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John Bowdre 2022-08-13 12:29:35 -05:00
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This project aims to ease some of the pains encountered when attempting to sync VM templates in a [VMware vSphere Content Library](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-254B2CE8-20A8-43F0-90E8-3F6776C2C896.html) to a large number of geographically-remote sites under less-than-ideal networking conditions.
## Advantages
- Always have the latest templates at every remote site
- Sync only changes, not entire template images each time
- Per-site sync scheduling, not vCenter-level
- Per-site bandwidth limits to avoid saturating small pipes
## Overview
The solution leverages lightweight Docker containers in server and client roles. The servers would be deployed at the primary datacenter(s), and the clients at the remote sites. The servers make a specified library folder available for the clients to periodically synchronize using `rsync` over SSH, which allows for delta syncs so that bandwidth isn't wasted transferring large VMDK files when only small portions have changed.
The solution leverages lightweight Docker containers in server and client roles. The server(s) would be deployed at the primary datacenter(s), and the clients at the remote sites. The servers make a specified library folder available for the clients to periodically synchronize using `rsync` over SSH, which allows for delta syncs so that bandwidth isn't wasted transferring large VMDK files when only small portions have changed.
Once the sync has completed, each client runs a [Python script](client/build/update_library_manifests.py) to generate/update a Content Library JSON manifest which is then published over HTTP/HTTPS (courtesy of [Caddy](https://caddyserver.com/)). Traditional Content Libraries at the local site can connect to this as a [subscribed library](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-9DE2BD8F-E499-4F1E-956B-67212DE593C6.html) to make the synced items available within vSphere.