VMware Cloud Community
IshanMadu
Contributor
Contributor

Is it possible to Move Datastore ISO files to content library ?

Author : Martina Laleva

URL : http:////docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-B413FBAE-8FCB-45...

Topic Name : Populating Libraries with Content

Publication Name : vSphere Virtual Machine Administration

Product/Version : VMware vSphere/6.0

Question :

Can I move or copy existing ISO files in datastore to content library ?y ?

7 Replies
diegodco31
Leadership
Leadership

Hi

It isn't possible, you can to need export files.

You might need to export an item from a content library to your local system.

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-0C22EE70-624C-452...

Diego Oliveira
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcodiego
Reply
0 Kudos
sjesse
Leadership
Leadership

Has anyone heard if this was going to be possible one day, the first thing I thought of when I first learned of the content library is this, so we more efficiently manage datastore isos.

IvarHome
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I have put ISO files into Content Library, altough VM CD-ROM cant map to it if Content Library ISO file is not in the same ESXi. VM templates you can access from everywhere, but ISO files not. ISO files are put in "other" files.

Reply
0 Kudos
sjesse
Leadership
Leadership

altough VM CD-ROM cant map to it if Content Library ISO file is not in the same ESXi.

Thats the part I'd love, instead of finding dvd153.135.135.135.iso, you could have a content iso that says windows 2019 that you can attach to a vm. Yes you can organize them with folders, it just seems cleaner to have something manage it outside of a datastore.

krisbud
Contributor
Contributor

Maybe too late but the answer is Yes you can !

I faced the same situation today and got around it by doing the following -

Login to the vSphere Flash client (tested on version vSphere 6.5)

pastedImage_13.png

This is where you will do the trick. Open another tabin your browser and Login to your ESXi Host using this URL  - https://ESXI_HOSTNAME/folder

Click on ha-datacenter-> Name of the datastore-> path to your file.ISO

Now right click on this file and click copy link address. Paste it in the URL field in above and pass the credentials. So the URL should look something like this -

https://root:yourpassword@ESXI_HOSTNAME/folder/ISO/RHEL%205.7%20ISO?dcPath=ha%252ddatacenter&dsName=...

I tested this with the HTML5 client and it did not work but works fine with the Flash client.

MikeSchinkel
Contributor
Contributor

@krisbud — Thanks so much for your contribution!   I couldn't have figured it out without your post.

 

However, I wanted to elaborate on your approach because I had to get past some wrong assumptions on my part to get it working, and thought what I learned might help others.

First. be sure to URL encode the username:password

In my case the username was an email address with an @-sign, and the password had a #-sign, so if my username and password were foo@bar.com and #elloWorld then my URL-encoded version would be foo%40bar.com%3A%23elloWorld.

You can google for a URL encoder, or just use urlencoder.org.

Also, I had a mental block about https://ESXI_HOSTNAME/folder.  I never actually went to that URL but instead tried to find the link in the vSphere UI.

So... if you are reading this be sure to visit just the https://ESXI_HOSTNAME/folder URL with nothing after it — of course replacing ESXI_HOSTNAME with your site's IP address or domain name — and then I think everything else should become clear.

Hope this helps.

P.S. OTOH it would be MUCH nicer if VMware just added this functionality to the menu in the UI...

Froggy1903
Contributor
Contributor

Hello , yes it is possible . 

 

Just type the    ip_Address Or FQDN_Of_esxi_Host/folder  ,  user your credentials root and password and login. 

Example: https://10.199.0.51/folder 

 

After you logged in click the  "ha-datacenter" ,  you will see the datastore of your host click it and find the ISO file , right click and copy the link of the ISO file  --> go back to content library and import than  as Source file use the URL  and paste the recent copied link there and Import . Bingo ! Thats all!  ( But dont forget to put user password of root credentials to the link that you copied ,  Example :https://root:yourpassword@esxi_hostname/folder/Windows%2016.7%20ISO?dcPath=ha%252ddatacenter&dsName=...

Reply
0 Kudos