1.0
Table Of Contents
- vCloud API Programming Guide
- Contents
- About This Book
- Introducing the VMware vCloud API
- Hello vCloud: A Structured REST Workflow Example
- Logging In and Getting an Organization List
- Browsing an Organization
- Finding a vApp Template
- Getting Information About a vDC
- Instantiating the Template in the vDC
- Deploying and Powering On the vApp
- Getting Information About the vApp
- Displaying the Console
- Deleting the vApp
- Logging Out
- Moving on to Additional Use Cases
- Browsing
- Provisioning
- Summary of Provisioning Requests
- Upload OVF to Create a vApp Template
- View the OVF Descriptor of a vApp Template
- Download a vApp Template as OVF
- Upload a Media Image
- Copying and Moving
- Changing a Name or Description
- Delete a vAppTemplate, vApp, or Media Image
- Cataloging vApp Templates and Media Images
- Controlling Access
- Datacenter Operations
- Summary of Datacenter Operations Requests
- vApp Lifecycle
- Instantiate a vApp Template
- Compose a vApp
- Recompose a vApp to Add or Remove Virtual Machines
- Capture a vApp to Create a vApp Template
- Reconfiguring vApps and Virtual Machines
- Deploying and Controlling vApps and Virtual Machines
- Deploy a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Undeploy a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Power On a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Power Off a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Reset a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Suspend a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Discard the Suspended State of a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Shut Down a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Reboot a vApp or Virtual Machine
- List Media Devices of a Virtual Machine
- Insert Media Into a Virtual Machine
- Eject Media from a Virtual Machine
- Get a Screen Thumbnail for a Virtual Machine
- Get a Screen Ticket for a Virtual Machine
- Provide User Input Requested by a Virtual Machine
- Control Access to vApps
- Retrieve a Task
- Administrative Operations
- VMware vSphere Platform Operations
- Summary of vSphere Platform Operations Requests
- List vSphere Platform Operations and Objects for a vCloud
- List Provider vDCs in a vCloud
- List External Networks in a vCloud
- List Network Pools in a vCloud
- List vCenter Servers Registered to a vCloud
- List ESX/ESXi Hosts in a vCloud
- Create a Provider vDC
- Create an External Network
- Create a Network Pool
- Import a Virtual Machine from vCenter
- XML Representations in the vCloud API
- User API Reference
- Request Parameters Reference
- Administrative API Reference
- vSphere Platform Extensions Reference
- OVF and the vCloud API
- An Introduction to REST for vCloud API Users
- Index
VMware, Inc. 141
8
ThevCloud APIrepresentsobjectsinavCloudasXMLdocumentsinwhichobjectpropertiesareencodedas
elementsandattributeswithtypedvaluesandanexplicitobjecthierarchydefinedbyanXMLschema.This
chapterprovidesreferenceinformationabouthowthevCloud APIusesXMLtorepresentvCloudobjects.
Thischapterincludes
thefollowingtopics:
“A b o u t ObjectRepresentations”onpage 141
“CommonDatatypes”onpage 142
“CommonAttributes”onpage 143
“CommonElements”onpage 146
“A P I Versioning”onpage 147
“Extensibility”onpage 148
About Object Representations
ClientprogramsofRESTfulWebservicesmustbeabletorequestobjectrepresentationsfromtheserver,parse
theserver’sresponsestoextracttheinformationtheycontain,andcomposerequeststhat,inmanycases,are
basedontheinformationextractedfromaresponse.Developersofsuchclientsmustunderstandthestructure
of
eachrepresentationthatmightbepartofarequestorresponse,aswellasanyrequirementsthatthenetwork
protocol(HTTP)placesonclient‐serverinteraction.Inthisguide,referenceinformationoneachobject
representationincludestheXMLschemaoftheelementthatrepresentstheobject,theobjecttype(encoded
as
theMIMEcontenttypeoftherequestorresponse),andaprototypeoftheobjectreference(aURL).
Schema
EachvCloud APIobjectisdefinedinanXMLschemadocument.Someobjectsaredefinedintheirownschema
documents.Othersaredefinedinthecontextofthelargerschemainwhichtheyareused.Stillothersare
definedinacommonschemadocument,fromwhichotherschemasinherit.Thisguidepresents
reference
informationaboutXMLschemasintabularform,asshowninTable 8‐1.
XML Representations in the
vCloud API
8
Table 8-1. Schema Reference Table Columns
Name Min Max Type Description
Nameofanelementor
attributecontained.
Elementnamesbegin
withanuppercase
character.Attribute
namesbeginwitha
lowercasecharacter.
Minimumnumberof
thisattributeor
elementrequiredby
theschema.
Maximumnumberof
thisattributeor
elementallowedbythe
schema.Avalueofn
meansthatthe
maximum
numberis
unlimited.
Typeoftheattributeor
element,eithera
primitiveXML
datatypeoracomplex
typedefinedbythe
vCloud API.
Descriptionofthe
attributeorelement