Service templates differ from virtual machine templates in the following ways:
- Service templates allow you to deploy multiple virtual machines rather than a single virtual machine.
- Service templates can include settings for Windows Server roles and features. If a VM template includes role and feature settings, they will only be used if the VM is deployed as part of a service.
- Service templates can include application profiles and SQL server profiles. These profiles are not available when deploying a VM from a VM template.
To create a service template, perform the following steps:
1. In the Library workspace of the VMM console, click the Create Service Template item on the ribbon.
2. In the New Service Template dialog box, specify a Name, a Release version, and select between a Blank, Single Machine, Two Tier Application, or Three Tier Application pattern. Figure 1 shows the selection of a Two Tier Application.
FIGURE 1 New Service Template
3. In the Virtual Machine Manager Service Template Designer, shown in Figure 2, use the drag and drop interface to add applications and configure which VM templates will be used with the multiple tier application. You can also add VM networks and load balancers, as well as adding additional machine tiers using the designer.
FIGURE 2 VMM Service Template Designer
4. When you have competed configuring the service template, click Save And Validate. This will check the service template for errors which must be resolved before the template can be saved and used for deployment.
