Using your own Windows image to create virtual system instances

IBM® provides various OS images that have been tested with imbedded pattern contents and are pre-optimized for performance and security considerations. However, in some cases you may want to use your own OS image. IBM OS Pattern Kit allows you to onboard your own operating system image in to Cloud Pak System and transform that image by adding capabilities required for pattern-based deployment.

1. Follow the steps in Adding virtual appliances to import your own base operating system image as a virtual appliance (OVA) in to Cloud Pak System.
   Important: The OVA exported from a VMware ESXi host may contain an incorrect OS ID in the OVF for the Windows Operating system. Follow these steps to correct the OS ID before you import it as a virtual appliance:
   1. Run the following command to extract the .ova file:

      tar -xvf <virtual appliance>.ova

   2. Open the .ovf file for editing and locate the OperatingSystemSection portion of the file contents.
      If you find ovf:id='<integer value>', replace the integer value with one of the following:

      • 103 (Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2)
      • 116 (Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2)
      • 117 (Microsoft Windows Server 2016)
      • 117 (Microsoft Windows Server 2019) (64-bit)

      • If the vmw:osType attribute is present, set a valid value for the vmw:osType attribute. Refer the VMware documentation to make sure the osType attribute is using a valid value.
      • If the vmw:osType attribute is not present, add this attribute and set a valid value. Refer the VMware documentation to make sure the osType attribute is using a valid value.
      • If you use Windows Server 2019, make sure that value of the vmw:osType attribute is set to windows9Server64Guest. You can also update the string in the Description attribute from Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (64-bit) to Microsoft Windows Server 2019 (64-bit).
   3. Remove the files with extension .iso and .mf, and run the following command to repackage the .ova image:

      tar -cvf <virtual appliance>.ova <virtual appliance>.ovf <virtual appliance>.vmdk virtual appliance.nvram

2. Follow the steps in Deploying virtual appliances to deploy the virtual appliance and create a running virtual machine. In the Configure and Deploy Virtual appliances dialog, set Perform Guest Operating system customization attribute to true.
   Important: When you export your own operating system image from VMware to then import and deploy it into Cloud Pak System, the image does not include Activation Engine. You can set the virtual machine Perform guest operating system customization configuration option to true if you want to use VMware guest OS customization for automated network configuration. If your virtual appliance image is not compatible with VMware guest OS customization, you can set Perform guest operating system customization to false and use the virtual machine console to configure your network later.
3. Follow the steps in Starting and stopping virtual machines to start the virtual machine.
4. If the IP address is unavailable after you have deployed the virtual appliance, you must manually configure the network in the Windows virtual machine console.
   Reboot the virtual machine. Verify that you have connectivity, and that remote desktop and file sharing are available.
5. Download the Pattern Kit for Windows.
   Go to the Cloud Pak System Welcome page and click Download tooling > Download OS Pattern Kit for Windows
6. Perform the following steps to install the Pattern Kit for Windows.
   The .ova file is located in the enablement package.

   1. Copy the compressed file to the virtual machine and extract the enablement package.
   2. Open a cmd prompt and modify the directory to point to the location to which you extracted the Pattern Kit package. It is recommended to use Windows PowerShell command shell.
   3. Execute the following command to install the pattern kit:

      ae-installer-windows.cmd > mylog.log 2>&1

   4. Check mylog.log to verify your installation.
   5. Add C:\Python27 to the Path system environment variable.
7. Run the following command in a new cmd prompt window or PowerShell command shell to reset the virtual machine:

   c:\windows\setup\ibm\AE.bat --reset

   Ensure that your virtual machine is powered off before proceeding to the next step.
8. Use one of the following procedures to create a new image of an existing virtual machine.
   Note: A virtual machine may be left in an unmanageable state if you perform this step against a virtual machine that is from a virtual system pattern deployment instead of a virtual appliance deployment. From the console, the virtual system instance will appear in the launching state but you will not be able to launch the instance. You should delete this virtual system instance.
   • Follow the steps in Creating virtual images from existing virtual machines.
   • Use the following CLI commands to create a new image of the virtual machine by specifying the new image name, version, virtual machine id (vmid), and the url to metadata OVA (using the corresponding metadata OVA).

     1. >>> vm=admin.virtualmachines.list({'name':'name_of_virtual_machine'})[0]

        where name_of_virtual_machine is the name of the virtual machine as deployed from the virtual appliance under consideration (or a partial name that can uniquely identify the virtual machine).

     2. >>> deployer.virtualimages.create({'url':'url_of_metadata_file','vmid':vm.id,'name':'name_of_virtual_image','version':'version_of_virtual_image','description':'description_of_virtual_image'})

        where
        • url_of_metadata_file is the URL of the metadata OVA file which your Cloud Pak System can access. You can provide the metadata OVA file in one of the following ways:
          • The metadata OVA is located in the enablement package. Copy the metadata OVA to an accessible HTTP location.
          • Define an accessible ssh location using the following format:

             <IP address>:<full path and name of file>

            For example,

            172.15.16.244:/tmp/ova/MAESTRO_WINDOWS_OS_IMG_METADATA_2.1-11.ova

            Be sure to provide the correct user and password to connect to the ssh location.
        • name_of_virtual_image is the name given to the virtual image to be created.
        • version_of_virtual_image is the version of the provided virtual image.
        • description_of_virtual_image is the description of the provided virtual image.
     For example:

     >>> vm=admin.virtualmachines.list({'name':''My Windows 2012 VM 2''})[0
     >>> deployer.virtualimages.create({'url':'http://myserver.ibm.com:8080/data/0.OS_Images/job/MAESTRO_WINDOWS_OS_IMG_METADATA_OVA/lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/MAESTRO_WINDOWS_OS_IMG_METADATA_2.2-15.ova','vmid':vm.id,'name':'BYOS Windows 2012','version':'1.0.0.0','description':'My Windows 2012 Image for pattern deploy'})]
     

     For example (when using ssh):

     >>> vm=admin.virtualmachines.list({'name':''My Windows 2012 VM 2''})[0
     >>> deployer.virtualimages.create({'url':'172.16.15.250:/job/MAESTRO_WINDOWS_OS_IMG_METADATA_OVA/lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/MAESTRO_WINDOWS_OS_IMG_METADATA_2.2-15.ova','vmid':vm.id,'name':'BYOS Windows 2012','version':'1.0.0.0','description':'My Windows 2012 Image for pattern deploy'})]
     

     Important: Due to current limitations, you must use the word "Windows" for the image name attribute.
9. Inspect the virtual image by following the steps in Viewing and modifying virtual images. Accept the license agreement if it has not yet been accepted.
10. Once the new image is successfully created, verify the new image by creating a virtual system pattern using the image component from this new image. Follow steps in Creating virtual system patterns.

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