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Custom Properties
Reference
vRealize Automation 6.2
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 2
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Contents
Custom Properties Reference 5
Updated Information 6
1Using Custom Properties 8
Custom Property Uses 8
Custom Properties in Machine Provisioning, Blueprints, and Build Profiles 9
Specifying Custom Properties 10
Order of Precedence for Custom Properties 10
Specifying Custom Properties for Multi-Machine Services 12
Custom Property Types 12
Creating Custom Properties for Application Services 13
Build Profiles and Property Sets 14
Create a Build Profile 15
Create a Property Set 16
2Custom Properties Grouped by Function 18
Custom Properties for Openstack Endpoints 18
Custom Properties for Basic Workflow Blueprints 19
Custom Properties for Clone Blueprints 20
Custom Properties for FlexClone Blueprints 23
Custom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints 26
Custom Properties for Linux Kickstart Blueprints 28
Custom Properties for SCCM Blueprints 30
Custom Properties for WIM Blueprints 31
Custom Properties for vApp Blueprints 34
Custom Properties for vRealize Automation Guest Agent 36
Custom Properties for Networking 39
Custom Properties for PXE Provisioning 43
Custom Properties for BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager Integration 46
Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration 48
3Custom Properties Grouped by Name 51
Custom Properties A Table 51
Custom Properties B Table 52
Custom Properties C Table 53
Custom Properties E Table 53
Custom Properties H Table 54
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Custom Properties I Table 55
Custom Properties L Table 56
Custom Properties M Table 57
Custom Properties O Table 57
Custom Properties P Table 58
Custom Properties R Table 59
Custom Properties S Table 59
Custom Properties V Table 62
Custom Properties X Table 82
4Using the Property Dictionary 83
Adding Property Definitions 83
Add a Property Definition 84
Adding Property Attributes 85
Add a Help Text Attribute 86
Add an Order Index Attribute 87
Add a Relationship Attribute 87
Add a Value Expression Attribute 88
Add a Value List Attribute 89
Add a Minimum Value Attribute 89
Add a Maximum Value Attribute 90
Add an Interval Attribute 90
Example of Creating a Relationship Between Two Properties and Adding Them to a Blueprint 91
Creating Property Control Layouts 95
Add a Property Control Layout 95
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Custom Properties Reference
Custom Properties Reference provides information about the custom properties, and their use, that are
available when you use VMware vRealize ™ Automation.
This documentation is intended to be used with the vRealize Automation product documentation available
from the VMware vRealize ™ Automation Documentation page at
https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vcac-pubs.html.
Note Not all features and capabilities of vRealize Automation are available in all editions. For a
comparison of feature sets in each edition, see https://www.vmware.com/products/vrealize-automation/.
Intended Audience
This information is intended for IaaS administrators, fabric administrators, and business group managers
of vRealize Automation. This content is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators
who are familiar with virtualization technology and the basic concepts described in Foundations and
Concepts.
VMware Technical Publications Glossary
VMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you. For
definitions of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
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Updated Information
This Custom Properties Reference is updated with each release of the product or when necessary.
This table provides the update history of Custom Properties Reference.
Revision Description
001638-05 nAdded custom property Scvmm.Generation2 to Custom Properties S Table. 4
nUpdated custom property Hyperv.Network.Type in Custom Properties H Table.
nAdded custom property VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.IdentityProvider.Version to Custom Properties V
Table and Custom Properties for Openstack Endpoints to support authentication with Keystone version 3.
nUpdated custom property VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.Release in Custom Properties V Table and Custom
Properties for Openstack Endpoints for deprecation as of 6.2.4.
nAdded VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress.Regex and VirtualMachine.NetworkN.AddressM to
Custom Properties V Table and Custom Properties for Openstack Endpoints.
nAdded VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt to Custom Properties V Table and Custom Properties for
vRealize Automation Guest Agent.
nAdded the following new custom properties to Custom Properties A Table:
namazon.IAMInstanceProfile.ARN
nAppService.SyncMachines.MachineProvisioned
001638-04 Updated Custom Properties S Table to document the Snapshot.Policy.Limit default.
Updated Custom Properties V Table to add the following custom properties:
nVirtualMachine.Admin.ExportProperties
nVirtualMachine.SoftwareN.PostInstallDelay
nVirtualMachine.SoftwareN.FailsBuild
nVirtualMachine.SoftwareN.NoQuotes
001638-03 Updated Custom Properties I Table to note that values for Image.ISO.Location are case sensitive.
001638-02 nUpdated various topics to include new and updated vRealize Automation custom properties and their descriptions
based on information from product development and field staff.
nAdded new functional grouping Custom Properties for vRealize Automation Guest Agent.
nRemoved Opsware.WOL.Delay and Opsware.WOL.Enabled from Custom Properties O Table and Custom
Properties for HP Server Automation Integration.
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Revision Description
001638-01 nUpdated the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name property in Custom Properties for Networking and Custom
Properties for vApp Blueprints.
nAdded the VirtualMachine.DiskN.IsFixed property to Custom Properties V Table and Custom Properties for
vApp Blueprints.
nCorrected the property names
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath,
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOName , VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress, and
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOLocation in Custom Properties V Table.
nAdded information to the description for property VirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory in Custom
Properties V Table.
nCorrected the property name Cisco.Organization.Dn in Custom Properties C Table.
nAdded the following previously undocumented custom properties:
nApplicationDirector.Provisioning.SkipTeardown
nVirtualMachine.Admin.EncryptPasswords
nAdded the following new properties to Custom Properties V Table:
nVirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory
nVirtualMachine.Admin.ForceHost
nVirtualMachine.Admin.HostSelectionPolicy
nVMware.Endpoint.Openstack.Release
nVirtualMachine.Admin.HostSelectionPolicy
nVirtualMachine.Admin.ForceHost
nVirtualMachine.Admin.EncryptPasswords
001638-00 Initial 6.2 release.
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Using Custom Properties 1
You can use custom properties to add new attributes or override default attributes.
A tenant administrator or business group manager can include custom properties when they create or edit
blueprints. They can also include a build profile, which contains one or more custom properties. The
properties are retrieved when a machine is provisioned by using the blueprint. A fabric administrator can
also specify custom properties when they create or edit a reservation.
This chapter includes the following topics:
nCustom Property Uses
nSpecifying Custom Properties
nCustom Property Types
nCreating Custom Properties for Application Services
nBuild Profiles and Property Sets
Custom Property Uses
You use custom properties to control aspects of the machines that users can provision.
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 build profiles in blueprints and in reservations. Use custom properties to add
values or override existing or default values for the following information.
nMachine operating system
nVirtualization platform
nBuild settings such as disk size
nIntegration with an external system
When you add a property to a blueprint or a build profile, 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.
nRequire information about multiple disks sharing the machine’s allocated storage.
nRequire information about users or groups to be added to a local group on the machine.
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nRequire 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.
Custom Properties in Machine Provisioning, Blueprints, and Build
Profiles
Custom properties are name-value pairs used to specify attributes of a machine or to override default
specifications.
Different custom properties are used for different provisioning methods, types of machines, and machine
options. Custom properties can be used as described in the following examples:
nSpecify a particular type of guest OS
nEnable WIM-based provisioning, in which a Windows Imaging File Format (WIM) image of a
reference machine is used to provision new machines
nCustomize the behavior of Remote Desktop Protocol when connecting to a machine
nRegister a virtual machine with a XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller (DDC) server
nCustomize a virtual machine’s system specifications, such as adding multiple hard disk drives
nCustomize the guest OS for a machine, for instance, by including specified users in selected local
groups
nEnable cleanup of a the Active Directory account of a machine after it is destroyed
Specifying the characteristics of the machines to be provisioned is generally done by adding properties to
blueprints and build profiles. You can make custom properties available to multiple blueprints and all
business groups by placing them in build profiles.
Any property specified in a blueprint overrides the same property specified in the incorporated build
profile. This enables a blueprint to use most of the properties in a profile while differing from the profile in
some limited way. For more information, see Order of Precedence for Custom Properties..
For example, a blueprint that incorporates a standard developer workstation profile might override the US
English settings in the profile with UK English settings. On the other hand, if no appropriate profile is
available all the needed properties can be specified in the blueprint itself. This arrangement ensures that
the number and complexity of blueprints remain manageable.
At new machine request time, vRealize Automation has not yet allocated a reservation and the compute
resource and endpoint are unknown as well. Therefore, only custom properties from a build profile,
blueprint and business group are reconciled and presented when the machine is requested.
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Specifying Custom Properties
You can use custom properties to control machine provisioning. A fabric administrator can use custom
properties when they create or edit reservations. A tenant administrator or business group manager can
specify custom properties when they create or edit blueprints.
Any property specified in a blueprint overrides the same property specified in the incorporated build
profile. For example, a blueprint that contains a particular build profile might override the US English
settings in the profile with UK English settings. This arrangement ensures that the number and complexity
of blueprints remain manageable.
A custom property can optionally require that the user specify a property value when they create a
machine request.
Custom property names are typically case-insensitive. Property values are typically case-sensitive.
Custom properties cannot contain leading or trailing spaces.
For related information about using custom properties on blueprints and in build profiles, see IaaS
Configuration in vRealize Automation documentation.
Order of Precedence for Custom Properties
When the same property exists in more than one source, a specific order is followed when applying
properties to the machine.
You can add custom properties that apply to provisioned machines to the following elements:
nA reservation, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from that reservation
nA business group, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned by business group
members
nA global or local blueprint, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from the
blueprint
nBuild profiles, which can be incorporated into any global or local blueprint, to apply the custom
properties to all machines provisioned from the blueprint
nA machine request, if you are a business group manager, to apply the custom properties to the
machine being provisioned
nThe applicable approval policy, if any exist and if advanced approval support is enabled, to require
approvers to provide the values to be applied to the machine being approved
The full order of precedence for custom properties is that any property value specified in a source later in
the list overrides values for the same property specified in sources earlier in the list. The order is shown in
the following list:
1 Build profile
2 Blueprint
3 Business group
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4 Compute resource
5 Reservations
6 Endpoint
7 Runtime
For vApps, the order is similar, as shown in the following list:
1 Build profile, specified on a vApp component blueprint
2 vApp component blueprint
3 Build profile, specified on a vApp blueprint
4 vApp blueprint
5 Business group
6 Compute resources
7 Reservations
8 Endpoint
9 Runtime specified on a vApp
10 Runtime specified on a component machine
Any runtime property takes higher precedence and overrides a property from any source. A custom
property is marked as runtime if the following conditions exist:
nThe property is marked as Prompt User, which specifies that the user must supply a value for it when
requesting a machine. This requires that the machine requestor customize individual characteristics
of each machine, or gives them the option of doing so when a default value is provided for the
required property.
nA business group manager is requesting a machine and the property appears in the custom
properties list on the Properties tab of the Confirm Machine Request page.
Custom properties in reservations and business groups may be applied to many machines so they should
be used carefully. Their use is typically limited to purposes related to their sources, such as resource
management, line of business accounting, and so on. Specifying the characteristics of the machine to be
provisioned is generally done by adding properties to blueprints and build profiles.
Each blueprint of any type can optionally incorporate one or more build profiles and thereby inherit the
custom properties in those profiles. Build profiles are especially useful for applying common sets of
properties for specific purposes to a wide range of blueprints. For example, your site might want to add a
second disk to, customize Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol behavior for, and enable Active Directory
cleanup for a wide variety of machines. If a build profile with the necessary properties is created, it can be
incorporated into all of your blueprints, local or global.
When creating and managing build profiles, a fabric administrator can load a number of predefined
property sets to add several related properties all at once, instead of one by one.
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Specifying Custom Properties for Multi-Machine Services
Tenant administrators and business group managers can specify custom properties that apply to all
component machines in a multi-machine service in the multi-machine blueprint. When the same property
exists in more than one source, vRealize Automation follows a specific order of precedence when
applying properties to the machine.
Custom properties in a multi-machine blueprint override properties specified in component blueprints.
Runtime properties on the component machine, which are specified at request time or by editing the
machine after it is provisioned, override runtime properties specified at the multi-machine service level.
This allows the multi-machine blueprint to apply consistent behavior across all of its component
machines, while allowing a user to override the multi-machine service properties for each component
type.
Custom properties on multi-machine service and component machines are processed in the following
order.
1 Build profile specified on component blueprint
2 Component blueprint
3 Build profile specified on multi-machine blueprint
4 Multi-machine blueprint
5 Business group
6 Compute resource
7 Reservations
8 Endpoint
9 Request time specified on a multi-machine service
10 Request time specified on a component machine
A property value specified in a source that appears later in the list overrides values for the same property
specified in sources earlier in the list. Custom properties specified in the multi-machine service are
applied to all component machines in the service. If a property is designated as Prompt User on a
component blueprint, the value specified at request time is applied to all machines of the same
component type that are provisioned as part of that request.
Some properties, such as Hostname, must be unique to each machine. Do not specify the property at the
component level. If the Hostname property is specified at the component level, it is ignored.
Custom Property Types
You can use vRealize Automation external and updated property types for cloned machines. You cannot
use Internal and read-only property types for cloned machines.
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The following vRealize Automation custom property types are available.
nInternal
The specified value is maintained in the database only. For example, the email address of the
manager who approved a machine request is recorded in the VirtualMachine.Admin.Approver
property but the property has no effect on the machine.
nRead-only
The specified value is implemented on the machine and cannot be changed. For example,
VirtualMachine.Admin.UUID specifies the UUID of the machine, which cannot be changed.
nExternal
A machine’s external properties are determined when the virtualization platform creates the machine
or during the WinPE phase of the build process. To set these properties, their values must be
provided to the proxy agent, which passes them on to the virtualization platform, or to the guest
agent , which implements them in the WinPE phase.
The specified value is implemented on the machine but is never updated. For example, if the property
VirtualMachine.Admin.AddOwnerToAdmins is set to true, the owner of the machine is added to its
local administrators group. If the owner is later removed from this group, the property is not updated
to false.
nUpdated
The specified value is implemented on the machine and is updated through data collection. For
example, if the compute resource of a machine is changed, a proxy agent updates the value of the
machine’s VirtualMachine.Admin.Hostname property.
Internal and read-only property types set attributes that the template determines.
You can use the vRealize Automation machine menu to change all reserved custom properties except the
read-only properties VirtualMachine.Admin.AgentID, VirtualMachine.Admin.UUID, and
VirtualMachine.Admin.Name.
Creating Custom Properties for Application Services
You can use custom properties that you define on a vRealize Automation blueprint when you define an
application blueprint in Application Services.
Using vRealize Automation you can add custom properties to blueprints either individually or in a build
profile. A build profile is a named collection of a group of custom properties. If you enable the Prompt
User option for a custom property, the user is required to enter a value for the property when they use that
blueprint to request machine provisioning.
Custom properties that have been made available to a specific business group are also available to
members of that group as they create and edit blueprints.
You can use the custom properties on vRealize Automation blueprints to define applications in Application
Services and publish them to the vRealize Automation catalog.
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You can also use the vRealize Automation Property Dictionary when defining custom properties that use
the Prompt User option. The following dictionary control types are supported for use with catalog items
that are published from Application Services:
nDropDownList
nCheckBox
For related information about using custom properties in conjunction with Application Services, see Using
Application Services in vRealize Automation documentation.
Build Profiles and Property Sets
vRealize Automation contains property sets that fabric administrators can use when they create build
profiles.
Property sets are groups of related properties that are commonly used together in build profiles and
machine blueprints. Instead of adding custom properties to a build profile or a machine blueprint
individually, you can add an entire set to a build profile and provide the values.
Many commonly used property sets are included in vRealize Automation.
For example, the WimImagingProperties property set contains custom properties commonly used for
WIM-based provisioning:
nImage.ISO.Location
nImage.ISO.Name
nImage.Network.Password
nImage.Network.User
nImage.WIM.Index
nImage.WIM.Name
nImage.WIM.Path
As another example, the vApp property set contains the following custom properties that can be used for
vApp provisioning:
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name
nVCloud.Template.MakeIdenticalCopy
nVMware.SCSI.Type
nSysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin
nSysprep.Identification.DomainAdminPassword
nSysprep.Identification.JoinDomain
Fabric administrators can create their own property sets and add them to vRealize Automation.
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Create a Build Profile
Fabric administrators can organize commonly used custom properties into build profiles so that tenant
administrators and business group managers can include these custom property sets in blueprints.
Build profiles are available to tenant administrators and business group managers of all tenants. You can
create your build profile by adding custom properties individually, by loading property sets that contain
multiple custom properties, or by using a combination of the two methods.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Build Profiles.
2Click the Add icon ( ).
3Enter a name and, optionally, a description.
4(Optional) Add custom properties individually to your build profile.
a Click New Property.
b Enter the custom property in the Name text box.
c Enter the value of the custom property in the Value text box.
d (Optional) Select the Encrypted check box to encrypt the custom property in the database.
e (Optional) Select the Prompt user check box to require the user to provide a value when they
request a machine.
If you choose to prompt users for a value, any value you provide for the custom property is
presented to them as the default. If you do not provide a default, users cannot continue with the
machine request until they provide a value for the custom property.
fClick the Save icon ( ).
5(Optional) Select a property set to load into your build profile.
a Select a property set from the Add from property set drop-down menu.
b Click Load.
6(Optional) Click the Edit icon ( ) to configure a custom property loaded from a property set.
a Enter the value of the custom property in the Value text box.
b Select the Encrypted check box to encrypt the custom property in the database.
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c Select the Prompt user check box to require the user to provide a value when they request a
machine.
If you choose to prompt users for a value, any value you provide for the custom property is
presented to them as the default. If you do not provide a default, users cannot continue with the
machine request until they provide a value for the custom property.
dClick the Save icon ( ).
7Click OK.
Tenant administrators and business group managers can now select your build profile and include it in
their blueprints.
Create a Property Set
Fabric administrators can create their own groupings of related custom properties and add them to
vRealize Automation for use in build profiles.
Property sets are available to fabric administrators of all tenants.
Create a Property Set XML File
A fabric administrator defines property sets in an XML file and uploads them to vRealize Automation.
If you edit a property set that is already in use in a build profile, vRealize Automation does not
automatically update the build profile. A fabric administrator must reload the property set to the build
profile.
Procedure
1Create an XML file.
2Insert the following version and encoding values into the schema declaration.
version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16".
3Insert a <Doc> element.
<Doc>
</Doc>
4Insert a <CustomProperties> element in the <Doc> element.
<Doc>
<CustomProperties>
</CustomProperties>
</Doc>
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5Define the attributes of the custom property to include in the property set.
<Doc>
<CustomProperties>
<Property Name=”property_name" DefaultValue=”property_value" Encrypted=”true_or_false"
PromptUser="true_or_false"/>
</CustomProperties>
</Doc>
If you do not include the DefaultValue attribute, no default value is stored. If you do not include the
Encrypted or PromptUser attributes, they default to false.
6Repeat Step 5 step for each property to include in the property set.
7Save and close the file.
A fabric administrator can now upload your property set XML file to vRealize Automation.
Add a Property Set to vRealize Automation
After you create a property set XML file, a fabric administrator can upload the property set to
vRealize Automation.
Prerequisites
nLog in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
nCreate a property set XML file.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Build Profiles.
2Click Manage Property Sets.
3Click Browse to select the Property set XML file name.
4Enter a name and, optionally, a description.
5Click OK.
You can now include your property set in build profiles.
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Custom Properties Grouped by
Function 2
You can use custom properties to provide additional vRealize Automation controls.
These properties are also grouped by name and described in relevant guides in vRealize Automation
product documentation. See Chapter 3 Custom Properties Grouped by Name.
This chapter includes the following topics:
nCustom Properties for Openstack Endpoints
nCustom Properties for Basic Workflow Blueprints
nCustom Properties for Clone Blueprints
nCustom Properties for FlexClone Blueprints
nCustom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints
nCustom Properties for Linux Kickstart Blueprints
nCustom Properties for SCCM Blueprints
nCustom Properties for WIM Blueprints
nCustom Properties for vApp Blueprints
nCustom Properties for vRealize Automation Guest Agent
nCustom Properties for Networking
nCustom Properties for PXE Provisioning
nCustom Properties for BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager Integration
nCustom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
Custom Properties for Openstack Endpoints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties you might want to use when you configure your
Openstack endpoints in vRealize Automation.
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Table 2‑1. Custom Properties for Openstack Endpoints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress.Regex Used by a vRealize Automation administrator to define a regular
expression to match an IP address for terminal connections,
such as an RDP connection. If matched, the IP address is saved
under the VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress custom
property. Otherwise, the first available IP address is designated.
For example, setting the property value to 10.10.0. allows
selection of an IP address from a 10.10.0.* subnet that is
assigned to the virtual machine. If the subnet has not been
assigned, the property is ignored.
This property is available for use with Openstack.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.AddressMDefines additional M IP address allocated for an Openstack
instance for network N, excluding the IP address set specified
by the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Address. property.
Additional addresses are displayed on the Network tab in the
Additional Addresses column.
This property is used by Openstack machine state data
collection.
While this property is only data-collected by the OpenStack
endpoint, it is not specific to OpenStack and can be used for
lifecycle extensibility by other endpoint types.
VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.IdentityProvider.Version For 6.2.4 and 6.2.5, specifies the version of Openstack Identity
provider (Keystone) to use when authenticating an Openstack
endpoint. Configure a value of 3 to authenticate with Keystone
version 3 OpenStack Identity Provider. If you use any other
value, or do not use this custom property, authentication defaults
to Keystone version 2.
VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.Release Specifies the OpenStack release, for example Havana or
Icehouse, when creating an OpenStack endpoint. Required for
6.2.1, 6.2.2, and 6.2.3 OpenStack provisioning. Deprecated as
of 6.2.4.
Custom Properties for Basic Workflow Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for basic
workflow blueprints.
Table 2‑2. Custom Properties for Basic Workflow Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.CDROM.Attach Set to False to provision the machine without a CD-ROM device.
The default is True.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ThinProvision Determines whether thin provisioning is used on ESX compute
resources using local or iSCSI storage. Set to True to use thin
provisioning. Set to False to use standard provisioning. This
property is for virtual provisioning.
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Table 2‑2. Custom Properties for Basic Workflow Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage for
disk N. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy to a
volume. To use this property, substitute the volume number for N
in the property name and specify a storage reservation policy
name as the value. This property is equivalent to the storage
reservation policy name specified on the blueprint. Disk
numbering must be sequential. This property is valid for all
Virtual and vCloud reservations. This property is not valid for
Physical or Cloud reservations, other than vCloud reservations.
VirtualMachine.Storage.AllocationType Stores collected groups to a single datastore. A distributed
environment stores disks round-robin style.
VirtualMachine.Storage.Name Identifies the storage path on which the machine resides. The
default is the value specified in the reservation that was used to
provision the machine.
VirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory Set to True to manage vSwap storage allocation to ensure
availability and set allocation in the reservation. vSwap
allocation is considered when you create or reconfigure a virtual
machine. vSwap allocation checking is only available for
vCenter Server endpoints. For multi-machine blueprints, add the
property to the component blueprints.
Note If you do not specify the
VirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory custom property
when you create or provision the machine from
vRealize Automation, swap space availability is not ensured. If
you add the property for an already provisioned machine, and
the allocated reservation is full, the storage allocated in the
reservation might exceed the actual allocated storage.
VMware.Hardware.Version Specifies the VM hardware version to be used for vSphere
settings. Supported values are currently vmx-04, vmx-07,
vmx-08, vmx-09 and vmx-10. This property is applicable for VM
Create and VM Update workflows and is available only for basic
workflow blueprints.
Custom Properties for Clone Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for clone
blueprints.
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Table 2‑3. Custom Properties for Clone Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage for
disk N. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy to a
volume. To use this property, substitute the volume number for N
in the property name and specify a storage reservation policy
name as the value. This property is equivalent to the storage
reservation policy name specified on the blueprint. Disk
numbering must be sequential. This property is valid for all
Virtual and vCloud reservations. This property is not valid for
Physical or Cloud reservations, other than vCloud reservations.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName Specifies the name of a network profile from which to assign a
static IP address to network device Nor from which to obtain the
range of static IP addresses that can be assigned to network
device N of a cloned machine, where N=0 for the first device, 1
for the second, and so on.
If a network profile is specified in the network path in the
reservation on which the machine is provisioned, a static IP
address is assigned from that network profile. You can ensure
that a static IP address is assigned from a specific profile by
setting the value of this property to the name of a network
profile.
With WIM-based provisioning for virtual machines, you can use
this property to specify a network profile and network interface or
you can use the Network section of the Virtual Reservation
page. You can also assign the network interface to a virtual
network using the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom
property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for
example config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the
operating system is installed. This property is available for Linux
machines cloned from templates on which the Linux agent is
installed.
If you specify an external script, you must also define its location
by using the Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType and
Linux.ExternalScript.Path properties.
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType Specifies the location type of the customization script named in
the Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either
local or nfs.
You must also specify the script location using the
Linux.ExternalScript.Path property. If the location type is
nfs, also use the Linux.ExternalScript.Server property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Server Specifies the name of the NFS server, for example lab-
ad.lab.local, on which the Linux external customization script
named in Linux.ExternalScript.Name is located.
Linux.ExternalScript.Path Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the
export path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The
value must begin with a forward slash and not include the file
name, for example /scripts/linux/config.sh.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 21
If your administrators installed the guest agent to run scripts that accept custom properties and customize
provisioned machines, you can use custom properties to further customize cloned machines that use the
guest agent.
Table 2‑4. Custom Properties for Customizing Cloned Machines with a Guest Agent
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.AddOwnerToAdmins Set to True (default) to add the machine’s owner, as specified by
the VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property, to the local
administrators group on the machine.
VirtualMachine.Admin.AllowLogin Set to True (default) to add the machine owner to the local
remote desktop users group, as specified by the
VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property.
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for
cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the guest
agent service on machines cloned from that template. When the
machine is started, the guest agent service is started. Set to
False to disable the guest agent. If set to False, the enhanced
clone workfow will not use the guest agent for guest operating
system tasks, reducing its functionality to
VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything other
than False, the enhanced clone workflow will send work items to
the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Active Set to True (default) to specify that the machine's disk N is
active. Set to False to specify that the machine's disk N is not
active.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size Defines the size in GB of disk N. For example, to give a size of
150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk
numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one
disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size is
specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which the
machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint user
interface overwrites the value in the
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a
custom property because of its relationship with the storage
option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size, VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size
and so on. VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always
represents the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the
VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label Specifies the label for a machine’s disk. The disk label maximum
is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be sequential. When
used in conjunction with a guest agent, specifies the label of a
machine's disk N inside the guest operating system.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 22
Table 2‑4. Custom Properties for Customizing Cloned Machines with a Guest Agent
(Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N.
The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1,
define the custom property as VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter
and enter the value D. Disk numbering must be sequential.
When used in conjunction with a guest agent, this value
specifies the drive letter or mount point under which an
additional disk N is mounted by the guest agent in the guest
operating system.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and
before starting the guest operating system customization. The
value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the
default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to
include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual
machine reboots before guest agent work items are completed.
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending
work items to the guest agent until all customizations have been
completed.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.Name Specifies the descriptive name of a software application or script
to install or run during provisioning. This is an optional and
information-only property. It serves no real function for the
enhanced clone workflow or the guest agent but it is useful for a
custom software selection in a user interface or for software
usage reporting.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path
must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating
system and must include the name of the script file name.
You can pass custom property values as parameters to the
script by inserting {CustomPropertyName} in the path string. For
example, if you have a custom property named ActivationKey
whose value is 1234, the script path is D:\InstallApp.bat –
key {ActivationKey}. The guest agent runs the command
D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234. Your script file can then be
programmed to accept and use this value.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOName Specifies the path and file name of the ISO file relative to the
data store root. The format
is /folder_name/subfolder_name/file_name.iso. If a value
is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOLocation Specifies the storage path that contains the ISO image file to be
used by the application or script. Format the path as it appears
on the host reservation, for example netapp-1:it_nfs_1. If a
value is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
Custom Properties for FlexClone Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for
FlexClone blueprints.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 23
Table 2‑5. Custom Properties for FlexClone Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName Specifies the name of a network profile from which to assign a
static IP address to network device Nor from which to obtain the
range of static IP addresses that can be assigned to network
device N of a cloned machine, where N=0 for the first device, 1
for the second, and so on.
If a network profile is specified in the network path in the
reservation on which the machine is provisioned, a static IP
address is assigned from that network profile. You can ensure
that a static IP address is assigned from a specific profile by
setting the value of this property to the name of a network
profile.
With WIM-based provisioning for virtual machines, you can use
this property to specify a network profile and network interface or
you can use the Network section of the Virtual Reservation
page. You can also assign the network interface to a virtual
network using the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom
property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for
example config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the
operating system is installed. This property is available for Linux
machines cloned from templates on which the Linux agent is
installed.
If you specify an external script, you must also define its location
by using the Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType and
Linux.ExternalScript.Path properties.
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType Specifies the location type of the customization script named in
the Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either
local or nfs.
You must also specify the script location using the
Linux.ExternalScript.Path property. If the location type is
nfs, also use the Linux.ExternalScript.Server property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Server Specifies the name of the NFS server, for example lab-
ad.lab.local, on which the Linux external customization script
named in Linux.ExternalScript.Name is located.
Linux.ExternalScript.Path Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the
export path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The
value must begin with a forward slash and not include the file
name, for example /scripts/linux/config.sh.
If you installed the guest agent to customize cloned machines, the Custom Properties for Customizing
FlexClone Machines with a Guest Agent table describes the most commonly used custom properties for
your situation.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 24
Table 2‑6. Custom Properties for Customizing FlexClone Machines with a Guest Agent
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for
cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the guest
agent service on machines cloned from that template. When the
machine is started, the guest agent service is started. Set to
False to disable the guest agent. If set to False, the enhanced
clone workfow will not use the guest agent for guest operating
system tasks, reducing its functionality to
VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything other
than False, the enhanced clone workflow will send work items to
the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size Defines the size in GB of disk N. For example, to give a size of
150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk
numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one
disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size is
specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which the
machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint user
interface overwrites the value in the
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a
custom property because of its relationship with the storage
option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size, VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size
and so on. VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always
represents the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the
VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label Specifies the label for a machine’s disk. The disk label maximum
is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be sequential. When
used in conjunction with a guest agent, specifies the label of a
machine's disk N inside the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N.
The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1,
define the custom property as VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter
and enter the value D. Disk numbering must be sequential.
When used in conjunction with a guest agent, this value
specifies the drive letter or mount point under which an
additional disk N is mounted by the guest agent in the guest
operating system.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and
before starting the guest operating system customization. The
value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the
default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to
include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual
machine reboots before guest agent work items are completed.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 25
Table 2‑6. Custom Properties for Customizing FlexClone Machines with a Guest Agent
(Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending
work items to the guest agent until all customizations have been
completed.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path
must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating
system and must include the name of the script file name.
You can pass custom property values as parameters to the
script by inserting {CustomPropertyName} in the path string. For
example, if you have a custom property named ActivationKey
whose value is 1234, the script path is D:\InstallApp.bat –
key {ActivationKey}. The guest agent runs the command
D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234. Your script file can then be
programmed to accept and use this value.
Custom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for linked
clone blueprints.
Certain vRealize Automation custom properties are required to use with linked clone blueprints.
Table 2‑7. Custom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Storage Specifies the datastore on which to place the machine disk N,
for example DATASTORE01. This property is also used to add a
single datastore to a linked clone blueprint. N is the index
(starting at 0) of the volume to assign. Enter the name of the
datastore to assign to the volume. This is the datastore name as
it appears in the Storage Path on the Edit Compute Resource
page. Disk numbering must be sequential.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage for
disk N. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy to a
volume. To use this property, substitute the volume number for N
in the property name and specify a storage reservation policy
name as the value. This property is equivalent to the storage
reservation policy name specified on the blueprint. Disk
numbering must be sequential. This property is valid for all
Virtual and vCloud reservations. This property is not valid for
Physical or Cloud reservations, other than vCloud reservations.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 26
Table 2‑7. Custom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size Defines the size in GB of disk N. For example, to give a size of
150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk
numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one
disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size is
specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which the
machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint user
interface overwrites the value in the
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a
custom property because of its relationship with the storage
option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size, VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size
and so on. VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always
represents the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the
VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label Specifies the label for a machine’s disk. The disk label maximum
is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be sequential. When
used in conjunction with a guest agent, specifies the label of a
machine's disk N inside the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N.
The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1,
define the custom property as VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter
and enter the value D. Disk numbering must be sequential.
When used in conjunction with a guest agent, this value
specifies the drive letter or mount point under which an
additional disk N is mounted by the guest agent in the guest
operating system.
MaximumProvisionedMachines Specifies the maximum number of linked clones for one machine
snapshot. The default is unlimited.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for
example config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the
operating system is installed. This property is available for Linux
machines cloned from templates on which the Linux agent is
installed.
If you specify an external script, you must also define its location
by using the Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType and
Linux.ExternalScript.Path properties.
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType Specifies the location type of the customization script named in
the Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either
local or nfs.
You must also specify the script location using the
Linux.ExternalScript.Path property. If the location type is
nfs, also use the Linux.ExternalScript.Server property.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 27
Table 2‑7. Custom Properties for Linked Clone Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
Linux.ExternalScript.Server Specifies the name of the NFS server, for example lab-
ad.lab.local, on which the Linux external customization script
named in Linux.ExternalScript.Name is located.
Linux.ExternalScript.Path Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the
export path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The
value must begin with a forward slash and not include the file
name, for example /scripts/linux/config.sh.
If you installed the guest agent to customize cloned machines, you use some custom properties more
often than others.
Table 2‑8. Custom Properties for Customizing Cloned Machines with a Guest Agent
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for
cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the guest
agent service on machines cloned from that template. When the
machine is started, the guest agent service is started. Set to
False to disable the guest agent. If set to False, the enhanced
clone workfow will not use the guest agent for guest operating
system tasks, reducing its functionality to
VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything other
than False, the enhanced clone workflow will send work items to
the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and
before starting the guest operating system customization. The
value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the
default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to
include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual
machine reboots before guest agent work items are completed.
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending
work items to the guest agent until all customizations have been
completed.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path
must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating
system and must include the name of the script file name.
You can pass custom property values as parameters to the
script by inserting {CustomPropertyName} in the path string. For
example, if you have a custom property named ActivationKey
whose value is 1234, the script path is D:\InstallApp.bat –
key {ActivationKey}. The guest agent runs the command
D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234. Your script file can then be
programmed to accept and use this value.
Custom Properties for Linux Kickstart Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for Linux
Kickstart blueprints.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 28
Certain vRealize Automation custom properties are required to use with Linux Kickstart blueprints.
Table 2‑9. Required Custom Properties for Linux Kickstart Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem Specifies the vCenter Server guest operating system version
(VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier) with which
vCenter Server creates the machine. This operating system
version must match the operating system version to be installed
on the provisioned machine. Administrators can create property
groups using one of several property sets, for example,
VMware[OS_Version]Properties, that are predefined to
include the correct VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem
values. This property is for virtual provisioning.
For related information, see the enumeration type
VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier in vSphere API/SDK
Documentation. For a list of currently accepted values, see the
VMware vCenter Server™ documentation.
Image.ISO.Location Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the location
of the ISO image from which to boot, for example
http://192.168.2.100/site2/winpe.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Image.ISO.Name Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the name
of the ISO image from which to boot, for
example /ISO/Microsoft/WinPE.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Image.ISO.UserName Specifies the user name to access the CIFS share in the format
username@domain. For Dell iDRAC integrations where the
image is located on a CIFS share that requires authentication to
access.
Image.ISO.Password Specifies the password associated with the
Image.ISO.UserName property. For Dell iDRAC integrations
where the image is located on a CIFS share that requires
authentication to access.
Optional custom properties are available.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 29
Table 2‑10. Optional Custom Properties for Linux Kickstart Blueprints
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.ThinProvision Determines whether thin provisioning is used on ESX compute
resources using local or iSCSI storage. Set to True to use thin
provisioning. Set to False to use standard provisioning. This
property is for virtual provisioning.
Machine.SSH Set to True to enable the Connect Using SSH option, on the
vRealize Automation Items page, for Linux machines
provisioned from this blueprint. If set to True and the Connect
using RDP or SSH machine operation is enabled in the
blueprint, all Linux machines that are provisioned from the
blueprint display the Connect Using SSH option to entitled
users.
Custom Properties for SCCM Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for SCCM
blueprints.
Certain custom properties are required to use with SCCM blueprints.
Table 2‑11. Required Custom Properties for SCCM Blueprints
Custom Property Description
Image.ISO.Location Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the location
of the ISO image from which to boot, for example
http://192.168.2.100/site2/winpe.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Image.ISO.Name Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the name
of the ISO image from which to boot, for
example /ISO/Microsoft/WinPE.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Image.ISO.UserName Specifies the user name to access the CIFS share in the format
username@domain. For Dell iDRAC integrations where the
image is located on a CIFS share that requires authentication to
access.
Image.ISO.Password Specifies the password associated with the
Image.ISO.UserName property. For Dell iDRAC integrations
where the image is located on a CIFS share that requires
authentication to access.
SCCM.Collection.Name Specifies the name of the SCCM collection that contains the
operating system deployment task sequence.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 30
Table 2‑11. Required Custom Properties for SCCM Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
SCCM.Server.Name Specifies the fully qualified domain name of the SCCM server on
which the collection resides, for example lab-sccm.lab.local.
SCCM.Server.SiteCode Specifies the site code of the SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.UserName Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to the
SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.Password Specifies the password associated with the
SCCM.Server.UserName property.
Certain custom properties are used most often with SCCM blueprints.
Table 2‑12. Common Custom Properties for SCCM Blueprints
Custom Property Description
SCCM.CustomVariable.Name Specifies the value of a custom variable, where Name is the
name of any custom variable to be made available to the SCCM
task sequence after the provisioned machine is registered with
the SCCM collection. The value is determined by your choice of
custom variable. If your integration requires it, you can use
SCCM.RemoveCustomVariablePrefix to remove the
SCCM.CustomVariable. prefix from your custom variable.
SCCM.RemoveCustomVariablePrefix Set to true to remove the prefix SCCM.CustomVariable. from
SCCM custom variables you created by using the custom
property SCCM.CustomVariable.Name.
Custom Properties for WIM Blueprints
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that provide additional controls for WIM blueprints.
Certain vRealize Automation custom properties are required for WIM blueprints.
Table 2‑13. Required Custom Properties for WIM Blueprints
Custom Property Description
Image.ISO.Location Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the location
of the ISO image from which to boot, for example
http://192.168.2.100/site2/winpe.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Image.ISO.Name Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the name
of the ISO image from which to boot, for
example /ISO/Microsoft/WinPE.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation
provided for your platform. This property is required for WIM-
based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST provisioning,
and SCCM-based provisioning.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 31
Table 2‑13. Required Custom Properties for WIM Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
Image.ISO.UserName Specifies the user name to access the CIFS share in the format
username@domain. For Dell iDRAC integrations where the
image is located on a CIFS share that requires authentication to
access.
Image.ISO.Password Specifies the password associated with the
Image.ISO.UserName property. For Dell iDRAC integrations
where the image is located on a CIFS share that requires
authentication to access.
Image.Network.Letter Specifies the drive letter to which the WIM image path is
mapped on the provisioned machine. The default value is K.
Image.WIM.Path Specifies the UNC path to the WIM file from which an image is
extracted during WIM-based provisioning. The path format
is \\server\share$ format, for example \\lab-ad\dfs$.
Image.WIM.Name Specifies the name of the WIM file, for example win2k8.wim, as
located by the Image.WIM.Path property.
Image.WIM.Index Specifies the index used to extract the correct image from the
WIM file.
Image.Network.User Specifies the user name with which to map the WIM image path
(Image.WIM.Path) to a network drive on the provisioned
machine. This is typically a domain account with access to the
network share.
Image.Network.Password Specifies the password associated with the
Image.Network.User property.
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem Specifies the vCenter Server guest operating system version
(VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier) with which
vCenter Server creates the machine. This operating system
version must match the operating system version to be installed
on the provisioned machine. Administrators can create property
groups using one of several property sets, for example,
VMware[OS_Version]Properties, that are predefined to
include the correct VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem
values. This property is for virtual provisioning.
For related information, see the enumeration type
VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier in vSphere API/SDK
Documentation. For a list of currently accepted values, see the
VMware vCenter Server™ documentation.
Optional custom properties are also available for WIM blueprints.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 32
Table 2‑14. Common Custom Properties for WIM Blueprints
Custom Property Description
SysPrep.Section.Key
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.AdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.EncryptedAdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.TimeZone
Specifies information to be added to the SysPrep answer file on
machines during the WinPE stage of provisioning. Information
that already exists in the SysPrep answer file is overwritten by
these custom properties. Section represents the name of the
section of the SysPrep answer file, for example GuiUnattended
or UserData. Key represents a key name in the section. For
example, to set the time zone of a provisioned machine to West
Pacific Standard Time, define the custom property
GuiUnattended.UserData.TimeZone and set the value to 275.
For a full list of sections, keys, and accepted values, see the
System Preparation Utility for Windows documentation.
The following Section.Key combinations can be specified for
WIM-based provisioning:
nGuiUnattended
nAdminPassword
nEncryptedAdminPassword
nTimeZone
nUserData
nProductKey
nFullName
nComputerName
nOrgName
nIdentification
nDomainAdmin
nDomainAdminPassword
nJoinDomain
nJoinWorkgroup
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to the
target domain in Active Directory. Do not include the user
domain in the credentials that you send to vCloud Director.
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdminPassword Specifies the password to associate with the
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin property.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinDomain Specifies the name of the domain to join in Active Directory.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinWorkgroup Specifies the name of the workgroup to join if not using a
domain.
SysPrep.UserData.ComputerName Specifies a machine name, for example lab-client005.
SysPrep.UserData.FullName Specifies the full name of a user.
SysPrep.UserData.OrgName Specifies the organization name of the user.
SysPrep.UserData.ProductKey Specifies the Windows product key.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ThinProvision Determines whether thin provisioning is used on ESX compute
resources using local or iSCSI storage. Set to True to use thin
provisioning. Set to False to use standard provisioning. This
property is for virtual provisioning.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 33
Custom Properties for vApp Blueprints
You can add certain vRealize Automation custom properties to a vApp or vApp component blueprint or
property group to allow a vApp machine to join an Active Directory domain.
The Active Directory domain is supported for Windows machines. If the vApp machine contains Linux and
Windows component machines, use a property group to assign custom properties to the vApp component
blueprint associated with the Windows machines.
Table 2‑15. Custom Properties for vApp Blueprints
Custom Property Description
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to the
target domain in Active Directory. Do not include the user
domain in the credentials that you send to vCloud Director.
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdminPassword Specifies the password to associate with the
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin property.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinDomain Specifies the name of the domain to join in Active Directory.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.IsFixed Disables the editing of a specific disk when reconfiguring a
machine. Set to True to disable display of the edit capacity
option for a specific volume. The True value is case-sensitive.
The N value is the 0-based index of the disk.
Alternatively, you can set the
VirtualMachine.DiskN.IsFixed custom property to True in
the VirtualMachineProperties table in the database or use the
Repository API to specify a URI value such
as .../Repository/Data/ManagementModelEntities.svc/V
irtualMachines(guid'60D93A8A-F541-4CE0-
A6C6-78973AC0F1D2')/VirtualMachineProperties.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage for
disk N. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy to a
volume. To use this property, substitute the volume number for N
in the property name and specify a storage reservation policy
name as the value. This property is equivalent to the storage
reservation policy name specified on the blueprint. Disk
numbering must be sequential. This property is valid for all
Virtual and vCloud reservations. This property is not valid for
Physical or Cloud reservations, other than vCloud reservations.
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Table 2‑15. Custom Properties for vApp Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name Specifies the name of the network to connect to, for example the
network device N to which a machine is attached.
By default, a network is assigned from the network paths
available on the reservation on which the machine is
provisioned.
You can ensure that a network device is connected to a specific
network by setting the value of this property to the name of a
network on an available reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed to
be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
You can add this property to a vApp (vCloud) blueprint or a vApp
(vCloud) Component blueprint.
For related information, see Custom Properties for Networking.
VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins Specifies a threshold integer value for a compute resource such
that lease synchronization between vCloud Director and
vRealize Automation will only occur for vCloud Director or
vCloud Air provisioned machines that are set to expire in
vCloud Director or vCloud Air in that time period. If a conflict is
found, the lease value is synchronized to match the lease length
defined invRealize Automation. The default
VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins value is 720 minutes,
which is 12 hours. If VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins is
not present, the default value is used. For example, if the default
values are used, vRealize Automation will run the lease
synchronization check workflow every 45 minutes, which is the
workflow default, and only the leases of machines that are set to
expire within 12 hours are changed to match the lease length
defined in vRealize Automation.
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Table 2‑15. Custom Properties for vApp Blueprints (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VCloud.Template.MakeIdenticalCopy Set to True to clone an identical copy of the vApp template in
vCloud Director and provision the results in
vRealize Automation. This ignores all settings specified in the
blueprints except the name of the vApp and its virtual machines.
The storage path specified in the vApp template during cloning
is used, even if a different storage path is specified in a vApp
component blueprint or when requesting a vApp machine.
Set to False to clone a copy of the vApp template with settings
specified by the vApp and vApp component blueprints.
VMware.SCSI.Type For vApps and vSphere, specifies the SCSI machine type using
one of the following case-sensitive values:
nbuslogic
Use BusLogic emulation for the virtual disk.
nlsilogic
Use LSILogic emulation for the virtual disk (default).
nlsilogicsas
Use LSILogic SAS 1068 emulation for the virtual disk.
npvscsi
Use para-virtualization emulation for the virtual disk.
nnone
Use if a SCSI controller does not exist for this machine.
Custom Properties for vRealize Automation Guest Agent
If you have installed the vRealize Automation guest agent in your templates for cloning or in your WinPE,
you can use custom properties to run custom scripts within the guest operating system of a provisioned
machine after the machine is fully deployed.
Table 2‑16. Custom Properties for Customizing Provisioned Machines with a Guest Agent
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.AddOwnerToAdmins Set to True (default) to add the machine’s owner, as specified by
the VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property, to the local
administrators group on the machine.
VirtualMachine.Admin.AllowLogin Set to True (default) to add the machine owner to the local
remote desktop users group, as specified by the
VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property.
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Table 2‑16. Custom Properties for Customizing Provisioned Machines with a Guest Agent
(Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for
cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the guest
agent service on machines cloned from that template. When the
machine is started, the guest agent service is started. Set to
False to disable the guest agent. If set to False, the enhanced
clone workfow will not use the guest agent for guest operating
system tasks, reducing its functionality to
VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything other
than False, the enhanced clone workflow will send work items to
the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Active Set to True (default) to specify that the machine's disk N is
active. Set to False to specify that the machine's disk N is not
active.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size Defines the size in GB of disk N. For example, to give a size of
150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk
numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one
disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size is
specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which the
machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint user
interface overwrites the value in the
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a
custom property because of its relationship with the storage
option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size, VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size
and so on. VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always
represents the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the
VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label Specifies the label for a machine’s disk. The disk label maximum
is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be sequential. When
used in conjunction with a guest agent, specifies the label of a
machine's disk N inside the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N.
The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1,
define the custom property as VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter
and enter the value D. Disk numbering must be sequential.
When used in conjunction with a guest agent, this value
specifies the drive letter or mount point under which an
additional disk N is mounted by the guest agent in the guest
operating system.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and
before starting the guest operating system customization. The
value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the
default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to
include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual
machine reboots before guest agent work items are completed.
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Table 2‑16. Custom Properties for Customizing Provisioned Machines with a Guest Agent
(Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending
work items to the guest agent until all customizations have been
completed.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.Name Specifies the descriptive name of a software application or script
to install or run during provisioning. This is an optional and
information-only property. It serves no real function for the
enhanced clone workflow or the guest agent but it is useful for a
custom software selection in a user interface or for software
usage reporting.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path
must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating
system and must include the name of the script file name.
You can pass custom property values as parameters to the
script by inserting {CustomPropertyName} in the path string. For
example, if you have a custom property named ActivationKey
whose value is 1234, the script path is D:\InstallApp.bat –
key {ActivationKey}. The guest agent runs the command
D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234. Your script file can then be
programmed to accept and use this value.
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Table 2‑16. Custom Properties for Customizing Provisioned Machines with a Guest Agent
(Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt Allows vRealize Automation to obtain an encrypted string that is
passed as a properly formatted
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath custom property
statement to the gugent command line.
You can provide an encrypted string, such as your password, as
a custom property in a command line argument. This allows you
to store encrypted information that the guest agent can decrypt
and understand as a valid command line argument. For
example, the VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath =
c:\dosomething.bat password custom property string is not
secure as it contains an actual password.
To encrypt the password, you can create a vRealize Automation
custom property, for example MyPassword = password, and
enable encryption by selecting the available checkbox. The
guest agent decrypts the [MyPassword] entry to the value in the
custom property MyPassword and executes the script as
c:\dosomething.bat password.
nCreate custom property MyPassword = password where
password is the value of your actual password. Enable
encryption by selecting the available checkbox.
nSet custom property
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt as
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt = true.
nSet custom property
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath as
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath =
c:\dosomething.bat [MyPassword].
If you set VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt to false, or
don't create the VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt
custom property, then the string inside the square brackets
( [ and ]) is not decrypted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOName Specifies the path and file name of the ISO file relative to the
data store root. The format
is /folder_name/subfolder_name/file_name.iso. If a value
is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOLocation Specifies the storage path that contains the ISO image file to be
used by the application or script. Format the path as it appears
on the host reservation, for example netapp-1:it_nfs_1. If a
value is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
Custom Properties for Networking
The vRealize Automation custom properties for networking specify configuration for a specific network
device on a machine.
Note This information does not apply to Amazon Web Services.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 39
Network assignments are performed during machine allocation. vRealize Automation retrieves network
information from the blueprint. If you want to assign more than one network, use the
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom property on your machine blueprint. If you do not provide
custom properties, allocation only assigns one network, which is picked using a round robin method in
conjunction with the selected reservation.
By default, a machine has one network device configured with the VirtualMachine.Network0.Name
property. You can configure additional network devices by using the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name
custom property.
The numbering of network properties must be sequential, starting with 0. For example, if you specify
custom properties for only VirtualMachine.Network0 and VirtualMachine.Network2, the properties
for VirtualMachine.Network2 are ignored, because the preceding network,
VirtualMachine.Network1, was not specified.
Table 2‑17. Custom Properties for Networking Configuration
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Address Specifies the IP address of network device N in a machine
provisioned with a static IP address.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddressType Indicates whether the MAC address of network device N is
generated or user-defined (static). This property is available for
cloning.
The default value is generated. If the value is static, you must
also use VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddress to specify
the MAC address.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed to
be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddress Specifies the MAC address of a network device N. This property
is available for cloning.
If the value of VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddressType is
generated, this property contains the generated address.
If the value of VirtualMachine.Network.N.MacAddressType
is static, this property specifies the MAC address. For virtual
machines provisioned on ESX server hosts, the address must
be in the range specified by VMware. For details, see vSphere
documentation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed to
be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
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Table 2‑17. Custom Properties for Networking Configuration (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name Specifies the name of the network to connect to, for example the
network device N to which a machine is attached.
By default, a network is assigned from the network paths
available on the reservation on which the machine is
provisioned.
You can ensure that a network device is connected to a specific
network by setting the value of this property to the name of a
network on an available reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed to
be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
You can add this property to a vApp (vCloud) blueprint or a vApp
(vCloud) Component blueprint.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.PortID Specifies the port ID to use for network device N when using a
dvPort group with a vSphere distributed switch.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed to
be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName Specifies the name of a network profile from which to assign a
static IP address to network device Nor from which to obtain the
range of static IP addresses that can be assigned to network
device N of a cloned machine, where N=0 for the first device, 1
for the second, and so on.
If a network profile is specified in the network path in the
reservation on which the machine is provisioned, a static IP
address is assigned from that network profile. You can ensure
that a static IP address is assigned from a specific profile by
setting the value of this property to the name of a network
profile.
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Table 2‑17. Custom Properties for Networking Configuration (Continued)
Custom Property Description
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SubnetMask
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.Gateway
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSuffix
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSearchSuffixes
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of a
custom property. For example, the following properties might list
load balancing pools set up for general use and machines with
high, moderate, and low performance requirements:
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.moderate
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.high
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.low
Note In a multi-machine service, this custom property is
supported only for VM components with Routed Virtual Wire. It is
also not supported for pre-defined static IP addresses for VM
components in the context of a multi-machine blueprint.
Configures attributes of the network profile specified in
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName.
VCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security load balancing
pools to which the virtual machine is assigned during
provisioning. The virtual machine is assigned to all service ports
of all specified pools. The value is an edge/pool name or a list of
edge/pool names separated by commas. Names are case-
sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of a
custom property. For example, the following properties might list
load balancing pools set up for general use and machines with
high, moderate, and low performance requirements:
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.moderate
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.high
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.low
Note In a multi-machine service, this custom property is
supported only for VM components with Routed Virtual Wire. It is
also not supported for pre-defined static IP addresses for VM
components in the context of a multi-machine blueprint.
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Table 2‑17. Custom Properties for Networking Configuration (Continued)
Custom Property Description
VCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security security group or
groups to which the virtual machine is assigned during
provisioning. The value is a security group name or a list of
names separated by commas. Names are case-sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of the
property, which can be used separately or in combination. For
example, the following properties can list security groups
intended for general use, for the sales force, and for support:
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.sales
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.support
VCNS.SecurityTag.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security security tag or
tags to which the virtual machine is associated during
provisioning. The value is a security tag name or a list of names
separated by commas. Names are case-sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of the
property, which can be used separately or in combination. For
example, the following properties can list security tags intended
for general use, for the sales force, and for support:
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names.sales
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names.support
Custom Properties for PXE Provisioning
PXE is the only provisioning method supported for Cisco UCS Manager. You can use the network
bootstrap program with vRealize Automation custom properties to initiate WIM, SCCM, or Linux Kickstart
provisioning. You can also use custom properties to call your own PowerShell scripts. Linux Kickstart
provisioning does not require custom properties.
Custom Properties for Provisioning With PowerShell Scripts
You can use these properties for calling PowerShell scripts.
Table 2‑18. Custom Properties for Calling PowerShell Scripts
Custom Property Description
Pxe.Setup.ScriptName Specifies a custom EPI PowerShell script to run on the machine
before it is started by using the PXE network boot program. The
value is the name assigned to the script when it is uploaded to
the model manager, for example setup.ps1.
Pxe.Clean.ScriptName Specifies the name of an EPI PowerShell script installed in the
vRealize Automation Model Manager, to run on the machine
after it is provisioned. The value is the name assigned to the
script when it is uploaded to the Model Manager, for example
clean.ps1.
Custom Properties Reference
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Custom Properties For PXE and SCCM Provisioning
You can use these properties for PXE and SCCM provisioning.
Table 2‑19. Custom Properties for PXE and SCCM Provisioning
Custom Property Description
SCCM.Collection.Name Specifies the name of the SCCM collection that contains the
operating system deployment task sequence.
SCCM.Server.Name Specifies the fully qualified domain name of the SCCM server on
which the collection resides, for example lab-sccm.lab.local.
SCCM.Server.SiteCode Specifies the site code of the SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.UserName Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to the
SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.Password Specifies the password associated with the
SCCM.Server.UserName property.
SCCM.CustomVariable. Specifies the value of a custom variable, where Name is the
name of any custom variable to be made available to the SCCM
task sequence after the provisioned machine is registered with
the SCCM collection. The value is determined by your choice of
custom variable. If your integration requires it, you can use
SCCM.RemoveCustomVariablePrefix to remove the
SCCM.CustomVariable. prefix from your custom variable.
Custom Properties For PXE and WIM Provisioning
You can use these properties for PXE and WIM provisioning.
Table 2‑20. Custom Properties for PXE and WIM Provisioning
Custom Property Description
Image.Network.Letter Specifies the drive letter to which the WIM image path is
mapped on the provisioned machine. The default value is K.
Image.WIM.Path Specifies the UNC path to the WIM file from which an image is
extracted during WIM-based provisioning. The path format
is \\server\share$ format, for example \\lab-ad\dfs$.
Image.WIM.Name Specifies the name of the WIM file, for example win2k8.wim, as
located by the Image.WIM.Path property.
Image.WIM.Index Specifies the index used to extract the correct image from the
WIM file.
Image.Network.User Specifies the user name with which to map the WIM image path
(Image.WIM.Path) to a network drive on the provisioned
machine. This is typically a domain account with access to the
network share.
Image.Network.Password Specifies the password associated with the
Image.Network.User property.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 2‑20. Custom Properties for PXE and WIM Provisioning (Continued)
Custom Property Description
SysPrep.Section.Key
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.AdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.EncryptedAdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.TimeZone
Specifies information to be added to the SysPrep answer file on
machines during the WinPE stage of provisioning. Information
that already exists in the SysPrep answer file is overwritten by
these custom properties. Section represents the name of the
section of the SysPrep answer file, for example GuiUnattended
or UserData. Key represents a key name in the section. For
example, to set the time zone of a provisioned machine to West
Pacific Standard Time, define the custom property
GuiUnattended.UserData.TimeZone and set the value to 275.
For a full list of sections, keys, and accepted values, see the
System Preparation Utility for Windows documentation.
The following Section.Key combinations can be specified for
WIM-based provisioning:
nGuiUnattended
nAdminPassword
nEncryptedAdminPassword
nTimeZone
nUserData
nProductKey
nFullName
nComputerName
nOrgName
nIdentification
nDomainAdmin
nDomainAdminPassword
nJoinDomain
nJoinWorkgroup
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to the
target domain in Active Directory. Do not include the user
domain in the credentials that you send to vCloud Director.
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdminPassword Specifies the password to associate with the
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin property.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinDomain Specifies the name of the domain to join in Active Directory.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinWorkgroup Specifies the name of the workgroup to join if not using a
domain.
SysPrep.UserData.ComputerName Specifies a machine name, for example lab-client005.
SysPrep.UserData.FullName Specifies the full name of a user.
SysPrep.UserData.OrgName Specifies the organization name of the user.
SysPrep.UserData.ProductKey Specifies the Windows product key.
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Custom Properties for BMC BladeLogic Configuration
Manager Integration
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for BMC
BladeLogic Configuration Manager integration.
Table 2‑21. Custom Properties Required for BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
Integrations
Custom Property Description
VirtualMachine.EPI.Type Specifies the type of external provisioning infrastructure.
BMC.Software.Install Set to True to enable BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
integration.
EPI.Server.Name Specifies the name of the external provisioning infrastructure
server, for example, the name of the server hosting BMC
BladeLogic. If at least one general BMC EPI agent was installed
without specifying a BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
host, this value directs the request to the desired server.
If only dedicated BMC EPI agents for specific BMC BladeLogic
Configuration Manager hosts were installed, this value must
exactly match the server name configured for one of these
agents.
BMC.Service.Profile Specifies the name of the default authentication profile on the
BMC BladeLogic server.
BMC.Software.BatchLocation Specifies the location in BMC BladeLogic configuration where
software jobs are deployed. This value must match either the
appropriate field in Website\Software.txt or the appropriate
value of VRM.Software.IdNNNN, depending on the method
used to prepare software jobs for integration.
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem Specifies the vCenter Server guest operating system version
(VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier) with which
vCenter Server creates the machine. This operating system
version must match the operating system version to be installed
on the provisioned machine. Administrators can create property
groups using one of several property sets, for example,
VMware[OS_Version]Properties, that are predefined to
include the correct VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem
values. This property is for virtual provisioning.
For related information, see the enumeration type
VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier in vSphere API/SDK
Documentation. For a list of currently accepted values, see the
VMware vCenter Server™ documentation.
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Custom Properties To Make BMC BladeLogic Configuration
Manager Software Jobs Available
Configure BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager jobs for vRealize Automation integrations. Make all
software jobs available to machine requesters to select from, or specify a software job to apply to all
machines provisioned from the blueprint.
Table 2‑22. Custom Properties to Make Software Jobs Available
Custom Property Description
LoadSoftware Set to True to enable software install options and make the
software jobs listed in Website\Software.txt available to the
user requesting the machine.
VRM.Software.IdNNNN Specifies a software job or policy to be applied to all machines
provisioned from the blueprint. Set the value to
job_type=job_path, where job_type is the numeral that
represents the BMC BladeLogic job type and job_path is the
location of the job in BMC BladeLogic, for example
4=/Utility/putty. NNNN is a number from 1000 to 1999.
1 — AuditJob
2 — BatchJob
3 — ComplianceJob
4 — DeployJob
5 — FileDeployJob
6 — NSHScriptJob
7 — PatchAnalysisJob
8 — SnapshotJob
Optional Custom Properties for BMC BladeLogic Configuration
Manager Integrations
You can also use optional custom properties that are commonly used with BMC BladeLogic Configuration
Manager blueprints.
Table 2‑23. Optional Custom Properties for BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
Integrations
Property Definition
BMC.AddServer.Delay Specifies the number of seconds to wait before adding the
machine to BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager. The default
is 30.
BMC.AddServer.Retry Specifies the number of seconds to wait before retrying if the
first attempt to add the machine to BMC BladeLogic
Configuration Manager is unsuccessful. The default is 100.
Custom Properties Reference
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Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for HP
Server Automation integration. Some custom properties are required for HP Server Automation
integration. Other custom properties are optional.
Required Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
Certain custom properties are required for a blueprint to work with HP Server Automation.
Table 2‑24. Required Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
Property Definition
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem Specifies the vCenter Server guest operating system version
(VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier) with which
vCenter Server creates the machine. This operating system
version must match the operating system version to be installed
on the provisioned machine. Administrators can create property
groups using one of several property sets, for example,
VMware[OS_Version]Properties, that are predefined to
include the correct VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem
values. This property is for virtual provisioning.
VirtualMachine.EPI.Type Specifies the type of external provisioning infrastructure.
EPI.Server.Name Specifies the name of the external provisioning infrastructure
server, for example, the name of the server hosting BMC
BladeLogic. If at least one general BMC EPI agent was installed
without specifying a BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
host, this value directs the request to the desired server.
Opsware.Software.Install Set to True to allow HP Server Automation to install software.
Opsware.Server.Name Specifies the fully qualified name of the HP Server Automation
server.
Opsware.Server.Username Specifies the user name provided when a password file in the
agent directory was created, for example opswareadmin. This
user name requires administrative access to the HP Server
Automation instance.
Opsware.BootImage.Name Specifies the boot image value as defined in HP Server
Automation for the 32-bit WinPE image, for example winpe32.
The property is not required when provisioning by cloning.
Opsware.Customer.Name Specifies a customer name value as defined in HP Server
Automation, for example MyCompanyName.
Opsware.Facility.Name Specifies a facility name value as defined in HP Server
Automation, for example Cambridge.
Opsware.Machine.Password Specifies the default local administrator password for an
operating system sequence WIM image such as
Opsware.OSSequence.Name as defined in HP Server
Automation, for example P@ssword1.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 48
Table 2‑24. Required Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration (Continued)
Property Definition
Opsware.OSSequence.Name Specifies the operating system sequence name value as defined
in HP Server Automation, for example Windows 2008 WIM.
Opsware.Realm.Name Specifies the realm name value as defined in HP Server
Automation, for example Production.
Opsware.Register.Timeout Specifies the time, in seconds, to wait for creation of a
provisioning job to complete.
VirtualMachine.CDROM.Attach Set to False to provision the machine without a CD-ROM device.
The default is True.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for
example config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the
operating system is installed. This property is available for Linux
machines cloned from templates on which the Linux agent is
installed.
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType Specifies the location type of the customization script named in
the Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either
local or nfs.
Linux.ExternalScript.Path Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the
export path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The
value must begin with a forward slash and not include the file
name, for example /scripts/linux/config.sh.
Optional Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
Certain custom properties are optional for a blueprint to work with HP Server Automation.
Table 2‑25. Optional Custom Properties for HP Server Automation Integration
Property Definition
Opsware.ProvFail.Notify (Optional) Specifies the notification email address for HP Server
Automation to use in the event of provisioning failure, for
example provisionfail@lab.local.
Opsware.ProvFail.Notify (Optional) Specifies the HP Server Automation user to whom
ownership is assigned if provisioning fails.
Opsware.ProvSuccess.Notify (Optional) Specifies the notification email address for HP Server
Automation to use if provisioning is successful.
Opsware.ProvSuccess.Owner (Optional) Specifies the HP Server Automation user to whom
ownership is assigned if provisioning is successful.
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Custom Properties That Make HP Server Automation Software
Jobs Available
Depending on how your fabric administrator configures HP Server Automation jobs for
vRealize Automation integration, you might have a choice between making all software jobs available to
machine requesters to select, or you can specify jobs to apply to all machines provisioned from your
blueprint.
Table 2‑26. Custom Properties to Make Software Jobs Available
Property Definition
LoadSoftware Set to True to enable software install options and make the
software jobs listed in Website\Software.txt available to the
user requesting the machine.
VRM.Software.Id (Optional) Specifies an HP Server Automation policy to be
applied to all machines provisioned from the blueprint. NNNN is
a number from 1000 to 1999.
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Custom Properties Grouped by
Name 3
You can use custom properties to provide additional vRealize Automation controls.
These properties are also grouped functionally and described in relevant guides in vRealize Automation
product documentation. See Chapter 2 Custom Properties Grouped by Function.
This chapter includes the following topics:
nCustom Properties A Table
nCustom Properties B Table
nCustom Properties C Table
nCustom Properties E Table
nCustom Properties H Table
nCustom Properties I Table
nCustom Properties L Table
nCustom Properties M Table
nCustom Properties O Table
nCustom Properties P Table
nCustom Properties R Table
nCustom Properties S Table
nCustom Properties V Table
nCustom Properties X Table
Custom Properties A Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter A.
VMware, Inc. 51
Table 3‑1. Custom Properties A Table
Property Description
AD.Lookup.Department Specifies the cost center value that is included in a notification email
sent to approvers. This property value must be specified in the blueprint.
Amazon.Placement.Tenancy Set to = dedicated to specify that the AWS connection be specific to a
dedicated tenant. This property is valid for use with VPC subnets.
amazon.AmazonEC2Config.ServiceURL Specifies the Amazon configuration service URL for Amazon GovCloud,
for example amazon.AmazonEC2Config.ServiceURL=https://ec2.us-
gov-west-1.amazonaws.com.
amazon.ElasticLoadBalancingConfig.ServiceURL Specifies the Amazon load balancer configuration service URL for
Amazon GovCloud, for example
amazon.ElasticLoadBalancingConfig.ServiceURL=https://elasticlo
adbalancing.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com.
Amazon.ElasticLoadBalancer.Names Assigns machines that are provisioned by a blueprint to the elastic load
balancers that match the specified values. This property is valid for
vSphere, Amazon, and Hyper-V configurations.
amazon.IAMInstanceProfile.ARN Specifies the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) instance
profile Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) when requesting an AWS
instance. When you add this property, for example
amazon.IAMInstanceProfile.ARN = IAM Instance Profile ARN(s)
value, to a blueprint and then request provisioning from the catalog, the
provisioned Amazon virtual machine or instance contains the specified
IAM role.
Amazon.Instance.Id Specifies the Amazon instance ID of a machine provisioned on an
Amazon EC2 endpoint. This property is valid for vSphere and Amazon
configurations.
AppService.SyncMachines.MachineProvisioned Used specifically in combination with the procedure described in
vRealize Automation KB 2132084 to address the issue of a multi-
machine blueprint provisioning process being only partially successful
when in fact all the components are correctly provisioned and
deployments are accessible from the Items and Managed Machines
tabs.
For vRealize Automation 6.2.5, you only need to add the
AppService.SyncMachines.MachineProvisioned custom property to
your blueprint to avoid this issue.
For details, see the VMware Knowledge Base article Multi-Machine
Blueprint Reported as Partially Succeeded But All the Components
Provisioned Correctly (2132084) at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2132084
for more information.
Custom Properties B Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter B.
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Table 3‑2. Custom Properties B Table
Property Definition
BMC.AddServer.Delay Specifies the number of seconds to wait before adding the machine to
BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager. The default is 30.
BMC.AddServer.Retry Specifies the number of seconds to wait before retrying if the first attempt
to add the machine to BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager is
unsuccessful. The default is 100.
BMC.Service.Profile Specifies the name of the default authentication profile on the BMC
BladeLogic server.
BMC.Software.BatchLocation Specifies the location in BMC BladeLogic configuration where software
jobs are deployed. This value must match either the appropriate field in
Website\Software.txt or the appropriate value of
VRM.Software.IdNNNN, depending on the method used to prepare
software jobs for integration.
BMC.Software.Install Set to True to enable BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager integration.
Custom Properties C Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter C.
Table 3‑3. Custom Properties C Table
Property Definition
Cisco.Organization.Dn Specifies the distinguished name of the Cisco UCS Manager organization
in which Cisco UCS machines provisioned by the business group are
placed, for example org-root/org-Engineering. If the specified organization
does not exist in the Cisco UCS Manager instance that is managing the
machine, provisioning fails. This property is available for business groups
only.
CloneFrom Specifies the name of an existing machine or virtualization platform object
to clone from, for example a template in vCenter Server such as
Win2k8tmpl.
CloneSpec Specifies the name of a customization specification on a cloned machine,
for example a predefined SysPrep object in vCenter Server such as Win2k
Customization Spec. The default value is specified on the blueprint.
Command.DiskPart.Options When you use WIM-based virtual provisioning on ESX server hosts, set to
Align=64 to use the recommended alignment parameters when you format
and partition the machine’s disk. This property is not available for physical
provisioning.
Command.FormatDisk.Options When you use WIM-based virtual provisioning on ESX server hosts, set
to /A:32K to use the recommended alignment parameters when you format
and partition the machine’s disk. This property is not available for physical
provisioning.
Custom Properties E Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter E.
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Table 3‑4. Custom Properties E Table
Property Definition
EPI.Server.Collection Specifies the name of the Citrix provisioning collection to which the machine is to be
registered.
EPI.Server.Name Specifies the name of the external provisioning infrastructure server, for example,
the name of the server hosting BMC BladeLogic. If at least one general BMC EPI
agent was installed without specifying a BMC BladeLogic Configuration Manager
host, this value directs the request to the desired server.
If only dedicated BMC EPI agents for specific BMC BladeLogic Configuration
Manager hosts were installed, this value must exactly match the server name
configured for one of these agents.
Specifies the name of the server hosting HP Server Automation. If at least one
general Opsware EPI agent was installed without specifying a server automation
server, this value directs the request to the desired server.
If only dedicated EPI agents for specific HP server automation servers were
installed, this value must exactly match the server name configured for one of these
agents.
If at least one general EPI agent of the appropriate type
(VirtualMachine.EPI.Type) was installed without specifying a server, this value
directs the request to the desired server. If only dedicated EPI agents for specific
servers of the appropriate type were installed, this value must exactly match the
server name configured for one of these agents.
EPI.Server.Port Specifies the port on which to contact the provisioning server. If you are using a
Citrix provisioning server, omit to specify the default port value of 54321.
EPI.Server.Site Specifies the name of the Citrix provisioning site that contains the collection and
store identified by the EPI.Server.Collection and EPI.Server.Store
properties, for example site1.
EPI.Server.Store Specifies the name of the Citrix provisioning store that contains the vDisk identified
by the EPI.Server.VDiskName property, for example store1.
EPI.Server.VDiskName Specifies the name of the Citrix provisioning vDisk from which to provision, for
example disk1.
Custom Properties H Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter H.
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Table 3‑5. Custom Properties H Table
Property Definition
Hostname Specifies the host machine name, overriding the generated machine name
contained in the VirtualMachine.Admin.Name property. If Hostname is not used,
the VirtualMachine.Admin.Name value is used as the machine name. This
property is not valid for multi-machine blueprints.
Hyperv.Network.Type Specifies the network adapter type of the virtual machine. This property is valid for
use with Hyper-V (SCVMM) only. When the value is set to synthetic, specifies that
the blueprint be allowed to provision a Generation-2 machine on a Hyper-V
(SCVMM) 2012 R2 resource. Generation-2 provisioning also requires that the
blueprint includes the Scvmm.Generation2 = true property setting. The legacy
value is not compatible with WinXP or Server 2003 x64 guest operating systems.
The default value is synthetic.
Custom Properties I Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter I.
Table 3‑6. Custom Properties I Table
Property Definition
Image.ISO.Location Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the location of the ISO image
from which to boot, for example http://192.168.2.100/site2/winpe.iso. The format of
this value depends on your platform. For details, see documentation provided for your
platform. This property is required for WIM-based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and
autoYaST provisioning, and SCCM-based provisioning.
For virtual provisioning with vCenter Server, this specifies the name of a datastore in
the instance that will be accessible to the provisioning compute resource. For virtual
provisioning with XenServer, this specifies the name of a storage repository.
For physical provisioning, this specifies the HTTP URL of the web-accessible location
of the image.
Image.ISO.Name Values for this property are case sensitive. Specifies the name of the ISO image from
which to boot, for example /ISO/Microsoft/WinPE.iso. The format of this value
depends on your platform. For details, see documentation provided for your platform.
This property is required for WIM-based provisioning, Linux Kickstart and autoYaST
provisioning, and SCCM-based provisioning.
For virtual provisioning with vCenter Server, this svalue specifies the path to the
image in the datastore specified by Image.ISO.Location, for
example /MyISOs/Microsoft/MSDN/win2003.iso. The value must use forward
slashes and begin with a forward slash. For virtual provisioning with XenServer, this
value specifies the name of the image in the storage repository specified by
Image.ISO.Location. In virtual provisioning with Hyper-V, this value specifies the full
local path to the image.
For physical provisioning, this value specifies the file name of the image.
Image.ISO.UserName Specifies the user name to access the CIFS share in the format username@domain.
For Dell iDRAC integrations where the image is located on a CIFS share that requires
authentication to access.
Image.ISO.Password Specifies the password associated with the Image.ISO.UserName property. For Dell
iDRAC integrations where the image is located on a CIFS share that requires
authentication to access.
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Table 3‑6. Custom Properties I Table (Continued)
Property Definition
Image.WIM.Path Specifies the UNC path to the WIM file from which an image is extracted during WIM-
based provisioning. The path format is \\server\share$ format, for example \\lab-
ad\dfs$.
Image.WIM.Name Specifies the name of the WIM file, for example win2k8.wim, as located by the
Image.WIM.Path property.
Image.WIM.Index Specifies the index used to extract the correct image from the WIM file.
Image.Network.User Specifies the user name with which to map the WIM image path (Image.WIM.Path) to
a network drive on the provisioned machine. This is typically a domain account with
access to the network share.
Image.Network.Password Specifies the password associated with the Image.Network.User property.
Image.Network.Letter Specifies the drive letter to which the WIM image path is mapped on the provisioned
machine. The default value is K.
Infrastructure.Admin.MachineObject
OU
Specifies the organizational unit (OU) of the machine. When machines are placed in
the required OU by the business group OU setting, this property is not required.
Infrastructure.Admin.ADUser Specifies the domain administrator user ID. This identifier is used to query Active
Directory users and groups when an anonymous bind cannot be used.
Infrastructure.Admin.ADPassword Specifies the password associated with the Infrastructure.Admin.ADUser domain
administrator user ID.
Infrastructure.Admin.DefaultDomain Specifies the default domain on the machine.
Infrastructure.ResourcePool.Name Specifies the resource pool to which the machine belongs, if any. The default is the
value specified in the reservation from which the machine was provisioned.
Custom Properties L Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter L.
Table 3‑7. Custom Properties L Table
Property Description
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType Specifies the location type of the customization script named in the
Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either local or
nfs.
You must also specify the script location using the
Linux.ExternalScript.Path property. If the location type is nfs,
also use the Linux.ExternalScript.Server property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for example
config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the operating system
is installed. This property is available for Linux machines cloned from
templates on which the Linux agent is installed.
If you specify an external script, you must also define its location by
using the Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType and
Linux.ExternalScript.Path properties.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑7. Custom Properties L Table (Continued)
Property Description
Linux.ExternalScript.Path Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the export
path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The value must
begin with a forward slash and not include the file name, for
example /scripts/linux/config.sh.
Linux.ExternalScript.Server Specifies the name of the NFS server, for example lab-ad.lab.local, on
which the Linux external customization script named in
Linux.ExternalScript.Name is located.
LoadSoftware Set to True to enable software install options and make the software
jobs listed in Website\Software.txt available to the user requesting
the machine.
Custom Properties M Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter M.
Table 3‑8. Custom Properties M Table
Property Description
MaximumProvisionedMachines Specifies the maximum number of linked clones for one machine snapshot.
The default is unlimited.
Machine.SSH Set to True to enable the Connect Using SSH option, on the
vRealize Automation Items page, for Linux machines provisioned from this
blueprint. If set to True and the Connect using RDP or SSH machine
operation is enabled in the blueprint, all Linux machines that are provisioned
from the blueprint display the Connect Using SSH option to entitled users.
Custom Properties O Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter O.
Table 3‑9. Custom Properties O Table
Property Description
Opsware.BootImage.Name Specifies the boot image value as defined in HP Server Automation for
the 32-bit WinPE image, for example winpe32. The property is not
required when provisioning by cloning.
Opsware.Customer.Name Specifies a customer name value as defined in HP Server Automation, for
example MyCompanyName.
Opsware.Facility.Name Specifies a facility name value as defined in HP Server Automation, for
example Cambridge.
Opsware.Machine.Password Specifies the default local administrator password for an operating system
sequence WIM image such as Opsware.OSSequence.Name as defined in
HP Server Automation, for example P@ssword1.
Opsware.OSSequence.Name Specifies the operating system sequence name value as defined in HP
Server Automation, for example Windows 2008 WIM.
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Table 3‑9. Custom Properties O Table (Continued)
Property Description
Opsware.ProvFail.Notify (Optional) Specifies the notification email address for HP Server
Automation to use in the event of provisioning failure, for example
provisionfail@lab.local.
Opsware.ProvFail.Owner (Optional) Specifies the HP Server Automation user to whom ownership is
assigned if provisioning fails.
Opsware.ProvSuccess.Notify (Optional) Specifies the notification email address for HP Server
Automation to use if provisioning is successful.
Opsware.ProvSuccess.Owner (Optional) Specifies the HP Server Automation user to whom ownership is
assigned if provisioning is successful.
Opsware.Realm.Name Specifies the realm name value as defined in HP Server Automation, for
example Production.
Opsware.Register.Timeout Specifies the time, in seconds, to wait for creation of a provisioning job to
complete.
Opsware.Server.Name Specifies the fully qualified name of the HP Server Automation server.
Opsware.Server.Username Specifies the user name provided when a password file in the agent
directory was created, for example opswareadmin. This user name
requires administrative access to the HP Server Automation instance.
Opsware.Software.Install Set to True to allow HP Server Automation to install software.
Custom Properties P Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter P.
Table 3‑10. Custom Properties P Table
Property Description
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.Delete Set to True to delete the accounts of destroyed machines, instead of disabling
them.
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.Execute Set to True to enable the Active Directory cleanup plug-in. By default, each
machine’s account is disabled when it is destroyed.
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.MoveToOu Moves the account of destroyed machines to a new Active Directory
organizational unit. The value is the organization unit to which you are moving
the account. This value must be in ou=OU, dc=dc format, for example
ou=trash,cn=computers,dc=lab,dc=local.
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.UserName Specifies an Active Directory account user name with sufficient privileges to
perform Active Directory actions such as delete, disable, rename, or move
Active Directory accounts. The value must be in domain\username format, for
example lab\administrator. This property is required if the vRealize Automation
manager service does not have these rights in a domain, which can occur
when you provision machines in more than one domain.
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.Password Specifies the password associated to the
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.UserName property.
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.Domain Specifies the Active Directory domain name that contains the machine account
to be destroyed.
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Table 3‑10. Custom Properties P Table (Continued)
Property Description
Plugin.AdMachineCleanup.RenamePrefix Renames the accounts of destroyed machines by adding a prefix. The value is
the prefix string to prepend, for example destroyed_.
Pxe.Clean.ScriptName Specifies the name of an EPI PowerShell script installed in the
vRealize Automation Model Manager, to run on the machine after it is
provisioned. The value is the name assigned to the script when it is uploaded
to the Model Manager, for example clean.ps1.
Pxe.Setup.ScriptName Specifies a custom EPI PowerShell script to run on the machine before it is
started by using the PXE network boot program. The value is the name
assigned to the script when it is uploaded to the model manager, for example
setup.ps1.
Custom Properties R Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter R.
Table 3‑11. Custom Properties R Table
Property Description
RDP.File.Name Specifies an RDP file from which to obtain settings, for example
My_RDP_Settings.rdp. The file must reside in the Website\Rdp
subdirectory of the vRealize Automation installation directory.
Custom Properties S Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter S.
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Table 3‑12. Custom Properties S Table
Property Description
SysPrep.Section.Key
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.AdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.EncryptedAdminPassword
nSysPrep.GuiUnattended.TimeZone
Specifies information to be added to the SysPrep answer
file on machines during the WinPE stage of provisioning.
Information that already exists in the SysPrep answer file
is overwritten by these custom properties. Section
represents the name of the section of the SysPrep
answer file, for example GuiUnattended or UserData. Key
represents a key name in the section. For example, to set
the time zone of a provisioned machine to West Pacific
Standard Time, define the custom property
GuiUnattended.UserData.TimeZone and set the value to
275.
For a full list of sections, keys, and accepted values, see
the System Preparation Utility for Windows
documentation.
The following Section.Key combinations can be specified
for WIM-based provisioning:
nGuiUnattended
nAdminPassword
nEncryptedAdminPassword
nTimeZone
nUserData
nProductKey
nFullName
nComputerName
nOrgName
nIdentification
nDomainAdmin
nDomainAdminPassword
nJoinDomain
nJoinWorkgroup
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to
the target domain in Active Directory. Do not include the
user domain in the credentials that you send to
vCloud Director.
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdminPassword Specifies the password to associate with the
Sysprep.Identification.DomainAdmin property.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinDomain Specifies the name of the domain to join in Active
Directory.
Sysprep.Identification.JoinWorkgroup Specifies the name of the workgroup to join if not using a
domain.
SysPrep.UserData.ComputerName Specifies a machine name, for example lab-client005.
SysPrep.UserData.FullName Specifies the full name of a user.
SysPrep.UserData.OrgName Specifies the organization name of the user.
SysPrep.UserData.ProductKey Specifies the Windows product key.
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Table 3‑12. Custom Properties S Table (Continued)
Property Description
SCCM.Collection.Name Specifies the name of the SCCM collection that contains
the operating system deployment task sequence.
SCCM.CustomVariable.Name Specifies the value of a custom variable, where Name is
the name of any custom variable to be made available to
the SCCM task sequence after the provisioned machine
is registered with the SCCM collection. The value is
determined by your choice of custom variable. If your
integration requires it, you can use
SCCM.RemoveCustomVariablePrefix to remove the
SCCM.CustomVariable. prefix from your custom
variable.
SCCM.Server.Name Specifies the fully qualified domain name of the SCCM
server on which the collection resides, for example lab-
sccm.lab.local.
SCCM.Server.SiteCode Specifies the site code of the SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.UserName Specifies a user name with administrator-level access to
the SCCM server.
SCCM.Server.Password Specifies the password associated with the
SCCM.Server.UserName property.
SCCM.RemoveCustomVariablePrefix Set to true to remove the prefix SCCM.CustomVariable.
from SCCM custom variables you created by using the
custom property SCCM.CustomVariable.Name.
Scvmm.Generation2 When set to true, specifies that the blueprint be allowed to
provision a Generation-2 machine on a Hyper-V
(SCVMM) 2012 R2 resource. Generation-2 provisioning
also requires that the blueprint includes the
Hyperv.Network.Type = synthetic property setting.
Snapshot.Policy.AgeLimit Sets the age limit, in days, for snapshots that can be
applied to machines. This property applies to vSphere
provisioning.
When a snapshot exceeds the age limit, the Apply option
is no longer available.
When the snapshot age limit is reached, the snapshot
remains but you can no longer revert to it. You can delete
the snapshot using the vSphere client.
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Table 3‑12. Custom Properties S Table (Continued)
Property Description
Snapshot.Policy.Limit Sets the number of snapshots allowed per machine. The
default setting is one snapshot per machine. This property
applies to vSphere provisioning. When set to 0, the
blueprint option to create a snapshot is hidden for all
users except for support and manager roles.
Snapshots are shown in a hierarchical structure.
nDepth – Maximum is 31.
nWidth – There is no limit.
Snapshot.Policy.Disable When set to true, the ability to create a snapshot is
disabled for all vRealize Automation user roles and the
snapshot option is hidden from the Items tab.
Custom Properties V Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter V.
Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VbScript.PreProvisioning.Name Specifies the full path of a Visual Basic script to be run before
a machine is provisioned. For example, %System-Drive
%\Program Files(x86)\VMware\vCAC
Agents\EPI_Agent\Scripts\SendEmail.vbs. The script file
must reside on the system on which the Visual Basic script
EPI agent is installed.
VbScript.PostProvisioning.Name Specifies the full path of a Visual Basic script to be run after a
machine is provisioned. For example, %System-Drive
%\Program Files(x86)\VMware\vCAC
Agents\EPI_Agent\Scripts\SendEmail.vbs. The script file
must reside on the system on which the Visual Basic script
EPI agent is installed.
VbScript.UnProvisioning.Name Specifies the full path of a Visual Basic script to be run when a
machine is destroyed. For example, %System-Drive
%\Program Files (x86)\VMware\vCAC
Agents\EPI_Agent\Scripts\SendEmail.vb. The script file
must reside on the system on which the Visual Basic script
EPI agent is installed.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins Specifies a threshold integer value for a compute resource
such that lease synchronization between vCloud Director and
vRealize Automation will only occur for vCloud Director or
vCloud Air provisioned machines that are set to expire in
vCloud Director or vCloud Air in that time period. If a conflict is
found, the lease value is synchronized to match the lease
length defined invRealize Automation. The default
VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins value is 720 minutes,
which is 12 hours. If VCloud.Lease.Sync.TimeBufferMins
is not present, the default value is used. For example, if the
default values are used, vRealize Automation will run the
lease synchronization check workflow every 45 minutes, which
is the workflow default, and only the leases of machines that
are set to expire within 12 hours are changed to match the
lease length defined in vRealize Automation.
VCloud.Template.MakeIdenticalCopy Set to True to clone an identical copy of the vApp template in
vCloud Director and provision the results in
vRealize Automation. This ignores all settings specified in the
blueprints except the name of the vApp and its virtual
machines. The storage path specified in the vApp template
during cloning is used, even if a different storage path is
specified in a vApp component blueprint or when requesting a
vApp machine.
Set to False to clone a copy of the vApp template with settings
specified by the vApp and vApp component blueprints.
VCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security load balancing
pools to which the virtual machine is assigned during
provisioning. The virtual machine is assigned to all service
ports of all specified pools. The value is an edge/pool name or
a list of edge/pool names separated by commas. Names are
case-sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of a
custom property. For example, the following properties might
list load balancing pools set up for general use and machines
with high, moderate, and low performance requirements:
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.moderate
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.high
nVCNS.LoadBalancerEdgePool.Names.low
Note In a multi-machine service, this custom property is
supported only for VM components with Routed Virtual Wire. It
is also not supported for pre-defined static IP addresses for
VM components in the context of a multi-machine blueprint.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security security group
or groups to which the virtual machine is assigned during
provisioning. The value is a security group name or a list of
names separated by commas. Names are case-sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of
the property, which can be used separately or in combination.
For example, the following properties can list security groups
intended for general use, for the sales force, and for support:
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.sales
nVCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.support
VCNS.SecurityGroup.Names.blueprint_name When using vCloud Networking and Security, specifies the
Edge Pool with which to associate the blueprint.
VCNS.SecurityTag.Names.name Specifies the vCloud Networking and Security security tag or
tags to which the virtual machine is associated during
provisioning. The value is a security tag name or a list of
names separated by commas. Names are case-sensitive.
Appending a name allows you to create multiple versions of
the property, which can be used separately or in combination.
For example, the following properties can list security tags
intended for general use, for the sales force, and for support:
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names.sales
nVCNS.SecurityTag.Names.support
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for
cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the
guest agent service on machines cloned from that template.
When the machine is started, the guest agent service is
started. Set to False to disable the guest agent. If set to False,
the enhanced clone workfow will not use the guest agent for
guest operating system tasks, reducing its functionality to
VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything
other than False, the enhanced clone workflow will send work
items to the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.Admin.NameCompletion Specifies the domain name to include in the fully qualified
domain name of the machine that the RDP or SSH files
generate for the user interface options Connect Using RDP
or Connect Using SSH option. For example, set the value to
myCompany.com to generate the fully qualified domain name
my-machine-name.myCompany.com in the RDP or SSH file.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress Specifies the RDP connection address of the machine to
which an RDP file is downloaded when the user interface
option Connect Using RDP is used or attached to automatic
emails. Do not use in a blueprint or property group unless you
require the user to be prompted and you have not supplied a
default value.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress.Regex Used by a vRealize Automation administrator to define a
regular expression to match an IP address for terminal
connections, such as an RDP connection. If matched, the IP
address is saved under the
VirtualMachine.Admin.ConnectAddress custom property.
Otherwise, the first available IP address is designated.
For example, setting the property value to 10.10.0. allows
selection of an IP address from a 10.10.0.* subnet that is
assigned to the virtual machine. If the subnet has not been
assigned, the property is ignored.
This property is available for use with Openstack.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ThinProvision Determines whether thin provisioning is used on ESX compute
resources using local or iSCSI storage. Set to True to use thin
provisioning. Set to False to use standard provisioning. This
property is for virtual provisioning.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and
before starting the guest operating system customization. The
value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the
default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to
include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual
machine reboots before guest agent work items are
completed.
VirtualMachine.Admin.NetworkInterfaceType Indicates the network interface type. Use to modify the
network settings of a newly provisioned virtual machine. The
following options are available:
nE1000 (default)
nVirtIO
nRTL8139
nRTL8139 VirtIO
VirtualMachine.Admin.Name Specifies the generated machine name for vSphere, for
example CodyVM01. When creating custom workflows or
plug-ins for customizing a virtual machine name, set this
property to match the name of the virtual machine. This is an
internal input property for the agent to name the virtual
machine.
Note This property is for vSphere only.
The value specified in the blueprint has no effect on this
property. This property is not intended to be used to prompt
the user. Use the HostName property to prompt the user. If the
property is set at runtime, the container name that is created in
the hypervisor might not match the item record name.
VirtualMachine.Admin.UUID Specifies the UUID of the machine. The value is recorded by
the guest agent when the machine is created, then it becomes
read-only. The value in the blueprint or property group has no
effect on this property.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.AgentID Specifies the UUID of the guest agent. The value is recorded
by the guest agent when the machine is created, then it
becomes read-only. The value in the blueprint or property
group has no effect on this property.
VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner Specifies the user name of the machine owner.
VirtualMachine.Admin.Approver Specifies the user name of the group manager who approved
the machine request.
VirtualMachine.Admin.Description Specifies the description of the machine as entered or
modified by its owner or an administrator.
VirtualMachine.Admin.EncryptPasswords If set to True, specifies that the administrator passwords are
encrypted.
VirtualMachine.Admin.AdministratorEmail Specifies the manager email addresses or Active Directory
accounts for the business group of the provisioning blueprint.
Multiple email addresses are separated by a comma, for
example JoeAdmin@VMware.com,WeiLeeMgr@VMware.com.
VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage Specifies the total disk space that the machine uses, including
all disks as specified by the VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size
properties and the swap file as specified by the
VMware.Memory. Reservation property.
VirtualMachine.Admin.Hostname Informs the administrator which host is used for provisioning
the machine on the endpoint. The specified value is
implemented on the machine and is populated during data
collection. For example, if the compute resource of a machine
is changed, a proxy agent updates the value of the machine’s
VirtualMachine.Admin.Hostname property.
Note This is an internal output property from the agent that is
populated during the data collection process and identifies the
host on which a machine resides.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ClusterName Informs the administrator which cluster contains the compute
resource for the machine to use.
Note This is an internal output property from the agent that is
populated during the data collection process and identifies the
cluster in which a machine resides.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ApplicationID List the application IDs that can be assigned to a machine.
VirtualMachine.Admin.AddOwnerToAdmins Set to True (default) to add the machine’s owner, as specified
by the VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property, to the local
administrators group on the machine.
This property is not available for provisioning by cloning.
VirtualMachine.Admin.AllowLogin Set to True (default) to add the machine owner to the local
remote desktop users group, as specified by the
VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.DiskInterfaceType Indicates the type of disk drivers. The following disk drivers
are supported:
nIDE (default)
nVirtIO
This property is for virtual provisioning.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ForceHost Specifies the name of the ESX host. The property is only
honored if VirtualMachine.Admin.HostSelectionPolicy
is set to EXACT_MATCH.
Note This property is for vSphere only.
When provisioning against a vSphere cluster, you can use the
VirtualMachine.Admin.ForceHost property to specify the
host on which a machine is to be provisioned. This property is
used only if DRS is not set to automatic for the cluster. If the
cluster has DRS enabled and is set to Automatic, vSphere
relocates the provisioned machine when the machine is
restarted.
VirtualMachine.Admin.HostSelectionPolicy Optionally set to EXACT_MATCH to require the machine to be
placed on the host specified by the
VirtualMachine.Admin.ForceHost property. If the host is
unavailable, the request results in a failure. If a host is not
specified, the next best available host is selected. If set to
EXACT_MATCH, an error occurs if the specified host does not
have enough memory or is in maintenance mode.
Note This property applies to vSphere only.
VirtualMachine.Admin.ExportProperties Optionally set to True when using an enhanced clone workflow
to specify that the guest agent export the virtual machine's
custom properties to the following files in the guest OS:
nC:\VRMGuestAgent\site\workitem.xml
nC:\VRMGuestAgent\site\workitem.ini
Guest scripts and utilities can then consume these files.
VirtualMachine.Agent.CopyToDisk Set to True (default) to copy the guest agent executable file to
%System-Drive%\VRM\Build\Bin on the machine’s disk.
VirtualMachine.Agent.GuiRunOnce Set to True to include guest agent execution in the
SysPrep.inf runonce section. Set to False for the Linux
agent to stop the provisioning workflow.
VirtualMachine.Agent.Reboot Set to True (default) to specify that the guest agent restarts the
machine following installation of the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.CDROM.Attach Set to False to provision the machine without a CD-ROM
device. The default is True.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.CPU.Count Specifies the number of CPUs, for example 2, allocated to a
machine. The default is the value specified by the CPU setting
on the blueprint.
Note This custom property value is overridden by the CPU
value on the blueprint when the machine is first provisioned.
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending
work items to the guest agent until all customizations have
been completed.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N.
The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1,
define the custom property as
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter and enter the value D. Disk
numbering must be sequential. When used in conjunction with
a guest agent, this value specifies the drive letter or mount
point under which an additional disk N is mounted by the guest
agent in the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size Defines the size in GB of disk N. For example, to give a size of
150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk
numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one
disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size
is specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which
the machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint
user interface overwrites the value in the
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The
VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a
custom property because of its relationship with the storage
option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying
VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size,
VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size and so on.
VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always represents
the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the
VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.IsFixed Disables the editing of a specific disk when reconfiguring a
machine. Set to True to disable display of the edit capacity
option for a specific volume. The True value is case-sensitive.
The N value is the 0-based index of the disk.
Alternatively, you can set the
VirtualMachine.DiskN.IsFixed custom property to True in
the VirtualMachineProperties table in the database or use the
Repository API to specify a URI value such
as .../Repository/Data/ManagementModelEntities.sv
c/VirtualMachines(guid'60D93A8A-F541-4CE0-
A6C6-78973AC0F1D2')/VirtualMachineProperties.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label Specifies the label for a machine’s disk. The disk label
maximum is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be
sequential. When used in conjunction with a guest agent,
specifies the label of a machine's disk N inside the guest
operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Active Set to True (default) to specify that the machine's disk N is
active. Set to False to specify that the machine's disk N is not
active.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.FS Specifies the file system of the machine’s disk N. The options
are NTFS (default), FAT and FAT32.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Percent Specifies the percentage of the disk N to be formatted by a
guest agent for the machine’s use. That machine cannot use
the remaining portion of the disk.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage
for disk N. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy
to a volume. To use this property, substitute the volume
number for N in the property name and specify a storage
reservation policy name as the value. This property is
equivalent to the storage reservation policy name specified on
the blueprint. Disk numbering must be sequential. This
property is valid for all Virtual and vCloud reservations. This
property is not valid for Physical or Cloud reservations, other
than vCloud reservations.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicyMode Allocates disk N to the best available storage reservation
policy.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Storage Specifies the datastore on which to place the machine disk N,
for example DATASTORE01. This property is also used to add
a single datastore to a linked clone blueprint. N is the index
(starting at 0) of the volume to assign. Enter the name of the
datastore to assign to the volume. This is the datastore name
as it appears in the Storage Path on the Edit Compute
Resource page. Disk numbering must be sequential.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.VMwareType Specifies the VMware disk mode of the machine’s diskN. This
property applies to vSphere. The following options are
available:
npersistent
nindependent_persistent
nindependent_nonpersistent
If you set this custom property to independent_persistent or
independent_nonpersistent, users must power off their
machine before using vRealize Automation to take a snapshot.
Note This property applies to vSphere only.
For details, see VirtualDeviceDeviceBackingOption data
object help in VMware vSphere Web Services SDK
Documentation.
VirtualMachine.Host.TpmEnabled Limits virtual machine placement to hosts that have a Trust
Protection Module (TPM) device installed and recognized by
ESX and vSphere. The default value is False.
All hosts in a cluster must have a Trust Protection Module
device installed. If no acceptable hosts or clusters are found,
the machine cannot be provisioned until this property is
removed.
VirtualMachine.Rdp.File Specifies the RDP file that contains settings to be used when
opening an RDP link to the machine. Can be used together
with, or as an alternative to,
VirtualMachine.Rdp.SettingN. The file must be located in
the vRealize Automation server installation directory, for
example %SystemDrive%\Program Files
x86\VMware\vCAC\Server\Rdp\console.rdp.
You must create the Rdp directory.
VirtualMachine.Memory.Size Specifies the size of the machine's memory in MB, such as
1024. The default is the value specified by the memory setting
on the blueprint.
Note This custom property setting is overridden by the
memory setting on the blueprint when the machine is first
provisioned.
VirtualMachine.EPI.Type Specifies the type of external provisioning infrastructure.
Set to BMC for BMC BladeLogic integration.
Set to CitrixProvisioning for Citrix provisioning server
integration.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Address Specifies the IP address of network device N in a machine
provisioned with a static IP address.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.AddressMDefines additional M IP address allocated for an Openstack
instance for network N, excluding the IP address set specified
by the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Address. property.
Additional addresses are displayed on the Network tab in the
Additional Addresses column.
This property is used by Openstack machine state data
collection.
While this property is only data-collected by the OpenStack
endpoint, it is not specific to OpenStack and can be used for
lifecycle extensibility by other endpoint types.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddressType Indicates whether the MAC address of network device N is
generated or user-defined (static). This property is available
for cloning.
The default value is generated. If the value is static, you must
also use VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddress to specify
the MAC address.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddress Specifies the MAC address of a network device N. This
property is available for cloning.
If the value of VirtualMachine.NetworkN.MacAddressType
is generated, this property contains the generated address.
If the value of
VirtualMachine.Network.N.MacAddressType is static, this
property specifies the MAC address. For virtual machines
provisioned on ESX server hosts, the address must be in the
range specified by VMware. For details, see vSphere
documentation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name Specifies the name of the network to connect to, for example
the network device N to which a machine is attached.
By default, a network is assigned from the network paths
available on the reservation on which the machine is
provisioned.
You can ensure that a network device is connected to a
specific network by setting the value of this property to the
name of a network on an available reservation.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
You can add this property to a vApp (vCloud) blueprint or a
vApp (vCloud) Component blueprint.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.PortID Specifies the port ID to use for network device N when using a
dvPort group with a vSphere distributed switch.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName Specifies the name of a network profile from which to assign a
static IP address to network device Nor from which to obtain
the range of static IP addresses that can be assigned to
network device N of a cloned machine, where N=0 for the first
device, 1 for the second, and so on.
If a network profile is specified in the network path in the
reservation on which the machine is provisioned, a static IP
address is assigned from that network profile. You can ensure
that a static IP address is assigned from a specific profile by
setting the value of this property to the name of a network
profile.
Note that changing this property value after the network is
assigned has no effect on the expected IP address values for
the designated machines.
With WIM-based provisioning for virtual machines, you can
use this property to specify a network profile and network
interface or you can use the Network section of the Virtual
Reservation page. You can also assign the network interface
to a virtual network using the
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom property.
With WIM-based provisioning for physical machines, you must
specify the network profile with the
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName custom property.
You must also specify a value with the
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom property, although
vRealize Automation does not use the value.
The following attributes of the network profile are available to
enable static IP assignment in a cloning blueprint:
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SubnetMask
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.Gateway
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSuffix
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSearchSuffixes
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SubnetMask
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.Gateway
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryDns
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryWins
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSuffix
nVirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSearchSuffixes
Configures attributes of the network profile specified in
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN custom properties are designed
to be specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a
machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is
performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation.
Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a
specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
VirtualMachine.Rdp.SettingNConfigures specific RDP settings. N is a unique number used
to distinguish one RDP setting from another. For example, to
specify the Authentication Level so that no authentication
requirement is specified, define the custom property
VirtualMachine.Rdp.Setting1 and set the value to
authentication level:i:3. Use to open an RDP link to specify
settings.
For a list of available settings and correct syntax, see the
Microsoft Windows RDP documentation.
VirtualMachine.Request.Layout Specifies the property layout to be used in the virtual machine
request page. The value must match the name of the layout to
be used.
VirtualMachine.Reconfigure.DisableHotCpu Set to True to specify that the reconfigure machine action
restarts the specified machine. By default, the reconfigure
machine action does not restart the machine.
Performing a hot add of CPU, or memory, or storage causes
the reconfigure machine action to fail and to not restart the
machine unless the Hot Add setting is enabled in vSphere for
the machine or template. You can add
VirtualMachine.Reconfigure.DisableHotCpu=true to a
vRealize Automation blueprint to force the machine to restart
regardless of the vSphere Hot Add setting.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.Name Specifies the descriptive name of a software application or
script to install or run during provisioning. This is an optional
and information-only property. It serves no real function for the
enhanced clone workflow or the guest agent but it is useful for
a custom software selection in a user interface or for software
usage reporting.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path
must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating
system and must include the name of the script file name.
You can pass custom property values as parameters to the
script by inserting {CustomPropertyName} in the path string.
For example, if you have a custom property named
ActivationKey whose value is 1234, the script path is
D:\InstallApp.bat –key {ActivationKey}. The guest
agent runs the command D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234.
Your script file can then be programmed to accept and use this
value.
You can also pass custom property values as parameters to
the script by inserting {YourCustomProperty} in the path string.
For example, entering the
value \\vra-
scripts.mycompany.com\scripts\changeIP.bat runs the
changeIP.bat script from a shared location, but entering the
value \\vra-
scripts.mycompany.com\scripts\changeIP.bat
{VirtualMachine.Network0.Address} runs the changeIP
script but also passes the value of the
VirtualMachine.Network0.Address property to the script
as a parameter.
Insert {Owner} to pass the machine owner name to the script.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt Allows vRealize Automation to obtain an encrypted string that
is passed as a properly formatted
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath custom property
statement to the gugent command line.
You can provide an encrypted string, such as your password,
as a custom property in a command line argument. This allows
you to store encrypted information that the guest agent can
decrypt and understand as a valid command line argument.
For example, the VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath
= c:\dosomething.bat password custom property string is
not secure as it contains an actual password.
To encrypt the password, you can create a
vRealize Automation custom property, for example
MyPassword = password, and enable encryption by selecting
the available checkbox. The guest agent decrypts the
[MyPassword] entry to the value in the custom property
MyPassword and executes the script as c:\dosomething.bat
password.
nCreate custom property MyPassword = password where
password is the value of your actual password. Enable
encryption by selecting the available checkbox.
nSet custom property
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt as
VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt = true.
nSet custom property
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath as
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath =
c:\dosomething.bat [MyPassword].
If you set VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt to false, or
don't create the VirtualMachine.ScriptPath.Decrypt
custom property, then the string inside the square brackets
( [ and ]) is not decrypted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOName Specifies the path and file name of the ISO file relative to the
data store root. The format
is /folder_name/subfolder_name/file_name.iso. If a
value is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOLocation Specifies the storage path that contains the ISO image file to
be used by the application or script. Format the path as it
appears on the host reservation, for example
netapp-1:it_nfs_1. If a value is not specified, the ISO is not
mounted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.PostInstallDelay Specifies a time delay value, in TimeSpan string format, to
wait before sending the next InstallSoftware work item If a
value is not specified, there is no time delay between
InstallSoftware work items.
Custom Properties Reference
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.FailsBuild Optionally set to True to specify that a failure when executing
the work item causes the virtual machine build to fail.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.NoQuotes Specifies that expanding the script path does not enclose
values that contain spaces in double quotes.
Example 1: When using the following statement in a testprop =
test param format:
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath = C:\path0
{testprop}, VirtualMachine.Software0.NoQuotes =
false
Vrm.Software.Command expands to C:\path0 "test
param".
Example 2: When using the following statement in a testprop =
test param format:
VirtualMachine.Software0.ScriptPath = C:\path0
{testprop}, VirtualMachine.Software0.NoQuotes =
true
Vrm.Software.Command expands to C:\path0 test param.
VirtualMachine.Storage.Name Identifies the storage path on which the machine resides. The
default is the value specified in the reservation that was used
to provision the machine.
VirtualMachine.Storage.AllocationType Stores collected groups to a single datastore. A distributed
environment stores disks round-robin style.
VirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory Set to True to manage vSwap storage allocation to ensure
availability and set allocation in the reservation. vSwap
allocation is considered when you create or reconfigure a
virtual machine. vSwap allocation checking is only available
for vCenter Server endpoints. For multi-machine blueprints,
add the property to the component blueprints.
Note If you do not specify the
VirtualMachine.Storage.ReserveMemory custom property
when you create or provision the machine from
vRealize Automation, swap space availability is not ensured. If
you add the property for an already provisioned machine, and
the allocated reservation is full, the storage allocated in the
reservation might exceed the actual allocated storage.
VirtualMachine.VDI.Type Specifies the type of virtual desktop infrastructure.
For XenDesktop provisioning, set to XenDesktop.
VMware.AttributeN.Name Specifies the name of an attribute in vRealize Orchestrator.
For example, it specifies the value of the attribute used in the
VMware.AttributeN.Name property. Replace the letter N with
a number, starting with 0 and increasing for each attribute to
set.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VMware.AttributeN.Value Specifies the value of the attribute used in the
VMware.AttributeN.Name property. Replace the letter N with
a number, starting with 0 and increasing for each attribute to
set.
VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.IdentityProvider.Version For 6.2.4 and 6.2.5, specifies the version of Openstack Identity
provider (Keystone) to use when authenticating an Openstack
endpoint. Configure a value of 3 to authenticate with Keystone
version 3 OpenStack Identity Provider. If you use any other
value, or do not use this custom property, authentication
defaults to Keystone version 2.
VMware.Endpoint.Openstack.Release Specifies the OpenStack release, for example Havana or
Icehouse, when creating an OpenStack endpoint. Required for
6.2.1, 6.2.2, and 6.2.3 OpenStack provisioning. Deprecated as
of 6.2.4.
VMware.Hardware.Version Specifies the VM hardware version to be used for vSphere
settings. Supported values are currently vmx-04, vmx-07,
vmx-08, vmx-09 and vmx-10. This property is applicable for
VM Create and VM Update workflows and is available only for
basic workflow blueprints.
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem Specifies the vCenter Server guest operating system version
(VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier) with which
vCenter Server creates the machine. This operating system
version must match the operating system version to be
installed on the provisioned machine. Administrators can
create property groups using one of several property sets, for
example, VMware[OS_Version]Properties, that are
predefined to include the correct
VMware.VirtualCenter.OperatingSystem values. This
property is for virtual provisioning.
When this property has a non-Windows value, the Connect
Using RDP user interface option is disabled. The property can
be used in a virtual, cloud or physical blueprint.
For related information, see the enumeration type
VirtualMachineGuestOsIdentifier in vSphere API/SDK
Documentation. For a list of currently accepted values, see the
VMware vCenter Server™ documentation.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VMware.SCSI.Type For vApps and vSphere, specifies the SCSI machine type
using one of the following case-sensitive values:
nbuslogic
Use BusLogic emulation for the virtual disk.
nlsilogic
Use LSILogic emulation for the virtual disk (default).
nlsilogicsas
Use LSILogic SAS 1068 emulation for the virtual disk.
npvscsi
Use para-virtualization emulation for the virtual disk.
nnone
Use if a SCSI controller does not exist for this machine.
VMware.SCSI.Sharing Specifies the sharing mode of the machine’s VMware SCSI
bus. Possible values are based on the VirtualSCSISharing
ENUM value and include noSharing, physicalSharing, and
virtualSharing.
VMware.Memory.Reservation Specifies the size of the machine’s swap file, for example
1024.
VMware.Network.Type Specifies a network adapter type.
The following adapter type values are available:
nFlexible (default )
nVirtualPCNet32 (not compatible with vSphere).
nE1000 or VirtualE1000
nVMXNET or VirtualVMXNET
nVMXNET2
nVMXNET3
Set to E1000 when provisioning Windows 32-bit virtual
machines on ESX server hosts to ensure that machines are
created with the correct network adapter. This property is not
used for physical provisioning.
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName Overrides a specified endpoint setting or specifies that a
particular endpoint be used during the vRealize Automation
IaaS provisioning process. The value of this property can be
set to an applicable vRealize Orchestrator endpoint, such as
external VRO, available in the environment.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder Specifies the name of the inventory folder in the datacenter in
which to put the virtual machine. The default is VRM, which is
also the vSphere folder in which vRealize Automation places
provisioned machines if the property is not used. This value
can be a path with multiple folders, for example
production\email servers. A proxy agent creates the
specified folder in vSphere if the folder does not exist. Folder
names area case sensitive. This property is available for
virtual provisioning.
VDI.Server.Website Specifies the server name of the Citrix Web interface site to
use in connecting to the machine. If the value of
VDI.Server.Name is a XenDesktop farm, this property must
have an appropriate value or the machine owner cannot
connect to the machine using XenDesktop. If this property is
not specified, the VDI.Server.Name property determines the
desktop delivery controller to connect to, which must be the
name of a server that hosts a desktop delivery controller.
Note If the Citrix Web Interface (WI) has been replaced with
StoreFront (SF), you can use this property instead of
VDI.Server.Name to connect to the XenDesktop server. An
example value is VDI.Server.Website=sqa-
xddc-7.sqa.local/Citrix/StoreWeb. See
VDI.Server.Name for more information.
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VDI.Server.Name Specifies the server name, which hosts the desktop delivery
controller, to register with, or the name of a XenDesktop farm
that contains desktop delivery controllers with which to
register.
If the value is a XenDesktop farm name, the
VDI.Server.Website property value must be the URL of an
appropriate Citrix web interface site to use in connecting to the
machine.
If the value is a server name, and at least one general
XenDesktop VDI agent was installed without specifying a
desktop delivery controller server, this value directs the
request to the desired server. If the value is a server name,
and only dedicated XenDesktop VDI agents for specific DDC
servers were installed, this value must exactly match the
server name configured for a dedicated agent.
Note For more information about how to make StoreFront the
default page in IIS, see Citrix documentation. See also
VDI.Server.Website.
Note Changes in the Citrix web interface protocol have
impacted how the VDI.Server.Name default value is
recognized. The value of the VDI.Server.Name property is
used as the default connection string to open the Citrix web
interface when users connect to a virtual desktop. It is always
the DNS/IP of the XD server. If that value does not connect to
the Citrix interface, you is unable to access your VMs.
However, you can use the VDI.Server.Website custom
property when the Citrix web interface is hosted on a server
other than the XenDesktop server. When this property is
present on the VM, it is used instead of VDI.Server.Name.
VDI.Server.Group For XenDesktop 5, specifies the name of the XenDesktop
group to add machines to and the name of the catalog to
which the group belongs, in the group_name;catalog_name
format.
For XenDesktop 4, specifies the name of the XenDesktop
group to which machines are to be added. XenDesktop 4
preassigned groups are supported.
VDI.ActiveDirectory.Interval Specifies an optional interval value in time span format for
virtual desktop infrastructure machine Active Directory
registration check. The default value is 00:00:15 (15 seconds).
VDI.ActiveDirectory.Timeout Specifies an optional timeout value to wait before retrying
Active Directory registration. The default value is 00:00:15 (30
minutes).
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Table 3‑13. Custom Properties V Table (Continued)
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that
begin with the letter V.
Property Description
VDI.ActiveDirectory.Delay Specifies an optional delay time value in time span format
between successfully adding a machine to Active Directory
and initiation of XenDesktop registration. The default value is
00:00:05 (5 seconds).
VRM.DataCenter.Policy Specifies whether provisioning must use a compute resource
associated with a particular location, or if any location is
suitable. To enable this feature you must add data center to a
location file. Associate each compute resource with a location.
Set to Exact to provision a requested machine on a compute
resource associated with the location specified on the
blueprint. If a compute resource with sufficient capacity and
associated with that location is not available, then provisioning
fails.
Set to NonExact (default) to provision a requested machine on
a compute resource with sufficient capacity and associated
with the location specified on the blueprint. If that compute
resource is not available, then use the next available compute
resource with sufficient capacity without regard to location.
VRM.Software.IdNNNN
This row is specific to BMC BladeLogic.
Specifies a software job or policy to be applied to all machines
provisioned from the blueprint. Set the value to
job_type=job_path, where job_type is the numeral that
represents the BMC BladeLogic job type and job_path is the
location of the job in BMC BladeLogic, for example
4=/Utility/putty. NNNN is a number from 1000 to 1999.
1 — AuditJob
2 — BatchJob
3 — ComplianceJob
4 — DeployJob
5 — FileDeployJob
6 — NSHScriptJob
7 — PatchAnalysisJob
8 — SnapshotJob
VRM.Software.IdNNNN
This row is specific to HP Server Automation.
(Optional) Specifies an HP Server Automation policy to be
applied to all machines provisioned from the blueprint. NNNN
is a number from 1000 to 1999.
Custom Properties X Table
This section lists vRealize Automation custom properties that begin with the letter X.
Table 3‑14. Custom Properties X Table
Property Description
Xen.Platform.Viridian For virtual provisioning, set to False when you provision Windows
virtual machines on a XenServer host or pool. The default is True. This
property is not used in physical provisioning.
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Using the Property Dictionary 4
You can use the property dictionary to define new custom properties.
You can customize how properties appear in the user interface.
nAssociate a property name with a user control, such as a check box or drop-down menu.
nSpecify constraints such as minimum and maximum values or validation against a regular expression.
nProvide descriptive display names for properties or add label text.
nGroup sets of property controls together and specify the order in which they appear.
Use the following workflow when you define and use a custom property definition.
1 Add a new property and associate it with a property control type.
2 Add relevant property attributes to the property.
Attributes contain additional information such as minimum and maximum values or help text to
display with the property. Available attribute types vary depending on the control type.
3 Add the properties to a blueprint either individually or by using a property group.
A tenant administrator or business group manager can create or edit blueprints.
4 (Optional) Add a control layout to specify where the properties appear on the machine confirmation
page.
New custom properties are typically used by custom workflows to specify how to run a command based.
You can use vRealize Automation Designer to define these custom workflows. For more information
about working with custom workflows, see Extension Development.
This chapter includes the following topics:
nAdding Property Definitions
nAdding Property Attributes
nExample of Creating a Relationship Between Two Properties and Adding Them to a Blueprint
nCreating Property Control Layouts
Adding Property Definitions
A property definition contains an associated property control type, and optionally a property attribute,
which define its behavior.
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Property control types are available as you create new properties. After you create a property, you can
add attributes, based on its control type. For example, you can assign a DropDown control type to a
ValueExpression attribute, which when selected, opens a text box in which the user can type a value.
You can also create placement layouts to control where the properties appear when presented to users.
Table 4‑1. Property Definition Control Types and Attributes
Control Type Available Attributes Description
CheckBox HelpText
OrderIndex
Specifies a check box for specifying true or false
values.
DateTimeEdit HelpText
OrderIndex
MinValue
Specifies a calendar and time control that enables
users to specify a date and time.
DropDown HelpText
OrderIndex
Relationship
ValueExpression
ValueList
Specifies a drop-down text box. A user can enter any
text or select from the list of options.
DropDownList HelpText
OrderIndex
Relationship
ValueExpression
ValueList
Specifies a drop list of options. A user must select a
value from the list.
Integer HelpText
OrderIndex
Interval
MinValue
MaxValue
Specifies a numeric box. If attributesare also assigned,
a user can enter an integer value between a defined
minimum and maximum value or step up and down by
a defined interval value.
Label HelpText
OrderIndex
Displays a read-only text label.
Link OrderIndex Displays a link with the property display name as the
link text and the property value as the URL.
Add a Property Definition
You can define new property definitions to allow for additional customization.
After you add a property definition and select a definition control type for that property, you can add
attributes to configure property controls. A tenant administrator or business group manager can add
properties to blueprints or build profiles. You can also create a property control layout to organize display
of the new properties.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
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Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click New Property Definition.
3Enter the new property name in the Name text box.
This name must exactly match the property name that is used in the blueprint or build profile.
4Enter the name that will appear in the user interface in the Display Name text box.
5(Optional) Enter a property description in the Description text box.
This text is visible to the property dictionary administrator but is not visible to users.
6Select a definition control type to associate with this property from the Control Type drop-down
menu.
Option Description
CheckBox Associate a check box with the new property.
DateTimeEdit Adds a date and time control type that adheres to a YYYY-MM-DD or
MM/DD/YYYY format and a time in HH:MM format, 24-hour clock or followed by
AM or PM. You can further refine the allowed value by adding property attributes
such as MinValue and HelpText.
DropDown Allows the user to type a value in a text box. You can further refine this property
type by adding attributes such as ValueList and Relationship.
DropDownList Requires the user to select from values in a drop-down menu. You can further
refine this property type by adding attributes such as ValueList and Relationship.
Integer Allows for an integer value. You can further refine the allowed value by adding
attributes such as MinValue and MaxValue or Integer.
Label Adds a read-only text label. You can further refine the allowed value by adding
attributes such as MinValue and HelpText.
Link Displays a link with the property display name as the link text and the property
value as the URL. You can control the position of the new property by adding the
OrderIndex attribute.
Notes Provides for field in which to enter notes.
Password Provides a field in which to enter a password value.
TextBox Provides a text box in which to enter text characters.
7Click Required if the machine owner must specify a value for this property.
8Click Save.
The property is created and is visible on the Property Dictionary page.
Adding Property Attributes
Certain attribute values are available for each of the property definition control types.
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Table 4‑2. Property Attributes for Property Definition Control Types
Property Definition Control Type Available Property Attribute Types
CheckBox nHelpText
nOrderIndex
DateTimeEdit nHelpText
nMinValue
nOrderIndex
DropDown nHelpText
nOrderIndex
nRelationship
nValueExpression
nValueList
DropDownList nHelpText
nOrderIndex
nRelationship
nValueExpression
nValueList
Integer nHelpText
nInterval
nMaxValue
nMinValue
nOrderIndex
Label nHelpText
nOrderIndex
Link OrderIndex
Add a Help Text Attribute
You can use the HelpText attribute to add text that appears when the user points to the property name.
The HelpText attribute is available for all property value control types except Link.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select HelpText from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
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6In the Value text box, type the help text that you want to display when the user pauses on the
property display name.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add an Order Index Attribute
You can use the OrderIndex attribute to control how the property name appears in the user interface.
The OrderIndex attribute is available for all property value control types except Link.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select OrderIndex from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6In the Value text box, type the index number to use when you order the property display name in the
user interface.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add a Relationship Attribute
You can add a Relationship attribute to define a relationship between a drop-down property and another
property, such that the value of the other property determines the possible values of the drop-down
property.
The Relationship attribute is available for the DropDown and DropDownList property value control types.
In a property relationship, a parent property value determines the behavior of a child drop-down property.
The child drop-down values are populated based on the value of the parent. If the value of the parent
property changes, the child property updates with a list of possible values that are specific to the new
parent property.
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For more information, see Example of Creating a Relationship Between Two Properties and Adding Them
to a Blueprint.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select Relationship from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6Type the property value or value expression in the Value text box.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add a Value Expression Attribute
You can use the ValueExpression attribute to add an XML string to map the values of a parent property
and a child property in a property relationship.
A ValueExpression attribute is available for the DropDown and DropDownList property value control
types. For more information about property relationships, see Example of Creating a Relationship
Between Two Properties and Adding Them to a Blueprint.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select ValueExpression from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6Enter the values that you want to use in the Value text box, for example an XML value expression or
snippet that you formatted as a single line string with no line breaks.
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7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add a Value List Attribute
You can use the ValueList attribute to create a list of available values for a drop-down menu.
A ValueList attribute is available for the DropDown and DropDownList property value control types. See
Example of Creating a Relationship Between Two Properties and Adding Them to a Blueprint.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select ValueList from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6Enter a comma-separated list of values in the Value text box to appear in the drop-down list.
For example, enter Option 1,Option 2,Option 3.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add a Minimum Value Attribute
You can use the MinValue attribute to define a minimum time value or a minimum integer value in a
range.
A MinValue attribute is available for the DateTimeEdit and Integer property value control types.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
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3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select MinValue from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6Type the minimum value of the property in the Value text box.
For example, if you are using this attribute with the DateTimeEdit control, type a minimum earliest
possible date, and optionally a minimum time, value using a YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY format
and a time in HH:MM format followed by AM or PM. If you are using this attribute with the Integer
control, type a minimum integer value.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add a Maximum Value Attribute
Use the MaxValue attribute to define a maximum integer value.
A MaxValue attribute is available for the Integer property value control type.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select MaxValue from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6Type an integer for the maximum value of the property in the Value text box.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Add an Interval Attribute
You can use the Interval attribute to specify an integer increment by which the property value is increased
or decreased.
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An Interval attribute is available for the Integer property value control type.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click Edit in the Property Attributes column of the property row.
3Click New Property Attribute.
4Select Interval from the Type drop-down menu.
5Enter an attribute name in the Name text box.
This name is not visible in the user interface.
6In the Value text box, type the increment integer by which the property value is increased or
decreased when a user clicks the up or down arrows.
7Click the Save icon ( ).
8(Optional) Add additional attributes.
9Click OK.
Example of Creating a Relationship Between Two
Properties and Adding Them to a Blueprint
Define a relationship so that the value of a parent property determines the child property values that are
available in a drop-down list.
In this example, a new VirtualMachine.Network.Environment property filters available network
options based on the machine environment. The VirtualMachine.Network.Environment property acts
as a filter for the networks that a user can select when confirming a machine request. An associated child
property, VirtualMachine.Network0.Name, is also created and a relationship is formed between the
two properties. The user must first select the environment before selecting from the list of networks that
are applicable to the selected environment.
Table 4‑3. Relationship Between VirtualMachine.Network.Environment Property and
VirtualMachine.Network0.Name Property Menu Options
Values for the VirtualMachine.Network.Environment
Property (parent)
Values for the VirtualMachine.Network0.Name Property
(child)
Development Development Network
Test Test Network 1 Test Network 2
Production Production Network Failover Network
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Workflow Overview
You use the following workflow to create the relationship and add the properties to the blueprint.
1 Create the parent and child property definitions.
2 Add a Relationship attribute to the child property whose value is the name of the parent property.
3 Create a value expression that describes which values to display in the child drop-down list for each
value of the parent property.
4 Add the value expression as an attribute of the child property.
5 Add both properties to a blueprint or property group.
The following example is a logical progression from the following topics.
nAdd a Property Definition
nAdd a Relationship Attribute
nAdd a Value List Attribute
nAdd a Value Expression Attribute
Instead of specifying a ValueList attribute for the child property, you can use an XML string in a
ValueExpression attribute to specify the mapping between the values of the parent property and the
possible values of the child property.
This example uses the ValueList, ValueExpression, and Relationship property attributes with the
DropDownList property definition control type.
Example Procedure
1 Log in to vRealize Automation as a tenant administrator.
2 Select Administration > Property Dictionary > Property Definitions.
3 Create the parent property.
a Click the Add icon on the Property Definitions page.
b Enter VirtualMachine.Network.Environment in the ID text box.
c Enter Environment in the Label text box.
d Select a data type from the Data type drop-down menu.
e Enter a description that describes the intent of the property and any information that might help
the consumer best use the property.
f Do not select the Multiple Values checkmark option.
g Select Dropdown from the Display Advice drop-down menu.
h Click Save.
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4 Define the values for the parent property.
a In the VirtualMachine.Network.Environment property name row, click Edit in the Property
Attributes column.
b Click New Property Attribute.
c Select ValueList from the Type drop-down menu.
d Enter Values in the Name text box.
e Enter Development,Test,Production in the Value text box.
f Click Save.
g Click OK.
5 Create the child property.
a Click New Property Definition on the Property Dictionary page.
b Enter VirtualMachine.Network0.Name in the Name text box.
c Enter Select Network in the Display Name text box.
d Select DropDownList from the Control Type drop-down menu.
e Click Save.
6 Define the relationship between the child and parent properties.
a In the VirtualMachine.Network0.Name property name row, click Edit in the Property Attributes
column.
b Click New Property Attribute.
c Select Relationship from the Type drop-down menu.
d Enter Parent in the Name text box.
e Enter VirtualMachine.Network.Environment in the Value text box.
f Click Save and click OK.
7 In an XML editor, create the following value expression, which specifies the values of the child
property based on the values of the parent property, and save it as an XML file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<ArrayOfPropertyValue xmlns:xsi=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<PropertyValue>
<FilterName>VirtualMachine.Network.Environment</FilterName>
<FilterValue>Development</FilterValue>
<Value>Development Network</Value>
</PropertyValue>
<PropertyValue>
<FilterName>VirtualMachine.Network.Environment</FilterName>
<FilterValue>Test</FilterValue>
<Value>Test Network 1</Value>
</PropertyValue>
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<PropertyValue>
<FilterName>VirtualMachine.Network.Environment</FilterName>
<FilterValue>Test</FilterValue>
<Value>Test Network 2</Value>
</PropertyValue>
<PropertyValue>
<FilterName>VirtualMachine.Network.Environment</FilterName>
<FilterValue>Production</FilterValue>
<Value>Production Network</Value>
</PropertyValue>
<PropertyValue>
<FilterName>VirtualMachine.Network.Environment</FilterName>
<FilterValue>Production</FilterValue>
<Value>Failover Network</Value>
</PropertyValue>
</ArrayOfPropertyValue>
8 Add the value expression, specifically the XML file content, that you just created to the child property.
a In a text editor, format the value expression so that it is a single line string with no line breaks.
b In the VirtualMachine.Network0.Name property name row, click Edit in the Property Attributes
column.
c Click New Property Attribute.
d Select ValueExpression from the Type drop-down menu.
e Enter Expression in the Name text box.
f Copy the value expression from the text editor and paste it into the Value text box.
g Click Save and click OK.
9 Add both properties to a blueprint.
a Create a new blueprint or edit an existing blueprint.
b Click the Properties tab on the blueprint page.
c Click New Property.
d Enter VirtualMachine.Network.Environment in the Name text box. This name must be an
exact character match for the property name you created for the parent property in this example.
e Leave the Value text box blank.
10 Select the Prompt User check box.
11 Click OK.
12 Click New Property.
13 Enter VirtualMachine.Network0.Name in the Name text box.
14 Click OK.
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When a user uses this blueprint to request a machine, the Environment and Select Network drop-down
menus now appear on the Confirm Machine Request page and are initially empty. The user can select an
environment, which then narrows the list of networks that they can select for the machine that they are
requesting.
Creating Property Control Layouts
A property control layout acts as a named container to which you can add properties and specify the
order in which the properties appear in a blueprint or build profile. The layout defines the order of the
properties that display in the form.
With control layouts you can group properties together and specify the order in which they are displayed
to users on the machine confirmation page. Add the control layout and the individual properties that it
contains to the blueprint.
Add a Property Control Layout
You create a property control layout to define how properties are displayed to users.
After you create the layout, a tenant administrator or business group manager can add it to a blueprint on
the Properties tab.
Prerequisites
Log in to the vRealize Automation console as a fabric administrator.
Create the property definitions to add to the property control layout.
Procedure
1Select Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary.
2Click New Property Layout.
3Enter a property layout name in the Name text box.
This is the name that is added to the blueprint or build profile. For example, type NetworkLayout.
4Click the Save icon ( ).
5Click Edit in the Property Instances column of the property layout name row, for example the
NetworkLayout name row.
6Type 1 in the Order text box.
7From the Property Definition drop-down menu, select the name of the first property to display, for
example VirtualMachine.Network.Environment.
8Type 2 in the Order text box.
9From the Property Definition drop-down menu, select the name of the second property to display,
for example VirtualMachine.Network0.Name.
10 Click OK.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 95
A custom layout is now available for a tenant administrator or business group manager to add to a
blueprint or build profile.
Custom Properties Reference
VMware, Inc. 96

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