Think of a template as a master copy of a VM. This template can be used to create and provision new VMs as you need.  When you create a template it will contain: an OS, installed applications, a VM configuration and VMware tools installed. 

You can do this in a couple of different ways. The first way is to "Clone the VM to a Template." Remember, I mentioned this in the Cloning video on the previous page! Another way you can create a template is to convert a VM to a template.  If you go this route you will need to make sure the VM is powered off. Finally, you can also create a template from a template (think of this as cloning a template). 

After you have created a template you can might need to update ( the OS or applications) or even just install new software.  To update a template you have to convert it back to a VM first.  You should also make sure that when you are doing this that you place this VM on an isolated network to prevent anyone from accessing it or using it by mistake.  You can then make any changes that are needed and once you are done make sure you convert the VM back to a template.