Oracle VM templates are self-contained and pre-configured virtual machines with key Oracle technologies. Each Oracle VM template is packaged using Oracle best practices, which reduces installation and configuration costs, reduces risk and dramatically shortens deployment time lines.
Oracle VM templates of many key Oracle products are available for download, including Oracle Linux, Oracle Solaris, Oracle Database, Fusion Middleware, and many more.
Oracle VM template licensing includes a free download and free trial use with the option to purchase a product license. Oracle VM templates do not have time limits or feature limitations, that is, Oracle VM templates are full featured and do not have expiration dates. Oracle VM templates can be quickly transitioned from evaluation into production by purchasing Oracle technology licenses.
You can download Oracle VM templates from the Oracle Technology Network:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/vm/templates-101937.html
Please read the documentation provided with any downloaded template, as it informs you of the relevant configuration steps that you must perform, as well as the default username and password for the template.
When using an Oracle VM template, be sure to change the usernames and passwords from the defaults when you clone your virtual machines. Consistently using default usernames and passwords is a security risk.
The creation of a virtual machine from template is based on cloning: the template is imported as an archive, unpacked and stored as a virtual machine configuration file with images of its disks, which are cloned to create a new instance in the form of a virtual machine. In the same way, an existing virtual machine can be cloned to create a new virtual machine, and to a new template as well.
A virtual machine template is a fully pre-installed, pre-configured virtual machine that can be repeatedly used to create new virtual machines. A typical virtual machine template contains:
An operating system.
A file which contains the basic configuration information, such as the number of virtual CPUs, the amount of memory, the size of disk, and so on.
Pre installed applications.
You can obtain or create a virtual machine template by:
Downloading an Oracle VM template from the Oracle Technology Network, and importing it into Oracle VM Manager.
Cloning an existing virtual machine as a template in Oracle VM Manager. For information on cloning virtual machine templates, see VM Templates Item in the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide.
A virtual machine template can be used to create virtual machines, and to create new templates based on the original. To create a virtual machine from a template, see Clone a Virtual Machine or Template in the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide.
A virtual machine template contains various components such as the virtual machine configuration information, virtual disks that contain the operating system and any application software. These components are packaged together as an Oracle VM template file.
Before you can use a virtual machine template, you must import it into Oracle VM Manager and make it available to your server pool(s). Virtual machine templates are stored in the server pool's storage repository by importing them from a web server into Oracle VM Manager.
In a storage repository, templates are typically imported as an archive (.tgz, .tar or other). The archive contains a virtual machine configuration file (.cfg) file, and at least one virtual disk image (.img file).
On disk, a template archive is unpacked after import. The .cfg file of the virtual machine is always referenced from the Templates folder, but the virtual disk image files (.img) are placed in the VirtualDisks folder. This makes the creation of virtual machines from template a lot faster, which also applies to cloning of virtual machines.
For instructions on importing a virtual machine template, see Import Template in the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide.
Cloning a virtual machine or template means making a copy of it, so that you can create multiple virtual machines or templates from the original. You can create a clone customizer to set up the clone parameters, such as networking, and the virtual disk, and ISO resources. A clone customizer is also used when moving a virtual machine or template from one storage repository to another. To create, edit or delete clone customizers, see Manage Clone Customizers in the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide.