4.0

Table Of Contents
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Naming Plug-In Objects on page 149
You must provide a unique identifier for every object that the plug-in finds in the plugged-in technology.
You define the object names in the <finder> elements and in the <object> elements in the vso.xml file.
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File Structure of the Plug-In on page 150
A plug-in must conform to a standard file structure and must include certain specific folders and files.
You deliver a plug-in as a standard Java archive (JAR) or ZIP file, that you must rename with the .dar
extension.
Defining the Application Mapping in the vso.xml File
To create a plug-in, you must define how Orchestrator accesses and interacts with the objects in the plugged-
in technology. You map all of the objects and functions of the plugged-in technology to corresponding
Orchestrator objects and functions in the vso.xml file.
The vso.xml file provides the following information to the Orchestrator server:
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A version, name, and description for the plug-in
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References to the classes of the plugged-in technology and to the associated plug-in adapter
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Initializes the plug-in when the Orchestrator server starts
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Scripting types to represent the types of objects in the plugged-in technology
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The relationships between object types to define how the objects display in the Orchestrator Inventory
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Scripting classes that map the objects and operations in the plugged-in technology to functions and object
types in the Orchestrator JavaSCript API
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Enumerations to define a list of constant values that apply to all objects of a certain type
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Events that Orchestrator monitors in the plugged-in technology
The vso.xml file must conform to the Orchestrator plug-in XML schema definition. You can access the schema
definition at the VMware support site.
http://www.vmware.com/support/orchestrator/plugin-4-0.xsd
For descriptions of all of the elements of the vso.xml file, see “Elements of the vso.xml Plug-In Definition
File,” on page 230.
Format of the vso.xml Plug-In Definition File
The vso.xml file defines how the Orchestrator server interacts with the plugged-in technology. You must
include a reference to every type of object or operation to expose to Orchestrator in the vso.xml file.
Objects that you include in the vso.xml file appear as scripting objects in the Orchestrator scripting API, or as
finder objects in the Orchestrator Inventory tab.
As part of the open architecture and standardized implementation of plug-ins, the vso.xml file must adhere to
a standard format.
Figure 7-1 shows the format of the vso.xml plug-in definition file and how the elements nest within each other.
vCenter Orchestrator Developer's Guide
148 VMware, Inc.