Objective 5.4 of VCAP6-Deploy exam covers following topics:

• Create a Global User
• Create a Content Library
• Subscribe to a Content Library
• Configure a Content Library for space efficiency
• Synchronize a subscribed Content Library

                                                             Create a Global User

vSphere objects inherit permissions from a parent object in the hierarchy. Content libraries work in the context of a single vCenter Server instance. However, content libraries are not direct children of a vCenter Server system from an inventory perspective. The direct parent for content libraries is the global root.

This means that if you set a permission at a vCenter Server level and propagate it to the children objects, the permission applies to data centers, folders, clusters, hosts, virtual machines, and so on, but does not apply to the content libraries that you see and operate with in this vCenter Server instance. 

To allow a user to manage a content library and its items, an administrator can assign the Content Library Administrator role to that user as a global permission. The Content Library Administrator role is a sample role in the vSphere Web Client.  

Users who are administrators can also manage libraries and their contents. If a user is an administrator at a vCenter Server level, they have sufficient privileges to manage the libraries that belong to this vCenter Server instance, but cannot see the libraries unless they have a Read-Only role as a global permission.

To add a new global user login to Web Client and navigate to Administration > Global Permissions > Manage > Add.  

Select a user from your domain and click on add button.

Assign Content library administrator role to the user. 

                                                           Create a Content Library

To create a new content library, login to Web Client and navigate to Home > Content Library > Create a new content library. 

Provide a name and optional description for the library. 

Library can be configured as either a Local Content Library or a Subscribed Content Library. A local content library is accessible only in the vCenter Server instance where you create it.

If you want contents from local library to be available to other vCenter servers then select “Published content library” option. Also if you want, you can protect the acess to local content library by defining password. 

Subscribed libraries are libraries published externally on another vCenter, you must enter a URL and enter the authentication password should it be setup.

For purpose of demonstration, I am creating library as published content library on my source site and I am enforcing password for library access.

Choose storage location where you want to store library items and hit finish.

You can now import vApp templates, iso files etc in your content library 

                                                     Subscribe to a Content Library

This is a content library that is subscribed to a published content library. You can sync the subscribed library with the published library to see up-to-date content, but you cannot add or remove content from the subscribed library. Only an administrator of the published library can add, modify, and remove contents from the published library.

To subscribe to the content library you can copy the content library link and use it to subscribe to from the remote vCenter. Select the content library > Summary and copy the link.

On another vCenter instance, create a new content library and provide a name and optional description.

Select type as “Subscribed content library” and paste the link which we copied earlier. Also check mark “Enable authentication” and enter the same password which was used while creating local library in source site. 

Select the storage location where library items will be placed.

Review your settings and hit finish.

After some time you will see same items in your newly created library that was present in local library at source site.

                                         Configure a Content Library for space efficiency

When creating a subscribed library you have the option to download all the contents or download only metadata for the items from the published library. If you download only metadata for the items in a subscribed library, you save storage space. To save space don’t use automatic Sync you can manually synchronize a subscribed library.

To configure this, choose Download library content only when needed option while creating a library. You ca also edit settings of an existing library to change this value. 

                                             Synchronize a subscribed Content Library

You can do a manual sync between the 2 libraries by selecting a library and clicking on Synchronize library from Actions menu.

By default a synchronised library will be configured to automatically synchronise.

To change this automatic synchronisation from being enabled by default, you need to change the settings for the Content Library Service.  To change this login to vSphere Web Client and navigate to Administration > System Configuration > Services > Content Library Service  and change the value of Library Auto Sync Enabled to false.

You can also change the auto sync refresh intervals and start and stop times for the automatic synchronisation from here.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Feel free to share this on social media if it is worth sharing. Be sociable 🙂