Virtual Image Advanced Options 3

[dya]

1. Is the "agent" in "Install agent?" the same as the one installed by (Infrastructure > Compute > Virtual Machines > Select any VM > Actions > Install Agent)?

2. I don't understand what "Install agent?" does. Whether I check it when provisioning an instance or
when creating a clone, the version doesn't appear when I check "Agent version" on the virtual machine overview screen.
What happens when and under what circumstances is "Install agent?" checked?

3. Is "Sysprep /Generalized image?" only available on Windows? I tried using "virt-sysprep" on Linux, then "Import as image," checking "Sysprep /Generalized image?", and provisioning a virtual machine, but the hostname didn't change like it does on Windows.

*This is a machine translation, so I apologize if it's difficult to understand.

[Arnout_Verbeken · Accepted solution]

To start, it is not mandatory to install the Morpheus Agent in the VM's.  My "personal" recommendation is to install it.

1.  Yes, that's the same. 

2. When enabled in the Virtual Image, VME will try to install the agent during deployment of every VM based on this image.  You can however still "Skip Agent install" during deployment of a VM where "Agent Install" has been enabled in the Virtual Image it's based on.

Agent install will install the Morpheus Agent in the VM.  This gives you some additional metrics,logs,... about the VM in VME.  If you don't see the agent version, the agent is not installed.
The agent install can happen in different ways/methods, depending on how your environment and Virtual Images are configured.  Every method comes with its own requirements.  See https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=sd00006560en_us&page=GUID-6DB649A1-ECB0-4341-A395-FBB24F386BFD.html for more information.

3. Sysprep/Generalized Image is Windows only (AFAIK).  On Linux, you should use cloudinit, which is also very strong and easy to configure.
You can find some good examples on https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference/examples.html

Here is a sample example I use in my environment for Debian12 Installations.  It sets my proxy, does a full update of the server, installs some additional packages, sets NTP and timezone.
The Virtual Image needs to have "cloudinit enabled".  I also check the "Install Agent" but as said above, it has some dependencies so that's why I e.g. install the qemu-agent via cloudinit.

The hostname is autoset and when you have configured your own user under "User Settings - Linux Settings", this user will also be created on your new VM.
You also need to fill in the cloudinit settings under "Settings - Provisioning"

#cloud-config
write_files:
  - path: /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00-proxy
    permissions: 0640
    owner: root
    content: |
      Acquire::http { Proxy "http://123.45.6.78:3128"; };
      Acquire::https { Proxy "http://123.45.6.78:3128"; };
      Acquire::http::Pipeline-Depth "23";
      Acquire::Languages "none";

package_update: true
package_upgrade: true
package_reboot_if_required: true

packages:
  - qemu-guest-agent
  - lsd
  - btop
  - htop
  - mc
  - lsof
  - rsyslog
  
runcmd:
 - systemctl enable --now qemu-guest-agent
 - systemctl status qemu-guest-agent

ntp:
  servers: [123.45.6.78', '123.45.6.78', 'ntp.ubuntu.com']
timezone: Europe/Brussels