7.1

You can extend machine lifecycles by using vRealize Automation Designer to call out to
vRealize Orchestrator, or by using vRealize Orchestrator directly. Both approaches allow you to inject
custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS machine lifecycle by creating custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflows and then insert the custom workflows into the state change workflow
stubs. However, you can only restrict custom state change logics to particular blueprints if you are using
vRealize Orchestrator directly, and you can only restrict the execution of workflows to specific Distributed
Execution Managers by vRealize Automation Designer.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
Table 2‑2. Choosing a Lifecycle Extensibility Scenario
Scenario Procedure
Inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS
machine lifecycle and apply that custom logic to specific
blueprints.
Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator
Checklist
Inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS
machine lifecycle and apply that custom logic globally to all of
your blueprints.
Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation
Designer Checklist
Restrict execution of workflows to specific Distributed Execution
Managers by using skills in vRealize Automation Designer. Skills
are similar to a tag that you can apply to both workflows and
DEM Worker instances.
For example, you might want to restrict cloud provisioning
workflows to a specific DEM running on a host with the required
network access to Amazon URLs.
Associate Workflows and DEM Workers by Using Skills
Life Cycle Extensibility
VMware, Inc. 10