vCAC: Custom Properties

Like in any computer program when we build we may be using several variables like (Fname=”Neeraj” and LName=”Sharma” or a = 10 and b = 20) to pass some values required by program to do calculation (c = a + b) and generate an output like <“Hello” + Fname + LName> (Hello Neeraj Sharma) or <"The sum of two number is :" c> (The sum of two numbers is : 30) , similarly when we are working with vCloud Automation Center we use Several Blueprints, in these blueprint we specify which workflow to use, these workflow also uses several variables which are predefined in these blueprints and their values are been taken in most of the cases automatically, for example user may not provide machine name when it’s been deployed but it takes the machine name from the pre associated Machine prefix with the blueprint or Business Group defined by Fabric Administrator.

So if we want that it should be prompted to the user for a Machine Name while requesting for a Virtual Machine we can associate Custom Property (Hostname) with the Blueprint or we want to pass different values to these variables used in IaaS workflows we can use Custom Properties.

Let me take another example, when we create a blueprint for a VM clone from a template and using a customization file, we nowhere define how many snapshot of that VM the user can take from his Self Service Portal, Yes we define in blueprint whether he can take snapshot or not, but not how many snapshot. We can take multiple snapshot when working with vSphere Client, but when the user is using the self-service portal he/she will be restricted to take only 1 snapshot that is because it is pre-defined in blueprint. If you want to allow a user to take multiple snapshot we can use Custom Property and pass a different value to it. (Snapshot.Policy.Limit)

We can use custom properties to modify a machine through all the stages of its lifecycle: Request, Provision, Manage or Retire. There are more than 100’s  Custom Properties used in different Workflows depending their type and uses, There is a document provided by VMware Called Custom Properties describing all the custom properties we can use with their description.

 

Thanks for reading....