Maintenance of a virtual appliance is provided. The virtual appliance comprises a set of software components each one installed on a corresponding virtual machine. A maintenance descriptor is provided comprising an indication of a new level of at least each one of the software components to be updated thereto. For each software component indicated in the maintenance descriptor, a current level is determined of the software component that is installed on the corresponding virtual machine. A set of old ones of the software components to be actually updated is determined according to a comparison between the corresponding current levels and new levels. The virtual appliance is then cloned. The cloned virtual appliance is updated by updating each old software component thereof to the new level. The virtual appliance is now replaced by the updated cloned virtual appliance.