Before you can download a vApp template, an administrator or privileged user must explicitly enable it for download.

Prerequisites

Verify that you are logged in as an administrator or other user who has privileges to enable vApp template for download.

Procedure
1

Retrieve the template to find its action/enableDownload link.

Every vApp template includes a link of the following form, where id is the id of the template:

<Link
   rel="enable"
   href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/vAppTemplate/vappTemplate-id/action/enableDownload"/>
2

Enable the template for download.

Make a POST request to the template's action/enableDownload URL.

Request:

POST https://vcloud.example.com/api/vAppTemplate/vappTemplate-268/action/enableDownload

Response:

202 Accepted
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.task+xml
...
<Task 
   ... 
   operation="Enabling download of Virtual Application Template Ubuntu Template (268)" ... >
   ...
</Task>

The Task in the response tracks the creation of the download package.

3

When the task completes, retrieve the template, which now contains a download URL for the OVF descriptor.

This URL remains valid while a transfer session is in progress, and for a maximum of 60 minutes of transfer session idle time. A system administrator can change this default value. See Retrieve or Update System Settings.

Example: vApp Template with Download URL for OVF Descriptor

Request:

GET https://vcloud.example.com/api/vAppTemplate/vappTemplate-268

Response:

200 OK
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.vAppTemplate+xml
...
<VAppTemplate 
   ovfDescriptorUploaded="true" 
   status="8" 
   name="Ubuntu Template" 
   ... >
   ...
   <Link type="text/xml" 
      rel="download:default" 
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/transfer/.../descriptor.ovf"/>
   ...
</VAppTemplate>
Next topic: Download the OVF Descriptor