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Avoid simultaneously creating categories and tags from different management nodes before
categories and tags across nodes can finish the replication process. If duplicate categories or tags
are created from different nodes at the same time, the duplicates might not be detected and will
appear. If you see these results, manually delete duplicates from one management node.
Custom Attributes in the vSphere Web Client
You can use custom attributes in the vSphere Web Client to assign user-specific values for each object of
the custom attribute type.
After you create the attributes, set the value for the attribute on each virtual machine or managed host, as
appropriate. This value is stored with vCenter Server and not with the virtual machine or managed host.
Use the new attribute to filter information about your virtual machines and managed hosts. If you no
longer need the custom attribute, remove it. A custom attribute is always a string.
For example, suppose that you have a set of products and you want to sort them by sales representative.
Create a custom attribute for the sales person's name, Name. Add the custom attribute, Name, column to
one of the list views. Add the appropriate name to each product entry. Click the column title Name to sort
alphabetically.
The custom attributes feature is available only when you are connected to a vCenter Server system.
Add and Edit Custom Attributes
You can create custom attributes in the vSphere Client and associate the attribute with an object, such as
a host, virtual machine, cluster, or network. You can also edit custom attributes.
After you create the attributes, set an appropriate value for the attribute on each virtual machine. This
value is stored with vCenter Server and not with the virtual machine. Use the new attribute to filter your
virtual machines. If you no longer need the custom attribute, remove it. A custom attribute is always a
string.
For example, suppose that you have a set of products and you want to sort them by sales representative.
1 Create a Name custom attribute for the sales person's name.
2 Add the Name custom attribute column to one of the list views and add a name to each product entry.
3 You can now click the Name column to sort alphabetically by sales person.
Note Tags and tag categories support a finer-grained mechanism for tagging your object. Consider
using tags and tag categories instead of custom attributes.
Prerequisites
Required privileges: Global.Manage custom attributes,Global.Set custom attribute.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Client, select Menu > Tags and Custom Attributes.
vCenter Server and Host Management
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