7.4

Custom Properties and the
Property Dictionary 1
You can use supplied vRealize Automation custom properties to control various aspects of machine
provisioning. You can also use the property dictionary to create new property definitions and property
groups that are tailored to your specific needs.
You can use properties to add values or override existing or default values for configuring network,
platform, and guest agent settings and many other deployment-related parameters.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Using Custom Properties
n
Custom Properties Grouped by Function
n
Custom Properties Grouped by Name
n
Using the Property Dictionary
n
Defining Component Profile Settings
Using Custom Properties
You can use vRealize Automation custom properties to add values or override existing or default values
for configuring settings for network, platform, guest agent, and many other deployment parameters.
Some properties are determined by standard settings that you must specify for all machines. For
example, memory and disk size values are required for all blueprints. You can specify additional
properties individually or in property groups in blueprints and in reservations. When you add a property to
a blueprint or a property group, you can mark it as a required property. When a property is specified as
required, the user must provide a value for that property when they request a machine, such as in the
following examples.
n
Require information about multiple disks sharing the machine’s allocated storage.
n
Require information about users or groups to be added to a local group on the machine.
n
Require the host name of the machine.
The Windows guest agent records property values on the provisioned machine in the %SystemDrive
%\VRMGuestAgent\site\workitem.xml file.
The Linux guest agent records property values on the provisioned machine in
the /usr/share/gugent/site/workitem.xml file.
VMware, Inc.
6