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Endpoint OVA staging

Feature flag: ff_endpoint_ova_staging (seeded automatically, default false)

Problem

Every L1 component deployment runs govc import.ova against the endpoint vCenter, streaming the full OVA from the zPodFactory host on every deployment. Deploying multiple zPods (or a profile with several nested-ESXi hosts) that share the same template re-uploads the same multi-GB OVA repeatedly — slow and network-intensive.

Solution

When enabled, each OVA is uploaded to the endpoint vCenter once, converted into a VM template in a components-staging folder, and cloned for subsequent L1 deployments. Per-zPod OVF properties and portgroup assignment happen at clone time.

Scope

  • L1 only — components with component_isnested: false (e.g. esxi, zcore, vcfinstaller, proxmox). L2 nested components keep the direct import path. vcsa uses its own deployer and is excluded.
  • Templates are never powered on — booting a template would consume one-shot OVF customization and break later clones.
  • Fallback — if staging or cloning fails, the engine falls back to the direct govc import.ova path.

Inventory layout

Under the endpoint's configured vmfolder:

/<datacenter>/vm/<vmfolder>/
└── components-staging/
    ├── esxi-8.0u3g        (VM Template)
    ├── zcore-13.7         (VM Template)
    └── vcfinstaller-...   (VM Template)

Template names match the component UID. Cloned VMs land in the zPod vApp with the usual FQDN name.

Enable / disable

The flag is created automatically with value false on every API start, so toggle it with update:

# Enable
zcli setting update ff_endpoint_ova_staging -v true

# Disable (reverts immediately to direct import)
zcli setting update ff_endpoint_ova_staging -v false

Deleting the row also disables staging, but the default false row is re-created at the next API restart. See Feature flags.

Existing staged templates are harmless and are reused if the flag is re-enabled.

Operating notes

Inspect staged templates

govc ls '/<datacenter>/vm/<vmfolder>/components-staging'
govc object.collect -s '/.../components-staging/esxi-8.0u3g' customValue

A template is ready when it exists and its zpodfactory_staging_status custom attribute is staged.

Manual template cleanup

When a component is disabled and you want its template removed:

govc vm.destroy '/<datacenter>/vm/<vmfolder>/components-staging/<component_uid>'

The next deployment for that UID will re-stage automatically.

Stale lock rows

Staging uses atomic claim rows named _ova_staging_lock_<endpoint_id>_<uid> in the settings table. A leftover lock after a crash can be cleared manually:

zcli setting list | grep _ova_staging_lock_
zcli setting delete --name _ova_staging_lock_<endpoint_id>_<component_uid>