Preparing Custom Images

Procedure

From the Dashboard, select Tools ‣ Node and Image Definitions.

Select Image Definitions.

Click Manage.

In the Upload New Image File page, click the choose a file field and select the VM image .qcow2 file that you want to upload from the local drive.

Click Upload Image to upload the file.

Upload VM Image via SCP

Alternatively, you can upload the VM image to the CML server via scp. The CML server accepts scp connections on the regular port 22 specifically for uploading VM images. Use the same credentials that you use to log into the CML UI. For example, login as the admin user, not the sysadmin user. Since the SCP connection is restricted just to uploading image files, simply specify the root folder as the target of the scp command. For example, if your CML server is at 172.16.0.10, the command to copy the .qcow2 file for ASAv 9.12(2) to the CML server would look like this:

scp asav9-12-2.qcow2 admin@172.16.0.10:/

The upload is complete when the upload progress bar disappears. That is, even if the progress bar shows 100%, wait for the progress bar to disappear before proceeding.

Once the upload finishes, the new VM image will show up under the Uploaded Images section of the page. Click Refresh to update the list of VM images, if needed.

Click Create New Image Definition.

Enter values for the image definition’s fields.

ID

Each image on the system must have a unique ID. The ID should not contain spaces.

Label

The label will be shown in the CML UI. For example, the label is shown in the node’s image selection drop-down list in the Workbench. We recommend using the VM image’s OS name and version, such as IOSv 15.6(3).

Description

This optional field can provide a longer description of the image.

Disk Image

Select the .qcow2 image file that you uploaded from the list.

Node Definition

Select the appropriate node definition to be associated with selected image. For example, if you’re uploading a new IOS-XE image for the CAT 8000V, select “cat8000v” from the drop-down list.

Note

The fields below depend on the inheritance settings of the selected Node Definition. You only need to provide values for these properties if the new image requires different defaults from the values on the associated node definition. These properties will be used for the VM of any node that uses this image unless the property is also set on the node itself.

Memory (MiB)

The amount of memory in megabytes that this image requires. Refer to your device’s installation and configuration documentation to choose the correct value.

CPUs

The number of virtual CPUs allocated to VMs created from this image. Refer to your device’s installation and configuration documentation to choose the correct value.

CPU Limit

The percentage of the allocated CPUs that VMs created from this image will be allowed to use. You should normally use a value of 100% unless you need to adjust the launch sequencing to boot additional nodes. See also Setting CPU limit on node.

Data Disk Size (GiB)

The size of the data disk required by this image in gigabytes (if any). Refer to your device’s installation and configuration documentation to choose the correct value. The data disk is an additional disk that is added to the virtual device. Some devices need a second disk to store databases or other information. An example is the SD-WAN manager that stores its database on the second disk.

Boot Disk Size (GiB)

The size of the boot disk required by this image in gigabytes (if any). Refer to your device’s installation and configuration documentation to choose the correct value. The boot disk is typically the disk that holds the operating system and that is marked bootable.

Note: the boot disk size used to start the VM must be equal to or larger than the one defined by the .qcow2 file itself. That is, the boot disk size should be at least as large as the virtual size reported by qemu-img info.

Click Create Image Definition.

A new image is created with the image properties from the form. It is now available for use in your labs.

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