Build & Manage a vApp – VCP4 Objective 5.3

Today we continue along with the VCP4 Blueprint coverage (other objective 5.3 posts here and here). In this post we’ll wrap up 3.5 with some final coverage on vApps, specifically building and managing vApps in the vSphere 4 client when it is connected to vCenter server. Sound like fun? No? Trust me, it is.

With all the talk of vApp, we have not talked about what they are and when you would use them. So let us start there. From the ‘”vSphere Basic System Administration Guide”:

A vApp is a container, like a resource pool and can contain one or more virtual machines. In addition, a vApp also shares some functionality with virtual machines. A vApp can power on and power off, and can also be cloned.

A vApp is similar in concept to “Teams” from VMware Workstation.

Where does a vApp Live? It lives in the vCenter database, so that the vApp can be distributed across multiple hosts. This means however, that should the database be lost, or one of the hosts containing the vApp drop off, you can lose part or all of the vApp. So backing it up regularly to an OVF package is recommended.

Building a vApp

Note: vApps can be build on folders, hosts, resource pools, other vApps, and DRS clusters

In our example we’re creating this on a host. Right click, New vApp:

It then gets a name, resource allocation (like a resource pool) and then we’re done:

Create/Add VMs to a vApp

Right clicking the vApp brings up a very familiar menu:

Existing VMs can also be dragged in, here is what the vApp looks like with some VMs added:

Awesome, no? Moving right along, now we edit the properties.

Editing vApp Properties

The settings menu for a given vApp can be had by right clicking the vApp and selecting “Edit Settings…” (would it be anything else?) Once there we have a few options we can play with, shown below is the “Advanced” section. I encourage you to further explore:

Updated: I was having a conversation via e-mail with David Davis @ Trainsignal on this post. It was pointed out that vApps cannot be made on normal folders from the default “Hosts and Clusters” view. This is correct. However, there is another type of folder, the Blue folder. A Blue folder? Yes. Switch your inventory view to “VMs and Templates” and then create the Blue Folder & the vApp:

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line in the comments or via twitter (@cody_bunch)