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Table Of Contents
Table 7-2. Structure of the DAR Archive
Folders Description
plug-in_name
\VSO-INF\
Contains the vso.xml file that defines the mapping of the
objects in the plugged-in technology to Orchestrator objects.
The VSO-INF folder and the vso.xml file are mandatory.
plug-in_name
\lib\
Contains the JAR files that contain the binaries of the
plugged-in technology. Also contains JAR files that contain
the implementations of the adapter, factory, notification
handlers, and other interfaces in the plug-in.
The lib folder and JAR files are mandatory.
plug-in_name
\resources\
Contains resource files that the plug-in requires. The
resources folder can include the following types of element:
n
Image files, to represent the objects of the plug-in in the
Orchestrator Inventory tab.
n
Scripts, to define initialization behavior when the plug-
in starts.
n
Orchestrator packages, that can contain custom
workflows, actions, Web views, and other resources that
interact with the objects that you access by using the
plug-in.
You can organize resources in subfolders. For example,
resources\images\, resources\scripts\, or
resources\packages\.
The resources folder is optional.
plug-in_name
\webapps\
Contains the WAR file of the Web application that adds a tab
for the plug-in to the Orchestrator configuration interface or
the files of a Web view for the plug-in.
The webapps folder is optional.
You use the Orchestrator configuration interface to import a DAR file to the Orchestrator server.
Create an Orchestrator Plug-In
To create a plug-in to use Orchestrator to manage an external application, you must create a plug-in adapter
and a plug-in factory, create any event handlers, and map the objects from the plugged-in application to
Orchestrator objects in the vso.xml file.
The procedure to create a plug-in consists of several subprocedures. These procedures demonstrate the plug-
in creation process by examining the Java classes, resources, and vso.xml file for a plug-in to an example Java
application. The example application that these procedures examine represents the solar system. The example
contains Java objects to represent the Sun, the planets, and their moons. The Java objects also define operations
that you can perform on the objects. The Orchestrator plug-in for this application allows you to use Orchestrator
to manage the solar system application. When you install the example plug-in, you can use Orchestrator to
perform the operations on the objects of the solar system application by running workflows and setting policies.
Procedure
1 Accessing the Orchestrator Plug-In API on page 153
The Orchestrator plug-in API provides Java interfaces that you implement to create the plug-in adapter
and plug-in factory. The plug-in adapter and factory expose the objects and operations of the plugged-
in technology to the Orchestrator server.
2 Obtain an Application to Plug in to Orchestrator on page 153
To create a plug-in, you must have an application to expose for Orchestrator to manage.
Chapter 7 Developing Plug-Ins
VMware, Inc. 151