5.5

Table Of Contents
items that hold local copies of that content. Synchronization keeps a catalog up to date with its external
subscription. A catalog owner can synchronize individual catalog items or entire catalogs at any time. A
system administrator can also schedule background synchronization for catalogs, so that all externally
subscribed catalogs in the system are synchronized on a common schedule.
Version Numbers
As part of VCSP support, catalogs and catalog items have version numbers, which are integer values that
increment monotonically. A catalog with an external subscription contains the most recent version of each of
its catalog items if it has been synchronized with its external source.
The catalog item version number increases whenever any of the following changes occur.
n
A file in the referenced entity is added, removed, or changed.
n
The name or description of the catalog item is changed.
The catalog version number increases whenever any of the following changes occur.
n
A catalog item is added to or removed from the catalog.
n
The version number of any contained catalog item changes.
n
The name or description of the catalog is changed.
Add a Catalog to an Organization
Every organization has an add URL for catalogs. An administrator or catalog author can create a catalog by
POSTing an AdminCatalog element to this URL
A new Catalog object is an empty container for catalog items, which are references to vApp templates and
media images. There are several options for creating a catalog:
n
You can create a catalog to use in your own organization or cloud, to hold content that you create
locally by uploading or importing.
n
You can enable external publication of a catalog that you create locally. See “Publish an Existing
Catalog Externally,” on page 211.
n
You can create a catalog that is published externally. See “Create a Catalog For External Publication,”
on page 201.
n
You can create a catalog that has an external subscription. Contents of these catalogs are downloaded
from an external source.
NOTE You cannot use catalogs created by using an external subscription to hold catalog items that you
create locally. Catalogs that contain catalog items created locally cannot have an external subscription. See
“Create a Catalog With an External Subscription,” on page 203.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you are logged in as a system administrator, an organization administrator, or a user with
the Catalog Author role.
n
Verify that at least one VDC exists in your organization. You cannot create a catalog in an organization
that has no VDCs.
Procedure
1 Retrieve the XML representation of the organization to which to add the catalog.
Use a request like this one:
GET https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/org/26
vCloud API Programming Guide
198 VMware, Inc.