7.1

A custom property can optionally require that the user specify a property value when they create a machine
request. Property values are typically case-sensitive.
You can add supplied custom properties and also create and add your own properties and property groups.
For information about creating properties and property groups, see Chapter 4, “Using the Property
Dictionary,” on page 85.
For information about custom property precedence, see “Understanding Custom Properties Precedence,” on
page 10.
Using Properties in Machine Provisioning
Custom properties are vRealize Automation-supplied properties. You can also dene your own properties.
Properties are name-value pairs used to specify aributes of a machine or to override default specications.
You can use custom properties to control dierent provisioning methods, types of machines, and machine
options as in the following examples:
n
Specify a particular type of guest OS.
n
Enable WIM-based provisioning, in which a Windows Imaging File Format (WIM) image of a reference
machine is used to provision new machines.
n
Customize the behavior of Remote Desktop Protocol when connecting to a machine.
n
Register a virtual machine with a XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller (DDC) server.
n
Customize a virtual machine’s system specications, such as adding multiple disk drives.
n
Customize the guest OS for a machine, for instance, by including specied users in selected local
groups.
n
Specify network and security seings.
When you add a property to a blueprint, reservation, or other form you can specify if the property is to be
encrypted and also if the user must be prompted to specify a value when provisioning. These options cannot
be overridden when provisioning.
A property specied in a blueprint overrides the same property specied in a property group. This enables a
blueprint to use most of the properties in a property group while diering from the property group in some
limited way. For example, a blueprint that incorporates a standard developer workstation property group
might override the US English seings in the group with UK English seings.
You can apply properties in reservations and business groups to many machines. Their use is typically
limited to purposes related to their sources, such as resource management. Specifying the characteristics of
the machine to be provisioned is generally done by adding properties to blueprints and property groups.
Understanding Custom Properties Precedence
Properly authorized users can specify custom properties for blueprints, endpoints, business groups, and
reservations. When the same property exists in more than one source, vRealize Automation follows a
specic order of precedence when applying properties to the machine.
You can add custom properties that apply to provisioned machines to the following elements:
n
A reservation, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from that reservation.
n
A business group, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned by business group
members.
n
A blueprint, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from the blueprint.
Custom Properties Reference
10 VMware, Inc.