Discovering and Adopting vApps
In the default configuration, an organization VDC discovers VMs that are created in any vCenter Server resource pool that backs the VDC. The system constructs a simplified vApp, owned by the system administrator, to contain each discovered virtual machine (VM). After the system administrator grants you access to a discovered vApp, you can reference the VM in it when you compose or recompose a vApp, or modify the vApp to adopt it and import it.
Discovered vApps contain exactly one VM, and are subject to several constraints that do not apply to vApps created in VMware Cloud Director. Whether or not you adopt them, they can be useful as a source of VMs to use when composing or recomposing a vApp.
Each discovered vApp is given a name that is derived
from the name of the vCenter VM that it
contains and a prefix specified by your organization administrator. When retrieved with a
VMware Cloud
Director API
request, the autoNature element in a discovered vApp has a value of
true. This value changes to false when the
vApp is adopted.
If you want to discover additional vApps, a system administrator can use the VMware Cloud Director API to create organization VDCs that adopt specified resource pools available from a Provider VDC. vCenter VMs in these adopted resource pools appear in the new VDC as discovered vApps, and are candidates for adoption.
Enabling VM Discovery
VM discovery is enabled by default. To disable VM discovery for all organizations, a system administrator must update the value of the VmDiscoveryEnabled setting in the system's GeneralSettings. To disable VM discovery for all VDCs in an organization, an organization administrator must update the value of the VmDiscoveryEnabled setting in the GeneralOrgSettings for that organization. To disable VM discovery for an individual organization VDC, an organization administrator must update the value of the VmDiscoveryEnabled setting in the AdminVdc that represents the organization VDC.
Using a VM from a Discovered vApp
After the system administrator grants you access to a discovered vApp, you can use its VM in the same ways you can use a VM that any other vApp or vApp template contains. For example, you can specify it when you compose or recompose a vApp. You can also clone a discovered vApp or modify its name, description, or lease settings without triggering the adoption process.
Adopting a Discovered vApp
You can adopt a discovered
vApp by changing its vApp network or adding a VM to this vApp. After you
adopted a discovered vApp, the system imports it and treats it as though it was
created in
VMware Cloud
Director. When an adopted vApp is retrieved with a vCloud API
request, it includes an element named
autoNature. This
element has a value of
false if the discovered vApp was adopted or was
created in
VMware Cloud
Director. You cannot revert an adopted vApp to a discovered vApp.
If you delete or move the VM that a discovered vApp contains, the system also removes the containing vApp. This behavior does not apply to adopted vApps.
The vApp created to contain a discovered vCenter VM is similar to the one created when you manually import a VM as a vApp, but it is simplified in ways that might require you to modify it before you can deploy it in your VDC. For example, you might have to edit its networking and storage properties, and make other adjustments specific to the needs of your organization.