4.0

Procedure
1 Click Actions on the left side of the client interface.
2 Browse the libraries of actions by expanding the nodes of the actions hierarchical list.
You can use the Actions view to view information about the actions in the libraries and create and edit actions.
Components of the Actions View
When you click an action in the actions hierarchical list, information about that action appears in the
Orchestrator client's right pane.
The Actions view presents four tabs.
General
Displays general information about the action, including its name, its version
number, the permissions, and a description.
Scripting
Shows the action's return types, input parameters, and the JavaScript code that
defines the action's function.
Events
Shows all the events that this action encountered or triggered.
Permissions
Shows which users and user groups have permission to access this action.
Creating Actions
You can define individual functions as actions that other elements, such as workflows, can use. Actions are
JavaScript functions with defined input and output parameters and permissions.
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Create an Action on page 112
When you define an individual function as an action, instead of coding it directly into a scriptable task
workflow element, you can expose it in the library for other workflows to use.
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Find Elements That Implement an Action on page 113
If you edit an action and change its behavior, you might inadvertently break a workflow or application
that implements that action. Orchestrator provides a function to find all of the actions, workflows, or
packages that implement a given element. You can check whether modifying the element affects the
operation of other elements.
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Action Coding Guidelines on page 113
To optimize the performance of workflows and to maximize the potential to reuse actions, you should
follow some basic coding guidelines when creating actions.
Create an Action
When you define an individual function as an action, instead of coding it directly into a scriptable task
workflow element, you can expose it in the library for other workflows to use.
Procedure
1 Click the Actions view in the Orchestrator client.
2 Expand the root of the actions hierarchical list and navigate to the module in which you want to create
the action.
3 Right-click the module and select Add action.
4 Type a name for the action in the text box and click OK.
Your custom action is added to the library of actions.
vCenter Orchestrator Developer's Guide
112 VMware, Inc.