VMM virtual machine templates are used to perform the automated installation and configuration of servers, dramatically reducing the time to release a server, and automating all these processes in a simple and uncomplicated deployment method.
Before you can create the virtual machine template, you need to create a new VM and install a vanilla OS (fresh Windows install) into it, which will be used as the basis for the template. See the Creating and deploying virtual machines recipe of this chapter.
To create a VM template, you can select the source for which the template will be created from an existing template: a virtual disk (VHD) with a preinstalled OS, or even a virtual machine that is being used in any host managed by VMM.