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Template Basics

Overview​

Templates are crucial components in the Gallium ecosystem that streamline the deployment of Virtual Machines (VMs). A template contains multiple settings that define VM characteristics and may be provided by Gallium or created manually.

Template Settings​

  1. Name — Serves as the short identifier for your template.

  2. Description — Provides detailed information about the template, including any customizations or deployment scripts.

  3. OS Type — Determines the operating system for VMs created from the template with three options:

    • Linux: Requires VirtIO Storage and Network drivers, which are included in modern distributions.
    • Windows: Also requires VirtIO drivers, but these must be manually added since Windows doesn't include them by default.
    • Other: Uses SATA device drivers and E1000 network adapters for maximum compatibility across diverse operating systems, though with potential performance trade-offs.

  4. Minimum Memory — Specifies the smallest memory allocation for VMs created from the template.

  5. Disks — Supports up to 6 disks in QCOW2 or ISO format:

    • Uploaded Disks are cloud-stored and can be cached locally; they're expandable at VM creation.
    • Blank Disks are empty and created during each VM deployment.
    • Uploaded ISOs function as optical media mounted at boot, useful when cloud-ready images aren't available.

Template Setup Process​

The creation workflow involves three phases:

  1. Create Draft — Begin via Inventory > Templates > Create New Template to define OS and memory settings.

  2. Configure Disks — Upload disk images in appropriate formats as the storage foundation for deployed VMs.

  3. Finalise — Once configured, finalize the template for VM deployment; finalized templates cannot be modified.