VMware
Klarity ImageFactory supports building hardened machine images for VMware environments. Unlike public cloud providers, VMware does not require an account onboarding step — there are no cloud credentials to configure in ImageFactory.
How It Works
ImageFactory builds VMware-compatible images and provides a download link once the build is complete. You can then import the image into your VMware environment (vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, or VMware Cloud Director) using your existing deployment processes.
This approach works well for VMware environments because they are typically private and not directly accessible from ImageFactory's build infrastructure.
Creating a VMware Template
To create a VMware template:
- Navigate to Templates and click Create Template.
- Select VMware as the cloud provider.
- Choose a base distribution (e.g., Ubuntu, Windows Server, RHEL).
- Configure the template settings:
- Name and Description
- Build and test components — hardenings and custom components to apply
- Notifications — get notified when a build completes (supports SNS, Pub/Sub, and Webhooks)
- Tags — metadata tags for the resulting image
- Automatic rebuilds — opt in or out of cyclical rebuilds
- Save and trigger a build.
Downloading the Image
Once the build completes successfully, ImageFactory provides a download link for the resulting image. You can find the link on the template's build details page. Use this link to download the image and import it into your VMware environment.
Key Differences from Public Cloud Providers
| Feature | Public Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) | VMware |
|---|---|---|
| Account onboarding | Required — cloud credentials configured in ImageFactory | Not required |
| Image distribution | Automatic — images published directly to your cloud accounts | Manual — download link provided |
| Multiple accounts | Images distributed to selected accounts | Download and import to any environment |
Notifications
VMware templates support all three notification types:
- AWS SNS — if you have an AWS account for notifications
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub — for GCP-based notification workflows
- Webhooks — POST request to any HTTPS endpoint
Configure notifications during template creation to get alerted when new images are ready for download.