5.1

Develop a Simple Example Workflow
Developing a simple example workflow demonstrates the most common steps in the workflow development
process.
The example workflow that you are about to create starts an existing virtual machine in vCenter Server and
sends an email to the administrator to confirm that the virtual machine has started.
The example workflow performs the following tasks:
1 Prompts the user to select a virtual machine to start.
2 Prompts the user for an email address to which it can send notifications.
3 Checks whether the selected virtual machine is already powered on.
4 Sends a request to the vCenter Server instance to start the virtual machine.
5 Waits for vCenter Server to start the virtual machine, and returns an error if the virtual machine fails to
start or if starting the virtual machine takes too long.
6 Waits for vCenter Server to start VMware Tools on the virtual machine, and returns an error if the virtual
machine fails to start or if starting VMware Tools takes too long.
7 Verifies that the virtual machine is running.
8 Sends a notification to the provided email address, informing that the machine has started or that an error
occurred.
The ZIP file of Orchestrator examples available for download from the landing page of the Orchestrator
documentation contains a complete version of the Start VM and Send Email workflow.
The process for developing the example workflow consists of several tasks.
Prerequisites
Before you attempt to develop the simple example workflow, read “Key Concepts of Workflows,” on
page 11.
Procedure
1 Create the Simple Workflow Example on page 75
You must begin the workflow development process by creating the workflow in the Orchestrator client.
2 Create the Schema of the Simple Workflow Example on page 76
You can create a workflow's schema in the workflow editor. The workflow schema contains the elements
that the workflow runs and determines the logical flow of the workflow.
3 Create the Simple Workflow Example Zones on page 78
You can emphasize different zones in workflow by adding workflow notes of different colors. Creating
different workflow zones helps to make complicated workflow schema easier to read and understand.
4 Define the Parameters of the Simple Workflow Example on page 80
In this phase of workflow development, you define the input parameters that the workflow requires to
run. For the example workflow, you need an input parameter for the virtual machine to power on, and
a parameter for the email address of the person to inform about the result of the operation. When users
run the workflow, they will be required to specify the virtual machine to power on and an email address.
5 Define the Simple Workflow Example Decision Bindings on page 80
You bind a workflow's elements together in the Schema tab of the workflow editor. Decision bindings
define how decision elements compare the input parameters received to the decision statement, and
generate output parameters according to whether the input parameters match the decision statement.
Developing with VMware vCenter Orchestrator
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