effect are ignored during provisioning to that cloud type.

Import an HVM Instance as an Image¶

Before selecting Actions > Import as Image for an HVM VM installed from ISO, verify that the guest boots from its installed disk and eject the installation ISO. The import excludes ISO volumes and exports the installed disks.

Existing file-based snapshots do not need to be deleted before import. When a disk has a qcow2 backing chain, HPE Morpheus Software copies and merges the chain into a temporary export disk without modifying the VM’s existing snapshots. Other supported storage backends create their own temporary export snapshot.

After the import finishes, verify that the resulting Virtual Image contains metadata.json and every disk file referenced by the manifest. A Virtual Image record or metadata file without the referenced disk files is incomplete, even if its status is Active. Leave the source VM and snapshots unchanged and contact Support with the HVM version, storage backend, snapshot list, and import process output. Deleting an existing snapshot is not a required import step and should not be used as an import workaround.

VMware - VM Templates Copies¶

In a VMware environment, you may have a single VM template that you use across different vCenters. Uploading an image to HPE Morpheus Software, mentioned in the Add Virtual Image section, is one method to solve this. Alternatively, an organization may decide to create a VM template in one vCenter and then transfer it to other vCenters, which then could be sync’d into HPE Morpheus Software.

If all the vCenters are added as Clouds into HPE Morpheus Software and the templates are named the same in each vCenter, they will be aggregated under a single virtual image in HPE Morpheus Software. This means that as you deploy to the various vCenter Clouds in HPE Morpheus Software using this virtual image, it will choose the correct VM template to use based on the Cloud deployed to.

This eliminates the need for creating multiple Node Types for each virtual image if the templates were named differently in each vCenter. This can reduce the overhead of maintaining multiple Node Types and reduces user selections. As well, this can reduce the cloning time of VMs by avoiding network transfers of images between geographic locations, ensuring the closest VM template is selected.

HPE Morpheus Software supports VMware Content Libraries storing VM templates and syncing into HPE Morpheus Software, the same as a template in a folder. Additionally, the Content Library can be used to house the same template in multiple libraries. If they have the same name, these templates will be aggregated under a single virtual image. If the Content Library is stored on a datastore that the target host/cluster has access to, it will use that library first, to reduce the cloning time. If the Content Library is not stored in a datastore accessible by the cluster/host, a copy of the VM template will be performed to the target host/cluster instead.