OVF ExtraConfig elements provide a flexible way of including key=value pairs in the configuration of a virtual machine. The keys and values are interpreted by the system when the virtual machine is deployed, and can be used to specify a variety of virtual machine properties.
The vCloud API supports several ExtraConfig key=value pairs that you can use to configure virtual machines for specific types of workloads. You can use OVFtool to create an OVF package that includes virtual machines with these ExtraConfig values.
Permission to upload or download a Vm that includes any of these keys requires one or more of the following rights.
vApp: Preserve All ExtraConfig Elements During OVF Import and Export |
A user with this right can upload or download an OVF package that contains an unlimited set of ExtraConfig key=value pairs. The set includes, but is not limited to, the pairs listed in this table. |
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any key that is a value of the vapp.allowed.extra.config system configuration property |
A user with this right can upload or download an OVF package that contains any of the ExtraConfig key=value pairs in which the key is a value of the vapp.allowed.extra.config system configuration property. See VMware Knowledge Base article https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2148573. |
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vApp: Preserve Latency ExtraConfig Elements During OVF Import and Export |
Set to high for virtual machines running latency-sensitive workloads. |
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vApp: Preserve Ethernet-Coalescing ExtraConfig Elements During OVF Import and Export |
Set to enabled and specify the virtual NICs that must disable interrupt coalescing. |
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vApp: Preserve NUMA Node Affinity ExtraConfig Elements During OVF Import and Export |
Constrains the set of NUMA nodes on which a virtual machine's virtual CPU and memory can be scheduled. |
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Set the key to true for virtual machines with 1 GB page size. A user with vApp: Allow Latency Extra Config right can: |
For detailed information about the effects of these settings, see Best Practices for Performance Tuning of Telco and NFV Workloads in vSphere (http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmware-tuning-telco-nfv-workloads-vsphere.pdf). For information about using the vCloud API to add rights to a role, see Create a Role in Your Organization.
This example shows how to use OVFtool to create an OVF package that contains a VirtualHardwareSection with an ExtraConfig setting.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <Vm ...> ... <ovf:VirtualHardwareSection xmlns:vcloud="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5" ovf:transport=""> <ovf:Info>Virtual hardware requirements</ovf:Info> <vmw:ExtraConfig ovf:required="false" vmw:key="sched.cpu.latencySensitivity" vmw:value="high" /> ... </ovf:VirtualHardwareSection> ... </Vm>
You can log in to vCloud Director as a user whose role includes the right vApp: Preserve Latency ExtraConfig Elements During OVF Import and Export and upload the OVF package that you created.