An apparatus for registering and accessing virtual machines, comprising: means for storing (109, 117), in at least a first virtual machine repository, a plurality of virtual machines including a first virtual machine, each virtual machine including: at least one virtual disk, and at least one configuration file; means for generating a unique identifier for the first virtual machine; means for extracting metadata from the at least one configuration file of the first virtual machine; means for assigning a multiple tag logical name comprising multiple discrete tags to the first virtual machine based on the extracted metadata; means for storing (109, 117, 203) a virtual machine registry including at least: the unique identifier for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the multiple tag logical name for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, a storage location in a virtual machine repository for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, and a host environment format for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, wherein, for each virtual machine that is registered in the virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry associates the unique identifier, the multiple tag logical name, the storage location, and the host environment format; means for receiving (205, 217) a request to access the first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the request including the multiple tag logical name of the first virtual machine; means for acquiring the storage location of the first virtual machine using the virtual machine registry and the discrete tags of the multiple tag logical name; and means for transferring the first virtual machine from the first virtual machine repository to at least one of a second virtual machine repository and an execution platform. means for storing (109, 117), in at least a first virtual machine repository, a plurality of virtual machines including a first virtual machine, each virtual machine including: at least one virtual disk, and at least one configuration file; at least one virtual disk, and at least one configuration file; means for generating a unique identifier for the first virtual machine; means for extracting metadata from the at least one configuration file of the first virtual machine; means for assigning a multiple tag logical name comprising multiple discrete tags to the first virtual machine based on the extracted metadata; means for storing (109, 117, 203) a virtual machine registry including at least: the unique identifier for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the multiple tag logical name for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, a storage location in a virtual machine repository for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, and a host environment format for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, wherein, for each virtual machine that is registered in the virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry associates the unique identifier, the multiple tag logical name, the storage location, and the host environment format; the unique identifier for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the multiple tag logical name for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, a storage location in a virtual machine repository for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, and a host environment format for each virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, wherein, for each virtual machine that is registered in the virtual machine registry, the virtual machine registry associates the unique identifier, the multiple tag logical name, the storage location, and the host environment format; means for receiving (205, 217) a request to access the first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines, the request including the multiple tag logical name of the first virtual machine; means for acquiring the storage location of the first virtual machine using the virtual machine registry and the discrete tags of the multiple tag logical name; and means for transferring the first virtual machine from the first virtual machine repository to at least one of a second virtual machine repository and an execution platform.