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VMware, Inc. 7
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Thischapterincludesthefollowingtopics:
 “WhatIsvCenterChargeback?”onpage 7
 “RESTArchitecture”onpage 7
 “ChargebackAPISyntax”onpage 9
 “A P I Versioning”onpage 10
What Is vCenter Chargeback?
vCenterChargebackisanend‐to‐endcostreportingsolutionforenvironmentsvirtualizedusingvSphere.
This Web‐basedapplicationinteractswiththevCenterDatabasetoretrieveusageinformation,calculatesthe
costbyusingthedefinedChargebackformulas,andgeneratesreports.
vCenterChargebackrunsonanApacheTomcatserverinstance.Theuserinteracts
withthevCenter
Chargebackapplicationthroughaloadbalancer(ApacheHTTPServer).vCenterChargebackconnectstoa
Chargebackdatabasethatstoresinformationsuchasthedefinedhierarchies,costmodel,users,roles,andso
on.TheapplicationalsointeractswiththevCenterServerandvCenterDatabasethroughaDataCollector.
The Data
CollectorusesVIMAPIstocommunicatewiththevCenterServerandJDBCtocommunicatewith
thevCenterDatabase.
vCenterChargebackAPIsprovideaninterfaceforapplicationdeveloperstoprogrammaticallyusethe
functionalityofvCenterChargeback.
FormoreinformationaboutChargebackanditscapabilities,seethevCenterChargebackUser’sGuide.
REST Architecture
vCenterChargebackAPIsimplementtheRepresentationalStateTransfer(REST)architecture.REST‐based
APIstypicallyhelpyousendHTTPrequestsforresourcesoverthenetworkandreceiveresponses.
vCenter Chargeback APIs
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