You create a subscribed library to subscribe to a published library. You cannot add content to a subscribed library. You can only synchronize the content of the subscribed library with the content of the published library.
You can create the subscribed library in the same vCenter Server instance where the published library is, or in a different vCenter Server system. When you create a subscribed library, you can download all the contents of the published library immediately after the subscribed library is created. Alternatively, you can download only the metadata for the items from the published library and later download the full content of only those items that you need.
To ensure that the contents of a subscribed library are up-to-date, the subscribed library automatically synchronizes to the source published library at regular intervals. You can also manually synchronize a single item or an entire subscribed library.
When you update VM templates on the publisher library through the check-in and check-out operations, the VM templates are available in the subscriber library after you publish the subscriber library from the Subscriptions tab of the publisher.
The vertical timeline view is not available in the subscriber library. You can monitor only the latest version of the VM template.
For information about the VM templates management and the vertical timeline view, see Manage VM Templates in a Content Library.
Download Methods for Synchronization
- When you synchronize a subscribed library that is configured to download all the contents of the published library immediately, the process synchronizes both the item metadata and the item contents. During synchronization, the library items that are new for the subscribed library are fully downloaded to the subscribed library storage. If some items are deleted from the published library, their contents remain at the storage location of your subscribed library, and you have to manually delete them.
- When you synchronize a subscribed library that is configured to download contents only when needed, the process synchronizes only the metadata for the library items from the published library, and does not download the contents of the items, which saves storage space. If you must use a library item, you need to synchronize that item. Synchronizing a library item downloads the full content of that item to your storage. When you no longer need the item, you can delete the item contents to free storage space.
- If a published and a subscribed library belong to vCenter Server systems that are in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, and both libraries use datastores as backing storage, transfer speed for synchronization is faster. The transfer speed optimization is made possible if the libraries can store their contents to datastores managed by ESXi hosts that are directly connected to each other. Therefore, the synchronization between the libraries is handled by a direct ESXi host to ESXi host transfer.
- If the datastores have VMware vSphere Storage APIs - Array Integration (VAAI) enabled, the library content synchronization between the published and the subscribed library is further optimized. In this case, the contents are synchronized by a direct datastore to datastore transfer.
The supported download methods depend on the source library. For more information, see the following table.
| Source Object | Download library content immediately | Download library content when needed |
|---|---|---|
| A library running in a vCenter Server 6.x instance | Supported | Supported |
| A catalog running in a vCloud Director 5.5 and later instance | Supported | Not supported |
| A third-party library | Supported for third-party libraries that require authentication, if the username of the third-party library is vcsp. If the username of the source third-party library is different than vcsp, you can subscribe to it by using the VMware vCloud Suite API. | Supported for third-party libraries that require authentication, if the username of the third-party library is vcsp. If the username of the source third-party library is different than vcsp, you can subscribe to it by using the VMware vCloud Suite API. |
Synchronize a Subscribed Content Library
To ensure that your subscribed library displays the latest content of the published library, you can manually initiate a synchronization task.
You can also have subscribed libraries automatically synchronize with the content of the published library. Automatic synchronization requires a lot of storage space, because you download full copies of all the items in a published library.
To enable automatic synchronization, you must change the library settings. For information about changing content library settings, see Edit a Content Library.
Prerequisites
Required privilege: on the library.
Procedure
- Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
- Right-click a subscribed library and select Synchronize.
Results
A new task for synchronizing the subscribed library appears in the Recent Tasks pane. After the task is complete, you can see the updated list with library items on the Templates and Other Types tabs.
Synchronize a Library Item in a Subscribed Library
To update or download the content of a library item in a subscribed library, you can synchronize the library item.
When you create a subscribed library, only the metadata for the library contents is downloaded to the associated storage if you selected the option to download library content only when needed. When you need to use a library item, you synchronize it to download its content to your local storage.
When you no longer need the item, you can delete the content of the item to free storage space. You continue to see the item in your subscribed library, but it no longer takes up space on your storage because only the item's metadata remains on the storage. For information about deleting an item, see Delete a Content Library Item.
Prerequisites
Required privilege: on the library item.
Procedure
- Navigate to the Content Libraries list.
- Select a subscribed library from the list.
- Synchronize the item that you need to use.
- On the Templates tab, right-click a template, and select Synchronize Item.
Note: Synchronization is not available for VM templates. You can only synchronize OVF templates.
- On the Other Types tab, right-click an item, and select Synchronize Item.
- On the Templates tab, right-click a template, and select Synchronize Item.
Results
After the synchronization finishes, the item content and metadata are downloaded to the storage of the subscribed library. On the Templates tab for the subscribed library, the value for the item in the Stored Content Locally column changes to Yes.
