Life Cycle Extensibility VRealize Automation 7.2 V Realize 72

User Manual: Pdf vRealize Automation - 7.2 - Life Cycle Extensibility User Guide for VMware vRealize Software, Free Instruction Manual

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 103

Download
Open PDF In Browser	View PDF

Life Cycle Extensibility
vRealize Automation 7.2

Life Cycle Extensibility

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at:
https://docs.vmware.com/
If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to
docfeedback@vmware.com

VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
www.vmware.com
Copyright © 2008–2017 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.
VMware, Inc.

Contents
1 Life Cycle Extensibility 7
2 Machine Extensibility Overview 8
Machine Life Cycle Extensibility

Choosing a Life Cycle Extensibility Scenario

3 Extending Machine Lifecycles By Using vRealize Orchestrator 11
Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator Checklist
Configuring the vRealize Automation Plug-in for Machine Extensibility
Add a vRealize Automation Host
Add an IaaS Host

11
12

Install vRealize Orchestrator Customization
Create a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using vRealize Orchestrator

Assign a State Change Workflow to a Blueprint and Its Virtual Machines

4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to Extend vRealize Automation 18
Event Topics Provided With vRealize Automation

Workflow Subscriptions and Event Broker Terminology
Blockable and Replyable Event Topics

Best Practices for Creating vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Workflow Subscriptions
Workflow Subscription Settings

Workflow Subscription Event Topic Tab Settings
Workflow Subscription Conditions Tab Settings
Workflow Subscription Workflow Tab Settings
Workflow Subscription Details Tab Settings

24
24

Working with Provisioning and Life Cycle Workflow Subscriptions

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Provisioning and Life Cycle Workflows
Workflow Subscription Life Cycle State Definitions

Configuring the Timeout Values for States and Events
Configuring the Error Behavior for States and Events

42
43

Scenario: Take a Post-Provisioning Snapshot of a Virtual Machine
Working with Approval Workflow Subscriptions

46
47

Scenario: Send Software Requests to an External System for Approval

Troubleshooting vRealize Orchestrator Workflows That Do Not Start
Troubleshooting Provisioning Requests That Take Too Much Time

VMware, Inc.

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Approval Event Topics
Troubleshooting Workflow Subscriptions

52
53

Life Cycle Extensibility

Troubleshooting a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow That Does Not Run for an Approval
Request

Troubleshooting a Rejected Approval Request That Should Be Approved
Troubleshooting a Rejected Approval Request

5 Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer 56
Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer Checklist
Installing and Configuring vRealize Automation Designer
Installing vRealize Automation Designer

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Endpoints

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using vRealize Automation Designer
The vRealize Automation Designer Console
IaaS Workflow Types

Customize an IaaS Workflow

Using vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Activities

Configure a Blueprint to Call a State Change Workflow
Configuring a Menu Operation Workflow

Revert to a Previous Revision of a Workflow

6 Workflows and Distributed Execution Management 77
Associate Workflows and DEM Workers by Using Skills

Remove Associations between Skills and DEM Workers

Remove Associations between Skills and Workflows
Remove a Skill

7 CloudUtil Command Reference 80
DEM Commands

DEM-Add-Skills

DEM-List 81
DEM-Remove-Skills
File Commands

File-Export 82
File-Import

File-List 83
File-Remove-All

File-Remove-Rev
File-Rollback
File-Update

84
85

Operation Commands

Operation-Create

Operation-Delete

Operation-List

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Skill Commands

Skill-Install
Skill-List

Skill-Uninstall

Workflow Commands

Workflow-Add-Skills

Workflow-List 88
Workflow-Remove-Skills
Workflow-Rollback
Workflow-Update
Import Commands

89
90

Machine-BulkRegisterExport

Machine-BulkRegisterImport

8 vRealize Automation Workflow Activity Reference 93
DynamicOps.Repository.Activities
AddLink

AddObject 94
AttachTo

CreateRepositoryServiceContext
DeleteLink

DeleteObject

InvokeRepositoryWorkflow
LoadProperty

SaveChanges

SetLink

UpdateObject

DynamicOps.Cdk.Activities

ExecutePowerShellScript
ExecuteSshScript

GetMachineName

GetMachineOwner

GetMachineProperties

GetScriptFromName

100

InvokeSshCommand
LogMachineEvent
LogMessage

101

RunProcess

102

SendEmail

GetMachineProperty
InvokePowerShell

101

102

SetMachineProperty

VMware, Inc.

103

Life Cycle Extensibility

SetWorkflowResult

VMware, Inc.

103

Life Cycle Extensibility

Using vRealize Orchestrator with vRealize Automation, you can extend how you the manage the life cycle
of IaaS machines.
Extending vRealize Automation requires you to use provided vRealize Orchestrator workflows and to
create custom workflows.

VMware, Inc.

Machine Extensibility Overview

Provisioning or decommissioning a new machine, especially for mission-critical systems, typically requires
interacting with a number of different management systems, including DNS servers, load balancers,
CMDBs, IP Address Management and other systems.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Machine Life Cycle Extensibility

Choosing a Life Cycle Extensibility Scenario

Machine Life Cycle Extensibility
You can inject custom logic at various predetermined IaaS life cycle stages by leveraging IaaS state
change workflows, known as workflow stubs. You can use the workflow stubs to call out to
vRealize Orchestrator for bi-directional integration with external management systems.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
Creating a state change workflow enables you to trigger the execution of a workflow before the IaaS
master workflow enters a specific state. For example, you can create custom workflows to integrate with
an external database and record information at different stages of the machine life cycle.
n

Create a custom workflow that runs before the master workflow enters the MachineProvisioned state
to record such information as machine owner, approvers, and so on.

Create a custom workflow that runs before a machine enters the MachineDisposing state to record
the time at which the machine was destroyed and data such as its resource utilization at last data
collection, last logon, and so on.

The master workflow illustrations show the main states of the master workflow, highlighting in yellow the
states you can customize by using IaaS workflow stubs. The Customizable State Change Workflows table
lists the workflow stubs available, their corresponding place in the master workflow state, and examples
of custom logic you could use at each state to extend the machine life cycle.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Figure 2‑1. Master workflow states for provisioning machines

Figure 2‑2. Master workflow states for importing machines

Figure 2‑3. Master workflow states for machine lease expiration

Figure 2‑4. Master workflow states for disposing a machine

Table 2‑1. Customizable State Change Workflows
Master Workflow State

Customizable Workflow Name

Extensibility Examples

BuildingMachine

WFStubBuildingMachine

Prepare for the machine to be created on the hypervisor.Create a
configuration management database (CMDB) record, call out to
an external system to assign an IP address to a machine, and
then during machine disposal, use WFStubMachineDisposing to
return the IP address to the pool.

RegisterMachine

WFStubMachineRegistered

Add an imported machine to an application provisioning tool to
receive updates and undergo compliance checks.

MachineProvisioned

WFStubMachineProvisioned

The machine exists on the hypervisor, and any additional
customizations are completed at this point, for example guest
agent customizations. Use this workflow stub to update a
configuration management database (CMDB) record with DCHP
IP address and storage information. Customizations made by
using the WFStubMachineProvisioned are typically reversed by
using WFStubUnprovisionMachine.

Expired

WFStubMachineExpired

Move an expired machine to low cost storage to reduce archival
costs and update the CMDB record and billing system to reflect
storage and cost changes.

UnprovisionMachine

WFStubUnprovisionMachine

Remove machines from active directory accounts.
Customizations made by using the WFStubMachineProvisioned
are typically reversed by using WFStubUnprovisionMachine.

Disposing

WFStubMachineDisposing

Return IP addresses to the pool.

Choosing a Life Cycle Extensibility Scenario
You can use vRealize Orchestrator or vRealize Automation Designer to extend machine lifecycles.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

You can extend machine lifecycles by using vRealize Automation Designer to call out to
vRealize Orchestrator, or by using vRealize Orchestrator directly. Both approaches allow you to inject
custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS machine lifecycle by creating custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflows and then insert the custom workflows into the state change workflow
stubs. However, you can only restrict custom state change logics to particular blueprints if you are using
vRealize Orchestrator directly, and you can only restrict the execution of workflows to specific Distributed
Execution Managers by vRealize Automation Designer.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
Table 2‑2. Choosing a Lifecycle Extensibility Scenario
Scenario

Procedure

Inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS
machine lifecycle and apply that custom logic to specific
blueprints.

Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator
Checklist

Inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS
machine lifecycle and apply that custom logic globally to all of
your blueprints.

Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation
Designer Checklist

Restrict execution of workflows to specific Distributed Execution
Managers by using skills in vRealize Automation Designer. Skills
are similar to a tag that you can apply to both workflows and
DEM Worker instances.

Associate Workflows and DEM Workers by Using Skills

For example, you might want to restrict cloud provisioning
workflows to a specific DEM running on a host with the required
network access to Amazon URLs.

VMware, Inc.

Extending Machine Lifecycles
By Using vRealize Orchestrator

You can inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS machine lifecycle by creating custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflows and then using vRealize Orchestrator to insert the custom workflows into
the lifecycle of machines built from specific blueprints.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator Checklist
n

Configuring the vRealize Automation Plug-in for Machine Extensibility

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using vRealize Orchestrator

Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using
vRealize Orchestrator Checklist
The extending machine lifecycles by using vRealize Orchestrator checklist provides a high-level overview
of the steps required to install and configure vRealize Orchestrator to customize IaaS machine lifecycles.
Table 3‑1. Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator Checklist
Task

Details

Configure a vRealize Automation host for your
vRealize Orchestrator.

Add a vRealize Automation Host

Configure an IaaS host for your
vRealize Orchestrator.

Add an IaaS Host

Install the vRealize Orchestrator customizations for
extending IaaS machine lifecycles.

Install vRealize Orchestrator Customization

Create a vRealize Automation endpoint for your
vRealize Orchestrator instance.

Create a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 3‑1. Extending Machine Lifecycles by Using vRealize Orchestrator Checklist
(Continued)
Task

Details

Use the workflow template provided in the
Extensibility subdirectory of the vRealize Automation
plug-in library to create a custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflow to run during the
machine lifecycle. You can run multiple workflows in
the same state for the same blueprint as long as you
nest them under a single wrapper workflow.

For information about developing workflows with vRealize Orchestrator,
see the vRealize Orchestrator documentation. For training in
vRealize Orchestrator development for vRealize Automation integrations,
see the training courses available from VMware Education and the
instructional material provided by VMware Learning.

Run the provided workflow that inserts your custom
workflow into an IaaS workflow stub and configures a
blueprint to call the IaaS workflow stub.

Assign a State Change Workflow to a Blueprint and Its Virtual Machines

Configuring the vRealize Automation Plug-in for Machine
Extensibility
You configure your vRealize Automation and IaaS hosts, install the customizations for machine
extensibility, and create a vRealize Automation endpoint for your vRealize Orchestrator instance.

Add a vRealize Automation Host
You can run a workflow to add a vRealize Automation host and configure the host connection parameters.
Procedure

From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run or Design.

Click the Workflows view.

Expand Library > vRealize Automation > Configuration.

Right-click the Add a vRA host workflow and select Start workflow.

Enter a unique name for the host in the Host Name text box.

Enter the URL address of the host in the Host URL text box.
For example: https://hostname.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Enter the name of the tenant in the Tenant text box.
To use the full functionality of the plug-in for a tenant, create a dedicated vRealize Automation host for
each tenant.

Select whether to install the SSL certificates automatically without user confirmation.

(Optional) To configure the length of time vRealize Orchestrator waits for a connection or response
from vRealize Automation, enter timeout intervals in the Connection timeout (seconds) and
Operation timeout (seconds) text boxes.

10 Select the type of connection to the host from the Session mode drop-down menu.
Option

Actions

Shared Session

Enter the credentials for a vRealize Automation user in the Authentication
username and Authentication password text boxes.

Per User Session

Connect using the credentials of the user that is currently logged in. You must be
logged in to the Orchestrator client with the credentials of the
vRealize Automation system administrator.
To use this option with an external vRealize Orchestrator server, you must register
the Orchestrator server in the vRealize Automation component registry.

11 Click Submit.
What to do next

Add a vRealize Automation Infrastructure Administration host.

Add an IaaS Host
You can run a workflow to add the IaaS host of a vRealize Automation host and configure the connection
parameters.
Procedure

From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run or Design.

Click the Workflows view.

Expand Library > vRealize Automation > Infrastructure Administration > Configuration.

Right-click Add an IaaS host and select Start workflow.

Select the vRealize Automation host for which you want to configure an IaaS host from the vCAC
host drop-down menu.

Enter a unique name for the host in the Host Name text box.

Enter the URL of the machine on which your Model Manager is installed.
For example: https://model_manager_machine.com.

To install the SSL certificates, select Yes.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

To use a proxy to access your model manager machine, select Yes.
If you select this option, you must provide the proxy host and the proxy port on the following page.

10 Click Next.
11 If you are configuring an explicit proxy, provide the proxy host URL and the port.
12 Click Next.
13 To configure your own timeout values, click No.
14 (Optional) To configure the length of time vRealize Orchestrator waits for a connection or response
from vRealize Automation, enter timeout intervals in the Connection timeout (seconds) and
Operation timeout (seconds) text boxes.
15 Click Next.
16 Select the host's authentication type.
Option

Description

SSO

Select this to use vCenter Single Sign-On.

NTLM

Select this to enable NT LAN Manager (NTLM) protocol-based authentication only
if your Active Directory infrastructure relies on NTLM authentication.
If you select this option, you must the additional NTLM credentials and
authentication options.

17 If you selected NTLM, click Next and enter the name of the Workstation machine and the NetBIOS
domain name.
18 Click Submit.

Install vRealize Orchestrator Customization
You can run a workflow to install the customized state change workflow stubs and Orchestrator menu
operation workflows.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
Procedure

From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run or Design.

Click the Workflows view.

Select Library > vCloud Automation Center > Infrastructure Administration > Extensibility >
Installation.

Right-click the Install vCO customization workflow and select Start workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Select an IaaS host.

Click Next.

Choose the lifecycle stages to which you want to add custom logic by selecting one or more state
change workflow stubs to install.

Click Submit.

Create a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint
You can configure multiple endpoints to connect to different vRealize Orchestrator servers, but you must
configure a priority for each endpoint.
When executing vRealize Orchestrator workflows, vRealize Automation tries the highest priority
vRealize Orchestrator endpoint first. If that endpoint is not reachable, then it proceeds to try the next
highest priority endpoint until a vRealize Orchestrator server is available to run the workflow.
Prerequisites
n

Store User Credentials.

Procedure

Select Infrastructure > Endpoints > Endpoints.

Select New > Orchestration > vCenter Orchestrator.

Enter a name and, optionally, a description.

Enter a URL with the fully qualified name or IP address of the vRealize Orchestrator server and the
vRealize Orchestrator port number.
The transport protocol must be HTTPS. If no port is specified, the default port 443 is used.
To use the default vRealize Orchestrator instance embedded in the vRealize Automation appliance,
type https://vrealize-automation-appliance-hostname:443/vco.

Specify the endpoint priority.
a

Click New Property.

Enter VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.Priority in the Name text box.
The property name is case sensitive.

Enter an integer greater than or equal to 1 in the Value text box.
Lower value means higher priority.

d
6

Click the Save icon (

Click OK.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using
vRealize Orchestrator
You use a single workflow in vRealize Orchestrator to inject your custom logic into the IaaS workflow
stubs and assign your customized life cycles to machine blueprints.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
You must design your custom vRealize Orchestrator workflows to accept string inputs. If your custom
workflow expects a complex data type, create a wrapper workflow that looks up this complex value and
translates it to a string. For an example wrapping workflow, see the sample Workflow template, provided
in Library > vRealize Automation > Infrastructure > Extensibility.

Assign a State Change Workflow to a Blueprint and Its Virtual
Machines
You configure custom vRealize Orchestrator workflows to run at specific stages in the master machine
workflow by associating your custom workflow with a state change workflow stub and assigning the
workflows to a blueprint.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
Prerequisites

Use the workflow template provided in the Extensibility subdirectory of the vRealize Automation plugin
library to create a custom workflow to run during the machine lifecycle.
Procedure

From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run or Design.

Click the Workflows view.

Select Library > vRealize Automation > Infrastructure > Extensibility.

Right-click the Assign a state change workflow to a blueprint and its virtual machines workflow
and select Start workflow.

Choose the lifecycle stage at which to run the workflow by selecting a stub from the vCAC workflow
stub to enable drop-down menu.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Select an IaaS host.

Click Next.

Select the blueprint to which you want to assign the workflow.

Choose whether or not to apply these workflows to existing machines provisioned by using this
blueprint.

10 Select the workflow you want to run during the machine lifecycle.
11 Configure which workflow input values are added as custom properties to the machine.
a

Add vCO workflow inputs as blueprint properties.

Add last vCO workflow run input values as blueprint properties.

12 Click Submit.

VMware, Inc.

Configuring Workflow
Subscriptions to Extend
vRealize Automation

You create workflow subscriptions that use the event broker service to monitor the registered services for
event messages in vRealize Automation, and then run a specified vRealize Orchestrator workflow when
the conditions in the subscription are met. To configure the subscription you specify the event topic, the
triggering conditions, and the workflow that runs when triggered.
Tenant administrators can create and manage the workflow subscriptions that are specific to their tenant.
The system administrator can create and manage system workflow subscriptions. The created system
workflow subscriptions are active for events in any tenant and for system events.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Event Topics Provided With vRealize Automation
n

Workflow Subscriptions and Event Broker Terminology

Blockable and Replyable Event Topics

Best Practices for Creating vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Workflow Subscriptions

Workflow Subscription Settings

Working with Provisioning and Life Cycle Workflow Subscriptions

Working with Approval Workflow Subscriptions

Troubleshooting Workflow Subscriptions

Event Topics Provided With vRealize Automation
Event topics describe the type of event message that is sent to the event broker service by the other
services. You select an event topic and configure the workflow subscription based on the topic.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑1. Event Topics
Event Topic Name

Description

Service

Blueprint component completed

A blueprint component that is part of a
composite blueprint finishes provisioning.
The component is any blueprint that is
part of a composite blueprint.

composition-service

Blueprint component requested

A blueprint component that is part of a
composite blueprint is requested. The
component is any blueprint that is part of
a composite blueprint.

composition-service

Blueprint configuration

A blueprint is created, updated, or
deleted.

composition-service

Business group configuration

A business group is created, updated, or

identity

deleted.
Catalog item request completed

A composite blueprint finished
provisioning. This event topic includes all
blueprint components. It does not include
standalone XaaS blueprints.

composition-service

Catalog item requested

A composite blueprint is requested. This
event topic does not include
XaaSblueprints.

composition-service

Component action completed

An action ran on a deployed blueprint
component when a deployment action
was requested.

composition-service

Component action requested

An action to run on a deployed blueprint
component is requested when a
deployment action was requested.

composition-service

Deployment action completed

An action on a deployed blueprint
finished running, including running all the
component actions.

composition-service

Deployment action requested

An action on a deployed blueprint is

composition-service

requested.
EventLog default event

A standard entry is added to the event
log.

eventlog-service

The log entry is not distributed to
subscribers.
IPAM IP lifecycle event completion

An IP allocation or deallocation request
is finished.

ipam-service

Machine lifecycle

A provided IaaS action is run on a
provisioned machine.

iaas-service

Machine provisioning

An IaaS machine is in the process of
being provisioned.

iaas-service

Orchestration server configuration

A vRealize Orchestrator server
configuration is created, updated,
deleted, or modified to use a different
default instance.

o11n-gateway-service

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑1. Event Topics (Continued)
Event Topic Name

Description

Service

Orchestration server configuration (XaaS)
- Obsolete

A vRealize Orchestrator server
configuration is created, updated,
deleted, or modified to use a different
default instance.

advanced-designer-service

Post Approval

A post-approval policy level is configured
to use the event subscription option.

approval-service

Pre Approval

A pre-approval policy level is configured
to use the event subscription option.

approval-service

Resource reclamation completion event

A resource lease expired and the
resources are reclaimed.

management-service

Workflow Subscriptions and Event Broker Terminology
As you work with the workflow subscriptions and the event broker service, you might encounter some
terminology that is specific to the subscriptions and event broker service.
Table 4‑2. Workflow Subscription and Event Broker Terminology
Term

Description

Event Topic

Describes a set of events that have same logical intent and the
same structure. Every event is an instance of an event topic.

Event

Indicates a change in the state in the producer or any of the
entities managed by it. The event is the entity that records
information about the event occurrence.

Message

Transports information about the event between the various
services and components. For example, from the producer to
the event broker service, or from the event broker service to the
subscribers.

Event Broker Service

The service that dispatches messages that are published by a
producer to the subscribed consumers.

Payload

The event data.

Subscription

Indicates that a subscriber is interested in being notified about
an event by subscribing to an event topic and defining the
criteria that triggers the notification.

Subscriber

Consumes the events published to the event broker service
based on the subscription definition. The subscriber might also
be referred to as the consumer.

Provider

Registers event topics in the event broker service.

Producer

Publishes events to the event broker service.

System Administrator

A user with privileges to create, read, update, and delete tenant
workflow subscriptions and system workflow subscriptions using
the API or vRealize Automation plug-in. vRealize Automation
does not include a user interface for the system administrator.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑2. Workflow Subscription and Event Broker Terminology (Continued)
Term

Description

Tenant Administrator

The user with privileges to create, read, update, and delete
tenant workflow subscriptions for their tenant.

Workflow Subscription

Specifies the event topic and conditions that trigger a
vRealize Orchestrator workflow.

System Workflow Subscription

A specialized workflow subscription that reacts to system events
and to events in all the tenants.

Tenant Workflow Subscription

A specialized workflow subscription that specifies which
conditions trigger a vRealize Orchestrator workflow for events in
the same tenant.

Blockable and Replyable Event Topics
Event topics might support blockable and replyable events. The behavior of a workflow subscription
depends on whether the topic supports these event types and how you configure the workflow
subscription.

Non-Blockable Event Topics
Non-blockable event topics only allow you to create non-blocking subscriptions. Non-blocking
subscriptions are triggered asynchronously and you can not rely on the order that the subscriptions are
triggered or that the vRealize Orchestrator workflows run. Non-blocking subscriptions only return a
response if the topic is replyable.

Blockable Event Topics
Some event topics support blocking. If a workflow subscription is marked as blocking, then all messages
that meet the configured conditions are not received by any other workflow subscriptions with matching
conditions until the first workflow is finished. If you have multiple blocking workflow subscriptions for the
same event topic, you prioritize the subscriptions.
Blocking subscriptions run in priority order. The highest priority value is 0 (zero). If you have more than
one blocking subscription for the same event topic with the same priority level, the subscriptions run in
alphabetical order based on the name. After all blocking subscriptions are processed, the message is
sent to all the nonblocking subscriptions at the same time. Because the blocking workflow subscriptions
run synchronously, the changed event payload includes the updated event when the subsequent workflow
subscriptions are notified.
You apply blocking to one or more workflow subscriptions depending on the selected workflow and your
goals.
For example, you have two provisioning workflow subscriptions where the second workflow depends on
the results of the first. The first one changes a property during provisioning, and a second records the
new property, perhaps a machine name, in a file system. The ChangeProperty subscription is prioritized
as 0 and the RecordProperty is prioritized as 1 because it uses the results of the ChangeProperty

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

subscription. When a machine is provisioned, the ChangeProperty subscription begins running. Because
the RecordProperty subscription conditions are based on a post-provisioning conditions, a message
triggers the RecordProperty subscription. However, because the ChangeProperty workflow is a blocking
workflow, the message is not received until it is finished. When the name is changed and the first
workflow is finished, the second workflow runs, recording the name in the file system.
Even if an event topics that support blocking, you can create a non-blocking workflow subscription if the
workflow subscription does not have any dependant subsequent workflows. The workflow subscription is
triggered and runs the vRealize Orchestrator workflow without further interaction from
vRealize Automation or the outside system.

Replyable Event Topics
Some event topics support replies from the subscribed service. The service that registered the replyable
event topic can accept a reply event that provides the workflow output, usually as a result of an
interaction with a system or user. The reply output parameters must meet the criteria defined in the reply
schema so that the vRealize Automation service that published the original replyable event can process
it. For example, pre-approval and post-approval workflow subscriptions are replyable. If you create a
workflow that sends an approval request to an external system, the reply, approved or rejected, is
processed by vRealize Automation and the catalog item is provisioned or the user is notified that the
request was rejected.
The reply can be the output from the vRealize Orchestrator workflow or it can be a failure if the workflow
times out or fails. If the reply is from the workflow output parameters, the reply must be in the correct reply
schema format.

Best Practices for Creating vRealize Orchestrator
Workflows for Workflow Subscriptions
A workflow subscription is based on a specific topic schema. To ensure that the subscriptions can start
the vRealize Orchestrator workflows, you must configure them with the correct input parameters so that
they work with the event data.

Workflow Input Parameters
The custom workflow that you create can include all the parameters or a single parameter that consumes
all the data in the payload.
n

To include individual parameters, configure one or more parameters. Ensure that the name and type
match the name and type specified in the schema.

To use a single parameter, configure one parameter with a type of Properties. You can provide any
useful name. For example, you can use payload as the parameter name.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Workflow Output Parameters
The custom workflow that you create can include output parameters that are relevant to subsequent
events necessary for a reply event topic type.
If an event topic expects a reply, the workflow output parameters must match the reply schema.

Workflow Subscription Settings
The subscription options determine when a workflow runs based on event messages in
vRealize Automation. Use the options to manage your subscriptions.
A subscription represents a user's intent to subscribe to events for a given event topic and to run a
workflow when an event for the topic is received that matches defined conditions.
You must be a tenant administrator to create a workflow subscription. All workflow subscriptions are
specific to your tenant.
To manage your workflow subscriptions, select Administration > Events > Subscriptions.
Table 4‑3. Workflow Subscription options
Option

Description

New

Create a new subscription.

Edit

Modify the selected subscription.
If the subscription is published, the saved changes are
immediately active.
You cannot edit the event topic or modify the blocking option for
a published or unpublished subscription.

Publish

Make the subscription active.
The events from the event broker service are processed and the
subscription conditions are evaluated. If a configured condition
is true, the workflow is triggered.

Unpublish

Return a subscription to a draft state.
The subscription is no longer active in your environment and no
longer receives events.
If you republish a subscription, the subscription starts to receive
new events. Past events are not received.

Delete

Delete the selected subscription.

Workflow Subscription Event Topic Tab Settings
Event topics are classes of events provided in vRealize Automation. You select the event topic on
which to define the subscription.

Workflow Subscription Conditions Tab Settings
The conditions you configure for the subscription determine if the workflow is triggered to run based
on the event data.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Workflow Subscription Workflow Tab Settings
The vRealize Orchestrator workflow that you select runs when the subscription conditions are
evaluated as true.

Workflow Subscription Details Tab Settings
The subscription details determine how the subscription is processed.

Workflow Subscription Event Topic Tab Settings
Event topics are classes of events provided in vRealize Automation. You select the event topic on which
to define the subscription.
This page is informational. You are not required to provide any values.
To select an event topic for your workflow subscriptions, select Administration > Events >
Subscriptions. Click New and select an event topic.
Table 4‑4. Event Topic Options
Option

Description

Topic ID

Event topic identifier.

Name

Name of the event topic.

Description

Description of the event topic.

Publisher

Name of the service for which this event topic is registered.

Blockable

Indicates whether you can create a blocking subscription for this
event topic.
Blocking subscriptions are used to change the event's payload
or to synchonously run your custom logic when the results of a
second workflow for the same event depend on the results of
the first workflow.

Replyable

Indicates whether an event topic subscription can publish a reply
event to the service that originally produced the event. If the
value is yes, a reply is sent to the service that published the
original event when the workflow finishes. The reply contains the
output of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow and any error
details.

Schema

Describes the structure of the event's payload.
You can use the schema to create workflows that can use the
payload information.

Workflow Subscription Conditions Tab Settings
The conditions you configure for the subscription determine if the workflow is triggered to run based on
the event data.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

If you select Run based on conditions, the available options can include
n

Data. Information in the event message that is specific to the selected event topic. For example, if you
create a condition for the machine life cycle event topic, the data fields are related to blueprints and
machines compared to a pre-approval event topic where the data fields are related to approval
policies.
You can also add conditions for fields that are not included in the schema by entering the path in the
text box above the tree. Use the format ${PATH}. PATH is the path in the schema. Separate the
nodes using ~. For example, ${data~machine~properties~SomeCustomProperty}.

Core event message values. General information about the event message. For example, the event
type, time stamp, or user name.

To select an event topic for your workflow subscriptions, select Administration > Events >
Subscriptions. Click New.
Table 4‑5. Conditions Tab Options
Option

Description

Run for all events

The selected workflow runs when the message for this event
topic is received.

Run based on conditions

The selected workflow runs when the event message is
detected and the event meets the configured conditions.
If you select this option, you must specify conditions based on
the event data to trigger the selected workflow for this
subscription.
n

Single condition. The workflow is triggered when the
configured clause is true.

All of the following. The workflow is triggered when all the
clauses are true and you provided at least two conditions.

Any of the following. The workflow is triggered when at least
one of the clauses is true and you provided at least two
conditions.

Not the following. The workflow is triggered when none of
the clauses are true.

Workflow Subscription Workflow Tab Settings
The vRealize Orchestrator workflow that you select runs when the subscription conditions are evaluated
as true.
The workflow that you want to run must already exist in vRealize Orchestrator specified in
Administration > vRO Configuration > Server Configuration.
To select a workflow for your workflow subscriptions, select Administration > Events > Subscriptions.
Click New.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑6. Workflow Tab Options
Option

Description

Select a Workflow

Navigate to the workflow.

Selected Workflow

Displays information about the workflow, including input and
output parameters, so that you can verify it is the one that you
want to run.

Workflow Subscription Details Tab Settings
The subscription details determine how the subscription is processed.
To manage your workflow subscriptions, select Administration > Events > Subscriptions. Click New.
The options vary depending on the type of event topic.
Table 4‑7. Details Tab Options
Options

Descriptions

Name

By default, the displayed name is the name of the selected
workflow.
This name is displayed in the subscription list. The name must
be unique in the tenant.

Priority

The order in which the blocking subscriptions run.
Zero is the highest priority. If an event topic has multiple blocking
workflow subscriptions with the same priority, the subscriptions
are then processed in alphabetical order based on the
subscription name.
This option is only available for blocking workflow subscriptions.

Timeout (min)

Specify the number of minutes the workflow has to finish before
it is considered failed.
If the workflow fails to finish in the specified amount of time, the
workflow is canceled and the message is sent to the next
subscription in the priority list.
If you do not provide a value, the timeout is unlimited.
Services that expect a reply, to blocking or replyable events,
might have their own default timeout values. For example, IaaS
provisioning and life cycle event topics time out at 30 minutes.
This value is configured on the IaaS server. Approval topics
have a 24 hour default value. This value is configured on the
system.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑7. Details Tab Options (Continued)
Options

Descriptions

Description

By default, the displayed description is the workflow description.

Blocking

Determines if the workflow can block subsequent workflows for
the same event topic from receiving an event message while
waiting for a reply.
Subscriptions with blocking enabled receive messages before
subscriptions that are not configured as blocking for the same
event topic, based on priority order. When the workflow is
finished, a message is sent to the next prioritized blocking
subscription. After all blocking subscriptions have processed,
the message is sent to all non-blocking subscriptions
simultaneously.
The blocking option is available only if the event topic is
blockable. This information is provided on the Event Topic tab.
The blocking eligibility is indicated on the Event Topic tab.
n

If you do not select the check box, the event broker does not
block subsequent workflows.

If you select check box, the event broker calculates which
workflow subscriptions are eligible for this event based on
the configured conditions and runs the workflows in priority
order. The event broker waits for a response from each
workflow before running the next one. All the changed
parameters from the running of the current workflow are
passed to the next one in the queue.
While waiting for a response, no other workflows are notified
of the event until the consuming system responds.

You cannot modify this option after the workflow subscription is
published.

Working with Provisioning and Life Cycle Workflow
Subscriptions
You create provisioning and life cycle workflow subscriptions so that you can use vRealize Orchestrator to
extend your management of IaaS machines. The provisioning subscriptions extend what you can do
during the provisioning process. The life cycle subscriptions extend what you can do when the user is
managing the provisioned items.

IaaS Service Integration
You create a workflow subscription based on a provisioning or life cycle event topic that runs a custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflow based on a message generated by the IaaS service. vRealize Automation
includes two event topics that you can use for IaaS integration.
n

Machine provisioning. Create workflow subscriptions that run workflows during the provisioning and
disposal of IaaS machines.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Machine lifecycle. Create workflow subscriptions that run workflows related to management actions
that an owning user runs on the provisioned machine.

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Provisioning and
Life Cycle Workflows
You must configure your vRealize Orchestrator workflows to support the IaaS service message.

Provisioning and Life Cycle Event Topic Schema
The machine provisioning and machine life cycle event topics use the same life cycle schema. The
differences are in the triggering states. Machine provisioning receives messages based on provisioning
states and events, and machine life cycle receives messages based on active states and events. Some
provisioning states include BuildingMachine and Disposing. Some life cycle states include InstallTools
and Off.
The event message is the event data payload. The following is the structure of the event data payload.
{
machine : {
id
: STRING,
/* IaaS machine ID */
name
: STRING,
/* machine name */
externalReference : STRING,
/* machine ID on the hypervisor */
owner
: STRING,
/* machine owner */
type
: INTEGER,
/* machine type: 0 - virtual machine; 1 - physical machine; 2 cloud machine */
properties
: Properties
/* machine properties, see notes below how to expose virtual
machine properties */
},
blueprintName
: STRING,
/* blueprint name */
componentId
: STRING,
/* component id */
componentTypeId : STRING,
/* component type id */
endpointId
: STRING,
/* endpoint id */
requestId
: STRING,
/* request id */
lifecycleState : {
/* see Life Cycle State
Definitions*/
state : STRING,
phase : STRING,
event : STRING
},
virtualMachineEvent
: STRING,
by Manager Service as consumer */
workflowNextState
: STRING,
processed by Manager Service as consumer */
virtualMachineAddOrUpdateProperties : Properties,
processed by Manager Service as consumer */
virtualMachineDeleteProperties
: Properties
processed by Manager Service as consumer */
}

/* fire an event on that machine - only processed
/* force the workflow to a specific state - only
/* properties on the machine to add/update - only
/* properties to remove from the machine - only

The vRealize Orchestrator parameters are mapped to the event's payload by name and type.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

When you use virtualMachineEvent and workflowNextState as output parameters, the values that
you provide must represent a state or event from the workflow that triggered the event and started the
current vRealize Orchestrator workflow. To review the possible life cycle states and events, see VMPS
Master Workflow Life Cycle States and Provisioning Life Cycle States by Machine Type.

Working with Extensibility Custom Properties
The virtual machine custom properties are not included in the event payload unless they are specified as
an extensibility custom property for the life cycle state. You can add these properties to IaaS endpoints,
reservations, blueprints, requests, and other objects that support custom properties.
The format of the custom property that you add to an object is
Extensibility.Lifecycle.Properties.{workflowName}.{stateName}.
For example, if you want to include hidden properties and all properties starting with "Virtual" when the
virtual machine state is BuildingMachine, you add the custom properties to the machine in the blueprint.
The custom property name for this example is
Extensibility.Lifecycle.Properties.VMPSMasterWorkflow32.BuildingMachine, and the values
are __* and Virtual*, separated by a comma.
The double underscore (__*) includes the hidden properties. The Virtual* value includes all properties
that begin with virtual. The asterisk (*) is a wildcard and can be used as the only value, but using the
wildcard this way results in the transfer of large amounts of data.
If you have multiple, subsequently triggered workflow subscriptions that include custom properties, you
must include the appropriate entries in the workflows to ensure that the payload check retains the custom
properties.
Table 4‑8. Task Entries to Preserve Custom Properties
State
Added or updated custom properties

Deleted custom properties

Task Entries
virtualMachineAddOrUpdateProperties =
payload.virtualMachineAddOrUpdateProperties ||
new Properties();

virtualMachineDeleteProperties =
payload.virtualMachineDeleteProperties || new
Properties();

Creating a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Based on the Life Cycle or
Provisioning Schema
The custom workflow that you create must have an input parameter that is payload with the type
Properties. The provisioning or life cycle event data payload is put in this parameter when the workflow
runs in vRealize Orchestrator. You can also include separate input parameters that match the name and
the type of the fields in the event's payload.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Workflow Subscription Life Cycle State Definitions
If you configure workflow subscription conditions based on life cycle states, the following definitions might
help you identify the values.
Each message contains a lifecycleState element that is based on the IaaS machine state changes.
The element has the following structure in the message.
lifecycleState : {
state : STRING,
phase : STRING,
event : STRING
}

Table 4‑9. LifecycleState Elements
Property

Description

Format and Values

Examples

state

Contains workflow
name and state name.

{workflowName}.{stateName}

VMPSMasterWorkflow32.Requested

phase

event

Contains the phase that
triggered a message.

Contains the event.
This property is optional
and exists only when
the phase is EVENT.

PRE, POST, EVENT

{workflowName}.{stateName}.EVENT.
{eventName}

VMPSMasterWorkflow32.MachineActivated

BasicVmWorkflow.BuildComplete

PRE. An event is published when entering
this state.

POST. An event is published when exiting
this state.

EVENT. An event is published when an
IaaS event is received in this state..

VMPSMasterWorkflow32.Requested.EVEN
T.OnProvisionMachine

VMPSMasterWorkflow32.VMPSMasterWor
kflow32.EVENT.OnBuildSuccess

BasicVmWorkflow.CreatingMachine.EVENT
.OnCreatingMachineComplete

VMPS Master Workflow Life Cycle States
The VMPS master workflow life cycle states represent an IaaS virtual machine life cycle, from request to
destruction .You can use the VMPS master workflow states and events when you create triggering
conditions based on life cycle state events and life cycle state names.
Each virtual machine goes through four basic stages.
n

Request. Includes approvals.

Provision. Includes different provisioning types, such as create, clone, kickstart, or WIM.

Manage. Includes actions, such as power on, power off, or snapshot.

Destroy. Includes deactivating, unprovisioning, and disposing of the machine.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

These basic stages are included in the master workflow. You can use the VMPSMasterWorkflow32 states
when you create conditions for the following event topics:
n

Machine life cycle

Machine provisioning

The global event states are messages sent to the event broker by the VMPS Master Workflow. Global
events can be triggered at any time.
Table 4‑10. Global Events
State(Topic)

Events [Triggering String] (Topic)

Global

onBuildFailure [BuildFailure] (Provision)

OnBuildSuccess [BuildSuccess] (Provision)

OnFinalizeMachine [Destroy] (Provision)

OnForceUnregisterEvent [ForceUnregister] (Provision)

ReconfigureVM.Pending [ReconfigureVM.Pending] (Active)

ReconfigureVM.ExecutionUpdated
[ReconfigureVM.ExecutionUpdated] (Active)

ReconfigureVM.RetryRequestMade
[ReconfigureVM.RetryRequestMade] (Active)

ReconfigureVM.Failed [ReconfigureVM.Failed] (Active)

ReconfigureVM.Successful [ReconfigureVM.Successful]
(Active)

ReconfigureVM.Complete [ReconfigureVM.Complete]
(Active)

ReconfigureVM.Canceled [ReconfigureVM.Canceled]
(Active)

The active global states are actions that you can run on provisioned machines.
Table 4‑11. Active Events
State
Active

Events [Triggering String] (Topic)
n

OnExpireLease [Expire] (Active)

OnForceExpire [ForceExpire] (Active)

onReprovision [Reprovision] (Active)

onResetBuildSuccess [ResetBuildSuccess] (Active)

In the master workflow, provision events occur during the machine provisioning life cycle. Active events
are actions you can run on provisioned machines. For an illustration of the master workflow, see Example
of VMPS Master Workflow.
Each machine type has its own provisioning workflow. For information about individual machine types,
see Provisioning Life Cycle States by Machine Type.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑12. VMPSMasterWorkflow32 States and Events
State(Topic)

Events [Triggering String] (Topic)

BuildingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

DeactivateMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

Disposing

OnDisposeComplete(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

OnDisposeTimeout(Provision)

Post(Provision)

OnUnregisterMachine [Unregister] (Provision)

OnActiveExpiredMachine [ActivateExpiredMachine] (Active)

TurnOffFromExpired [TurnOffExpiredMachine] (Active)

InstallToolsComplete(Active)

TimeoutInstallTools(Active)

OnChangeLease [Change Lease] (Active)

Expired
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

InstallTools
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

Leased

MachineActivated
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

OnUpdateDescription [UpdateDescription] (Active)

OnUpdateOwner [UpdateOwner] (Active)

OnCatalogRegistrationComplete
[CatalogRegistrationComplete] (Provision)

OnForceOn [ForceOn] (Active)
OnResetOff [Turn Off] (Active)

MachineProvisioned
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

Off
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

OnTurnOn [Turn On] (Active)

OnForceOff [ForceOff] (Active)

On
n

Pre(Active)

onInstallTools [InstallTools] (Active)

Post(Active)

OnReboot [Reboot] (Active)

OnReset [Reset] (Active)

OnResetOn [Turn On] (Active)

OnShutdown [Shutdown] (Active)

Rebooting
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

RegisterMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

OnSuspend [Suspend] (Active)

OnTurnOff [Turn Off] (Active)

OnRebootComplete(Active)

TimoutFromReboot(Active)

onRegisterComplete(Provision)

RegisterTimeout(Provision)

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 4‑12. VMPSMasterWorkflow32 States and Events (Continued)
State(Topic)

Events [Triggering String] (Topic)

Requested

OnProvisionMachine [Provision] (Provision)

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

Resetting
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

ShuttingDown
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

Suspending
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

TurningOff
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

TurningOn
n

Pre(Active)

Post(Active)

OnResetComplete(Active)

TimoutFromReset(Active)

OnShutdownComplete(Active)

TimoutFromShutdown(Active)

OnSuspendComplete(Active)

TimoutFromSuspend(Active)

OnTurningOffComplete(Active)

TimoutFromPowerOff(Active)

OnTurningOnComplete(Active)

TimeoutPowerOn(Active)

UnprovisionMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

WaitingToBuild
n

Pre(Provision)

Post(Provision)

Example of VMPS Master Workflow
The VMPS workflow is the master in which the other provisioning workflows are embedded. This example
includes the Basic VM Workflow to illustrate the life cycle of a virtual machine. It does not represent a
specific workflow in your environment.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

VMPS Master Workflow 32
Requested
PRE

VMPSMaster
Workflow32
EVENT
OnBuildSuccess

MachineProvisioned
PRE

DeactivateMachine
PRE

BuildingMachine
POST

MachineProvisioned
POST

DeactivateMachine
POST

BasicVmWorkflow
Requested
EVENT
OnProvisionMachine

CreatingMachine
PRE

Requested
POST

CreatingMachine
EVENT
OnCreating
MachineComplete

MachineActivated
PRE

UnprovisionMachine
PRE

WaitingToBuild
PRE

AddingDisks
PRE

MachineActivated
EVENT
OnCatalog
RegistrationComplete

UnprovisionMachine
POST

WaitingToBuild
POST

AddingDisks
EVENT
OnAdding
DisksComplete

MachineActivated
POST

Disposing
PRE

BuildingMachine
PRE

BuildComplete
PRE

VMPSMaster
Workflow32
EVENT
OnFinalizeMachine

Disposing
EVENT
OnDisposeComplete

Disposing
POST

Provisioning Life Cycle States by Machine Type
The life cycle states by machine type are specific to certain virtual machine types. In addition to the
master workflow, you can use the provisioning workflow states and events when you create triggering
conditions for workflow subscriptions.
Blade Logic Bare Metal
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildFinished
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Opsware Bare Metal
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildFinished
n

Pre(Provision)

OpswareRegister
n

OnOpswareRegister(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

Cloud Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CloudProvisioning
n

OnCloudProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

App Service Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AppServiceProvisioning

OnAppServiceProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

Basic VM Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Opsware Virtual
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

OnCreateVMComplete(Provision)

OnCreateVMTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnOpswareRegister(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildFinished
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingVM
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

OpswareRegister
n

Pre(Provision)

Cloud Linux Kickstart Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeOS
n

Pre(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnInstallingOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallingOSTimeout(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallingOS
n

Pre(Provision)

Clone Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CloneMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeOS

VMware, Inc.

OnCloneMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCloneMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnCustomizeMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnCustomizeOS(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSTimeout(Provision)

Life Cycle Extensibility

State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

EjectCD

OnEjectCDComplete(Provision)

OnEjectCDTimeout(Provision)

OnFinalizeComplete(Provision)

OnFinalizeTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallSoftware
n

Pre(Provision)

MountCD
n

Pre(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnInstallSoftwareComplete(Provision)

OnInstallSoftwareTimeout(Provision)

OnMountCDComplete(Provision)

OnMountCDTimeout(Provision)

PostInstallSoftwareChecks
n

Pre(Provision)

PrepareInstallSoftware
n

Pre(Provision)

Cloud WIM Image Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallOS
n

Pre(Provision)

Reboot
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupOS
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

onInstallOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallOSTimeout(Provision)

OnRebootComplete(Provision)

OnRebootTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupOSComplete(Provision)

OnSetupOSTimeout(Provision)

Life Cycle Extensibility

External Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnEpiRegisterComplete(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

EpiRegister
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

Linux Kickstart Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeOS
n

Pre(Provision)

EjectingCD
n

Pre(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSTimeout(Provision)

OnEjectingCDComplete(Provision)

OnEjectingCDTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnInstallingOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallingOSTimeout(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallingOS
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Physical Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

Reboot
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupOS
n

OnInitializeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

InstallOS
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

OnFinalizeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

InitializeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

OnInstallOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallOSTimeout(Provision)

OnRebootComplete(Provision)

OnRebootTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupOSComplete(Provision)

OnSetupOSTimeout(Provision)

Physical PXE Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

CheckHardwareType
n

Pre(Provision)

CleanPxe
n

OnCleanPxeTimeout(Provision)

OnFinalizeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitializeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnInstallOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallOSTimeout(Provision)

OnRebootComplete(Provision)

OnRebootTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupOSComplete(Provision)

OnSetupOSTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupPxeTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitializeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallOS
n

Pre(Provision)

Reboot
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupOS
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupPxe
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Physical SCCM Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

CheckHardwareType
n

Pre(Provision)

Complete

OnCompleteProvisioningComplete(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

OnCompleteProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

FailedProvisioning

OnFailedProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnFinalizeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitializeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnSccmRegistrationTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitializeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

SccmRegistration
n

Pre(Provision)

Physical SCCM PXE Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

CheckHardwareType
n

Pre(Provision)

CleanPxe
n

Complete
n

OnCleanPxeTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

OnCompleteProvisioningComplete(Provision)

OnCompleteProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnFailedProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnFinalizeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitializeProvisioningTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnSccmRegistrationTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupPxeTimeout(Provision)

Disposing
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitializeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

SccmRegistration
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupPxe
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

vApp Clone Workflow
State (Topic)

Events [Triggering String] (Topic)

Global

OnFailProvisioning [FailProvisioning] (Provision)

OnMasterProvisioned [MasterProvisioned] (Provision)

OnCloneMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCloneMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnCustomizeMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeMachineTimeout(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CloneMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CustomizeOS

OnCustomizeOS(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSComplete(Provision)

OnCustomizeOSTimeout(Provision)

OnFinalizeComplete(Provision)

OnFinalizeTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

OnWaitingForMasterTimeout(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

FinalizeProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

WaitingForMaster
n

Pre(Provision)

Virtual SCCM Provisioning Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnEjectingCDComplete(Provision)

OnEjectingCDTimeout(Provision)

Disposing
n

Pre(Provision)

EjectingCD
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

VMware, Inc.

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

Life Cycle Extensibility

State (Topic)
InstallingOS
n

Pre(Provision)

SccmRegistration
n

Events (Topic)
n

OnInstallingOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallingOSTimeout(Provision)

OnSccmRegistrationTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

WIM Image Workflow
State (Topic)

Events (Topic)

AddingDisks

OnAddingDisksComplete(Provision)

OnAddingDisksTimeout(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineComplete(Provision)

OnCreatingMachineTimeout(Provision)

OnEjectingCDComplete(Provision)

OnEjectingCDTimeout(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnComplete(Provision)

OnInitialPowerOnTimeout(Provision)

onInstallOSComplete(Provision)

OnInstallOSTimeout(Provision)

OnRebootComplete(Provision)

OnRebootTimeout(Provision)

OnSetupOSComplete(Provision)

OnSetupOSTimeout(Provision)

Pre(Provision)

BuildComplete
n

Pre(Provision)

CreatingMachine
n

Pre(Provision)

EjectingCD
n

Pre(Provision)

FailedProvisioning
n

Pre(Provision)

InitialPowerOn
n

Pre(Provision)

InstallOS
n

Pre(Provision)

Reboot
n

Pre(Provision)

SetupOS
n

Pre(Provision)

Configuring the Timeout Values for States and Events
The default timeout value for all states and events is 30 minutes and is configured in the
vRealize Automation global settings. Some workflows might take more time to run successfully. To
accommodate different workflows in your environment, you can add timeout override values for individual
workflows or states.
To modify the default timeout value, select Infrastructure > Administration > Global Settings and edit
the value for Extensibility lifecycle message timeout. If you make changes to the global setting, you
must restart the manager service.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

To configure individual timeout values, add the workflow or event property to the appSetting section of
the ManagerService.exe.config file, located on the IaaS server. The file is typically located in the
%System-Drive%\Program Files x86\VMware\vCAC\Server directory. You should always make a
copy of the file before editing it. If you make changes to the individual settings, you must restart the
manager service.
The basic format for the keys is similar to the following examples.
n

For a workflow. Extensibility.{workflow}.Timeout

For events. Extensibility.{workflow}.{state}.EVENT.{event}.Timeout

For states. Extensibility.{workflow}.{state}.(PRE/POST).Timeout

Use the following as examples when adding keys to the appSetting section. The timeout value format is
D.HH:mm:ss.ms. D is day and ms is milliseconds. Day and milliseconds are optional. Hours, minutes, and
seconds are required.
n

To set the timeout for the entire BasicVmWorkflow workflow to 30 minutes, add .

To set the timeout for the OnFinalizeMachine global event in the VMPSMasterWorkflow32 to two
hours, add .

To set the timeout for the pre-request state of the VMPSMasterWorkflow32 to 2 days, add .

Configuring the Error Behavior for States and Events
The workflow subscription timeout and error handling has default behavior. You can custom the behavior
for machines in your environment.
IaaS handles event timeout and error proccessing from the Event Broker Service.
At each state transition, SendEBSMessage sends an event to the Event Broker Service and waits for a
reply. By default, if a timeout or an error is reported by the Event Broker Service, might occur, it is logged
and the workflow resumes.
If a timeout or an error occurs during the following states in the master workflow, the workflow is forced
into the error state rather than resuming the workflow.
Table 4‑13. Exceptions Where Workflows Do Not Resume
State Where Error Occurs

Error State

PRE MachineProvisioned

UnprovisionMachine

PRE BuildingMachine

Disposing

PRE RegisterMachine

Finalized

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

To customize the timeout or error behavior, you can add custom properties to the machine for any events
or states where you want to trigger an event or force a state change. Use the following examples to
configure the custom properties.
n

Extensibility.Lifecycle.Error.Event.{Workflow}.{State}. The value of the property is the
name of the event to be triggered on in the workflow in case of timeout or error.

Extensibility.Lifecycle.Error.State.{Workflow}.{State}. The value of the property is the
name of the state in which the workflow will forcibly transition to in case of timeout or error.

Scenario: Take a Post-Provisioning Snapshot of a Virtual Machine
As a tenant administrator, you want your service catalog users to have a post-provisioning snapshot of
their virtual machines so that they can revert to the fresh machine rather than requesting a new one.
Procedure
1

Scenario: Create a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow for a Post-Provisioning
Snapshot Action
You create a vRealize Orchestrator workflow that accepts the required input parameter. You design the
workflow to accomplish your post-provisioning goal.
For information about creating vRealize Orchestrator folders and workflows, see Developing with VMware
vRealize Orchestrator.
Prerequisites

Log in to the vRealize Orchestrator that is the instance configured for vRealize Automation with privileges
that allow you to create a workflow.
Procedure

Create a folder for your workflow subscription workflows in the workflow library.

Create a new workflow.
For this scenario, name the workflow Automation Post-Provisioning Snapshot.

Add the following input parameter.
Name

Type

payload

Properties

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Add a scriptable task that accepts the input parameter and creates a virtual machine snapshot.

Save the workflow.

What to do next

You create a workflow subscription that runs your Automation Post-Provisioning Snapshot workflow.
Scenario: Create a Post-Provisioning Snapshot Workflow Subscription.

Scenario: Create a Post-Provisioning Snapshot Workflow Subscription
As a tenant administrator, you want to create a snapshot of each virtual machine after it is created. You
configure a workflow subscription based on the machine provisioning event topic, and publish it to make it
active.
You configure the workflow subscription to run a create snapshot workflow when a virtual machine is
provisioned and the detected event message is in the activated state.
Prerequisites
n

Configure a vCenter Server plug-in as a vRealize Orchestrator endpoint. See Configure the vCenter
Server Plug-In as an Endpoint.

Verify that you have a vSphere virtual machine blueprint.

Verify that you have a vRealize Orchestrator workflow that creates a snapshot of a virtual machine.
You cannot use the Create a snapshot workflow provided by the vRealize Automation plug-in. The
provided snapshot workflow is specific to XaaS integration. See Configuring vRealize Orchestrator
Workflows for Provisioning and Life Cycle Workflows.

Procedure

Select Administration > Events > Subscriptions

Click the New icon (

Select Machine provisioning.

Click Next.

On the Conditions tab, configure the triggering conditions.

Select Run based on conditions.

From the Clause drop-down menu, select All of the following.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Configure the following conditions:
Property

Operator

Value

Data > Machine > Machine type

Equals

Constant > Virtual Machine

Data > Lifecycle state > Lifecycle state name

Equals

Constant > VMPSMasterWorkflow32.MachineActivated

Data > Lifecycle state > State phase

Equals

Constant > POST

Click Next.

On the Workflow tab, browse the Orchestrator tree and select your Automation Post-Provisioning
Snapshot workflow.

Click Next.

On the Details tab, enter the Name and Description.
In this scenario, enter Post-Provisioning Virtual Machine Snapshot as the name and
Create a snapshot when new virtual machine is provisioned and activated as the
description.

Click Finish.

10 Select the Post-Provisioning Virtual Machine Snapshot row and click Publish.
The workflow subscription is active and will trigger your snapshot workflow when an event message
indicates that a requested virtual machine is provisioned and activated.
What to do next

To test the workflow subscription, request a virtual machine in the service catalog. After the request
indicates successful provisioning, verify that the snapshot was created.

Working with Approval Workflow Subscriptions
You create pre-approval and post-approval workflow subscriptions so that you can send an approval
request to an external system for processing. The response, approved or rejected, is then processed by
vRealize Automation.

Approval Service Integration
You create a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription that runs a custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflow that processes the approval request in a system outside of
vRealize Automation.
In an approval policy approval level, you can select Use event subscription as the approver. This level
can be one of several in an approval policy. When a service catalog user requests an item to which an
approval policy is applied that includes the Use event subscription approver, the approval service sends
a message to the event broker service with the following results.
n

If you have a published workflow subscription with matching criteria, vRealize Orchestrator runs your
approve or reject workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

If you have a published workflow subscription, but the criteria do not match, you unpublished the
workflow subscription, or you do not have a published subscription, the approval level is approved
and the approval process goes to the next approval level.

The approval workflow subscription receives messages from the approval service and compares the
messages to the configured criteria for approval subscriptions. When it finds a message that matches the
criteria, the selected vRealize Orchestrator workflow starts to run. The published event data is passed to
the workflow as input and processed in the method specified in the workflow. The results of the workflow
are returned to vRealize Automation and the request is processed. If approved, the next approval level is
evaluated. If rejected, the request is rejected. If the approval service does not receive a reply within 24
hours, the default timeout for the approval service, the request is processed as rejected.

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Workflows for Approval Event
Topics
You must configure your custom vRealize Orchestrator workflow to support the approval message and to
reply with correctly formatted information that vRealize Automation can process.

Approval Event Topic Schema
The pre-approval and post-approval event message schema includes the field names and values, the
information included in the request, and information about the source of the request.
The following is the structure of the event data payload.
{
fieldNames : Properties,

// Property names

fieldValues : Properties,

// Property values

// Information about the request
requestInfo : {
requestRef : STRING,
itemName : STRING,
itemDescription : STRING,
reason : STRING,
request is required
description : STRING,
the request

//
//
//
//

Identifier for the source request
Name of the requested item
Description of the requested item
Justification provided by the user specifying why the

// Description entered by the user specifying the purpose of

approvalLevel:ExternalReference,//
approvalLevelName : STRING,
//
createDate : DATE_TIME,
//
requestedFor : STRING,
//
initiated
subtenantId : STRING,
//
requestedBy : STRING
//
},

Approval level ID. This is a searchable field
Approval level name
Time the approval request is created
Principal id of the user for whom the source request is
Business group id
Principal id of the user who actually submits the request

// Information about the source of the request
sourceInfo : {
externalInstanceId : STRING,
// Identifier of the source object, as defined by the intiator
service

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

serviceId : STRING,
externalClassId : STRING

// Identifier of the service which initiated the approval
// Identifier of the class to which the source object belongs

}
}

Property names and property values can be the custom properties or system properties that you
configure in the approval policy level. These properties are configured in the approval policy to allow the
approver to change the values during an approval process. For example, if CPU is included, the approver
can decrease the number of CPUs in the approval request form.
The reply event data payload is the information that it returned to vRealize Automation by the workflow.
The contents of the reply payload determines whether the request is approved or rejected.
{
approved : BOOLEAN,
// Property values
fieldValues : Properties
}

The approved parameter in the reply event payload is either true, for approved, or false, for rejected
requests. The property values are the custom or system properties that were modified by the
vRealize Orchestrator workflow and returned to vRealize Automation and included in the approval
process.
As a best practice, you should configure the vRealize Orchestrator workflow with an output parameter for
businessJustification. You can use this parameter to pass comments provided by the approver in
the outside system to the vRealize Automation approval process. These comments can be for approvals
or rejections.

Creating a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Based on the Approval Schema
The custom approval workflow that you create must have an input parameter, with any useful name, that
is configured with the type Properties. The approval event data payload is put into this parameter when
the workflow subscription is triggered to run.
The output parameters of the workflow that are sent back to vRealize Automation are approved :
Boolean and fieldValues : Properties. The returned approved : Boolean parameter determines
if the approval level is approved or rejected. The fieldValues : Properties parameter contains the
values that were modified in the external system.

Scenario: Send Software Requests to an External System for
Approval
As a tenant administrator, you want users outside vRealize Automation to approve a software component
when a service catalog user requests a machine that includes software. You configure an approval policy
that requires approval for all software provisioning and a workflow subscription that is configured to run
when it receives pre-approval messages that match your defined conditions.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Procedure
1

Scenario: Create an Approval Policy for External Approval
As a tenant administrator, you create an approval policy that generates an event message that is
published by the approval service. If you configured a workflow subscription with criteria that match
the event message, vRealize Orchestrator runs the selected workflow.

Scenario: Create a Pre-Approval Workflow Subscription
As a tenant administrator, you create a pre-approval workflow subscription that runs a
vRealize Orchestrator workflow when a service catalog request generates an approval request that
matches the configured conditions.

Scenario: Create a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow for Approval Workflow
Subscriptions
You create a vRealize Orchestrator workflow that accepts the required approval input parameters from
vRealize Automation and returns the necessary output parameters to complete the approval process.
You must design the workflow to accomplish your approval goal. For information about creating
vRealize Orchestrator folders and workflows, see Developing with VMware vRealize Orchestrator.
Prerequisites

Log in to the vRealize Orchestrator that is the instance configured for vRealize Automation with privileges
that allow you to create a workflow.
Procedure

Create a folder for your workflow subscription workflows in the workflow library.

Create a new workflow.
For this scenario, name the workflow Automation Approval Request.
a

Add the following input parameter.
Name

Type

input

Properties

Add the following output parameters.
Name

Type

approved

boolean

fieldValues

Properties

Create a scriptable task that processes the input and output parameters.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Save the workflow.

What to do next

You create an approval policy that uses the workflow subscription as an approver. Scenario: Create an
Approval Policy for External Approval

Scenario: Create an Approval Policy for External Approval
As a tenant administrator, you create an approval policy that generates an event message that is
published by the approval service. If you configured a workflow subscription with criteria that match the
event message, vRealize Orchestrator runs the selected workflow.
Prerequisites
n

Procedure

Select Administration > Approval Policies.

Create an approval policy for your software components.
a

Click the New icon (

Select Select an approval policy type.

In the list, select Service Catalog - Catalog Item Request - Software Component.

Click OK.

Configure the following options:

Option

Configuration

Name

Enter Software external approval.

Description

Enter Approval request sent to external approval system.

Status

Select Active.

On the Pre Approval tab, click the Add icon (

Configure the Level Information tab with the triggering criteria and the approval actions.

In the Name text box, enter External level for software.

In the Description text box, enter
Software approval request sent to external approval system.

Select Always required.

Select Use event subscription.

Click OK.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

What to do next
n

Create a pre-approval workflow subscription that receives event messages based on the configured
approval level. See Scenario: Create a Pre-Approval Workflow Subscription.

Apply the approval policy to a software component in an entitlement. See Entitle Users to Services,
Catalog Items, and Actions.

Configure an approval policy level named External level for software. See Scenario: Create an
Approval Policy for External Approval.

Create a custom vRealize Orchestrator workflow that sends the request to your external system. In
this scenario, use the Automation Approval Request workflow.

Procedure

Select Administration > Events > Subscriptions

Click the New icon (

Click Pre Approval.

Click Next.

On the Conditions tab, configure the triggering conditions.

Select Run based on conditions.

From the Clause drop-down menu, configure the following condition:

Property

Operator

Value

Data > Information about the request > Approval level name

Equals

External level for software

Click Next.

On the Workflow tab, browse the Orchestrator tree and select your Automation Approval Request
workflow.

Click Next.

On the Details tab, enter the name and description.
In this scenario, enter Software External as the name and Sends approval request to external
system as the description.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

In the Timeout (min) text box, enter 120.
The amount of time you specify until the subscription workflow times out depends on the target
system. If vRealize Automation does not process a reply from the target system in the specified
number of minutes, the request is automatically rejected.
If you do not provide a value, the default timeout is 24 hours.

10 Click Finish.
11 Select the Software External row and click Publish.
The Software External pre-approval event subscription now receives pre-approval event messages.
What to do next
n

If you applied the approval policy to a software component in an active entitlement, request the item
in the service catalog and verify that your approval policy and workflow subscription work as
designed.

Troubleshooting Workflow Subscriptions
Troubleshooting workflow subscriptions includes some common problems. You might also need to
examine various logs.
n

Troubleshooting vRealize Orchestrator Workflows That Do Not Start
You configure a workflow subscription to run a custom workflow when the event message is
received, but the workflow does not run.

Troubleshooting Provisioning Requests That Take Too Much Time
An IaaS machine take ten or more hours to provision.

Troubleshooting a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow That Does Not Run for an Approval Request
You configured a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription to run a vRealize Orchestrator
workflow. The workflow does not run when a machine that matches the defined criteria is requested
in the service catalog.

Troubleshooting a Rejected Approval Request That Should Be Approved
You configure a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription that runs the specified
vRealize Orchestrator workflow, but the request is rejected when you know that it was approved.

Troubleshooting a Rejected Approval Request
You configure a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription that runs the specified
vRealize Orchestrator workflow, but the request is unexpectedly rejected.

Troubleshooting vRealize Orchestrator Workflows That Do Not
Start
You configure a workflow subscription to run a custom workflow when the event message is received, but
the workflow does not run.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Solution

Verify that you published the workflow subscription.

Verify that the workflow subscription conditions are configured correctly.

Verify that the vRealize Orchestrator server has the specified workflow.

Troubleshooting Provisioning Requests That Take Too Much Time
An IaaS machine take ten or more hours to provision.
Cause

If you configured a workflow subscription to trigger on a provisioning state, you might have two instances
of the manager service running in your environment.
Solution
u

Verify that you have only one instance of the manager services is active. If both are on you will also
see errors like this in the logs.
If you have more than one, an error similar to the following error message appears in the manager
services logs.
[EventBrokerService] Failed resuming workflow b6e9276a-f20f-40f1-99ad-6d9524560cc2 on queue
3679fa71-ac2a-42d5-8626-f98ea096f0d3.
System.Workflow.Runtime.QueueException: Event Queue operation failed with MessageQueueErrorCode
QueueNotFound for queue '3679fa71-ac2a-42d5-8626-f98ea096f0d3'.
at System.Workflow.Runtime.WorkflowQueuingService.EnqueueEvent(IComparable queueName, Object
item)
at System.Workflow.Runtime.WorkflowExecutor.EnqueueItem(IComparable queueName, Object item,
IPendingWork pendingWork, Object workItem)
at System.Workflow.Runtime.WorkflowInstance.EnqueueItem(IComparable queueName, Object item,
IPendingWork pendingWork, Object workItem)
at DynamicOps.VMPS.Service.Workflow.Services.EventBrokerService.OnMessage(EventObject obj)
[UTC:2015-11-14 07:14:25 Local:2015-11-13 23:14:25] [Error]: Thread-Id="15" - context="HKBsp6Tt"
token="JeuTG7ru" [EventBrokerClient] Invoking subscription callback failed: Event Queue operation
failed with MessageQueueErrorCode QueueNotFound for queue '3679fa71-ac2a-42d5-8626-f98ea096f0d3'.

Troubleshooting a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow That Does Not
Run for an Approval Request
You configured a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription to run a vRealize Orchestrator
workflow. The workflow does not run when a machine that matches the defined criteria is requested in the
service catalog.
Cause

To successfully run a workflow subscription for an approval, you must ensure that all the components are
configured correctly.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Solution

Verify that the approval policy is active and that you selected Use event subscription for an approval
level in the policy.

Verify that the approval policy is correctly applied in your entitlement.

Verify that your workflow subscription is correctly configured and published.

Review the event logs for messages related to approvals.

Troubleshooting a Rejected Approval Request That Should Be
Approved
You configure a pre-approval or post-approval workflow subscription that runs the specified
vRealize Orchestrator workflow, but the request is rejected when you know that it was approved.
Solution

Review the workflow in vRealize Orchestrator.
a

Verify that the workflow ran without errors.

Verify that the expected values were returned for the approval and fieldValues parameters.

Review the request in vRealize Automation.
a

Click the Requests tab.

Open the rejected request.

Click Approval Status and review the Justification column for more information.
If an error occurred, information about the error is displayed as Justification data.

All the approval levels prior to this external approval level were approved, and this level should have been
approved, but was processed as rejected.
Cause

One possible cause is an internal error when vRealize Orchestrator tried to run the workflow. For
example, the workflow is missing or the vRealize Orchestrator server is not running.
Solution

Select Administration > Events > Event Logs.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Review the logs for messages related to approvals.

VMware, Inc.

Extending Machine Life Cycles
By Using vRealize Automation
Designer

You can inject custom logic into predetermined stages of the IaaS machine life cycle by using vRealize
Automation Designer to directly edit the state change workflow stubs and, optionally, call out to custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflows.
Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event broker workflow subscriptions. They are still
available, supported, and they can be used, but expect them to be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product compatibility, you should use the workflow subscriptions to
run custom workflows based on state changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow Subscriptions to
Extend vRealize Automation.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer Checklist
n

Installing and Configuring vRealize Automation Designer

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using vRealize Automation Designer

Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize
Automation Designer Checklist
The Extending Machine Life Cycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer Checklist provides a highlevel overview of the steps required to install and configure vRealize Automation Designer to customize
IaaS machine life cycles.
Table 5‑1. Extending Machine Lifecycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer Checklist
Task

Details

Download and install vRealize Automation
Designer.

Installing vRealize Automation Designer

Create a vRealize Automation endpoint for your
vRealize Orchestrator instance.

Create a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint

Associate your vRealize Orchestrator endpoint with
a machine blueprint.

Associate a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint with a Blueprint

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 5‑1. Extending Machine Lifecycles By Using vRealize Automation Designer Checklist
(Continued)
Task

Details

Using vRealize Automation Designer activities,
customize an IaaS Workflow stub.

Customize an IaaS Workflow

Note The workflow stubs are replaced by the event
broker workflow subscriptions. They are still available,
supported, and they can be used, but expect them to
be removed in a future version of
vRealize Automation. To ensure future product
compatibility, you should use the workflow
subscriptions to run custom workflows based on state
changes. See Chapter 4 Configuring Workflow
Subscriptions to Extend vRealize Automation.
Optionally, you can use vRealize Orchestrator
workflow activities to call out to custom
vRealize Orchestrator workflows.
After you create a custom state change workflow, a
tenant administrator or business group manager must
enable it for specific blueprints by adding a custom
property.

Configure a Blueprint to Call a State Change Workflow

Installing and Configuring vRealize Automation Designer
You can install vRealize Automation Designer on a Windows machine and configure it to communicate
with a remote Model Manager instance. If you are using IaaS workflows to call vRealize Orchestrator
workflows, you must also configure the vRealize Orchestrator instance in IaaS.

Installing vRealize Automation Designer
You can install vRealize Automation Designer on a Windows machine and configure it to communicate
with a remote Model Manager instance.

vRealize Automation Designer Prerequisites
vRealize Automation Designer is typically installed on a development machine rather than a server.
Supported Operating Systems
Supported operating systems for vRealize Automation Designer are listed in the vRealize Automation
Support Matrix on the VMware vRealize Automation Documentation page.
System Configuration Requirements
See the vRealize Automation Support Matrix for your vRealize Automation version for potential updates to
this information.
n

.NET Framework 4.5 must be installed.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

The vRealize Automation Designer host must have network access to the IaaS Website components
(specifically, the Model Manager Web component).

If the Model Manager is installed remotely, the certificate used for the Model Manager Web
component must be trusted on the vRealize Automation Designer host.

Download the vRealize Automation Designer Installer
You can download the vRealize Automation Designer installer from the vRealize Automation appliance.
Prerequisites
n

If you are using Internet Explorer, verify that Enhanced Security Configuration is not enabled. See
res://iesetup.dll/SoftAdmin.htm.

Procedure

Open a browser.

Navigate to the Windows installer download page by using the host name of the (https://vra-vahostname.domain.name:5480/installer/).

Click vRealize Automation Designer.

When prompted, save the installer.

What to do next

Install vRealize Automation Designer.

Install vRealize Automation Designer
The vRealize Automation Designer installer is packaged as Windows installation wizard.
Prerequisites

Download the vRealize Automation Designer Installer.
Procedure

Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the installer.

Right-click DesignCenter-Setup.exe and select Run as administrator.

On the Welcome page, click Next.

Read the License Agreement, select I accept the terms in the License Agreement, and click Next.

On the Custom Setup page, click Next.

Specify the fully qualified domain name and port of the Model Manager Web instance in
hostname:port format.
The default port is 443.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Specify the Model Manager service user credentials.

Click Next.
The installer validates the combination of Model Manager host and credentials by attempting to
access to the Model Manager. If an error is returned, you must provide the correct combination of
Model Manager host and credentials before proceeding.

Click Install.

10 Click Finish.
What to do next

You can launch the vRealize Automation Designer from the Windows Start menu by navigating to the
installation directory.

Configuring vRealize Orchestrator Endpoints
If you are using vRealize Automation workflows to call vRealize Orchestrator workflows, you must
configure the vRealize Orchestrator instance or server as an endpoint.
You can associate a vRealize Orchestrator endpoint with a machine blueprint to make sure that all of the
vRealize Orchestrator workflows for machines provisioned from that blueprint are run using that endpoint.
vRealize Automation by default includes an embedded vRealize Orchestrator instance. It is
recommended that you use this as your vRealize Orchestrator endpoint for running vRealize Automation
workflows in a test environment or creating a proof of concept.
You can also install a plug-in on an external vRealize Orchestrator server.

vCenter Orchestrator Integration Prerequisites
If you are using vRealize Automation workflows to execute vRealize Orchestrator workflows that have
input or output parameters of type VC:VirtualMachine, verify that you have the vRealize Orchestrator
workflows for converting virtual machine types between vRealize Orchestrator and IaaS.
The required workflows are included by default in vRealize Orchestrator 5.5 and later as part of the
vCenter plug-in.
If you are using vRealize Orchestrator 5.1, install the vRealize Automation integration package for
vRealize Orchestrator. Download the package com.vmware.library.vcenter.vcacintegration.package from thevRealize Orchestrator community site at
http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/server/vcenter/orchestrator. Import the package on each
vRealize Orchestrator server that you set up as an endpoint in IaaS.
For information about importing packages to vRealize Orchestrator, refer to the vRealize Orchestrator
documentation.

Create a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint
You can configure multiple endpoints to connect to different vRealize Orchestrator servers, but you must
configure a priority for each endpoint.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

When executing vRealize Orchestrator workflows, vRealize Automation tries the highest priority
vRealize Orchestrator endpoint first. If that endpoint is not reachable, then it proceeds to try the next
highest priority endpoint until a vRealize Orchestrator server is available to run the workflow.
Prerequisites
n

Store User Credentials.

Procedure

Select Infrastructure > Endpoints > Endpoints.

Select New > Orchestration > vCenter Orchestrator.

Enter a name and, optionally, a description.

Specify the endpoint priority.
a

Click New Property.

Enter VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.Priority in the Name text box.
The property name is case sensitive.

Enter an integer greater than or equal to 1 in the Value text box.
Lower value means higher priority.

d
6

Click the Save icon (

Click OK.

Associate a vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint with a Blueprint
You can specify a particular vRealize Orchestrator endpoint to use with a blueprint.
When IaaS runs a vRealize Orchestrator workflow for any machine provisioned from this blueprint, it
always uses the associated endpoint. If the endpoint is not reachable, the workflow fails.
Prerequisites

Select Design > Blueprints.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Create a new blueprint or edit an existing blueprint.
If you are editing an existing blueprint, the vRealize Orchestrator endpoint you specify only applies to
new machines provisioned from the updated blueprint. Existing machines provisioned from the
blueprint continue to use the highest priority endpoint unless you manually add this property to the
machine.

Click the Properties tab.
a

Click New Property.

Type VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName in the Name text box.
The property name is case sensitive.

Type the name of a vRealize Orchestrator endpoint in the Value text box.

Click the Save icon (

Click OK.

Customizing IaaS Workflows By Using vRealize
Automation Designer
VMware provides a number of workflows that you can customize using the vRealize Automation
Designer. These include state change workflows and menu operation workflows.
IaaS workflows are created using Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation 4, part of .NET Framework 4.
For information on Windows Workflow Foundation and workflow creation, refer to the Microsoft
documentation. vRealize Automation also provides several vRealize Automation Designer activities for
running and monitoring vRealize Orchestrator workflows.
The customizable workflow templates provided by VMware demonstrate best practices for structuring
workflows with separate sequences for initialization, custom logic, and finalization. The entire workflow is
wrapped in a TryCatch block for error handling. Any uncaught or rethrown exceptions are logged by the
Distributed Execution Manager that executes the workflow.
After you create a custom IaaS workflow, a blueprint author must enable the workflow on specific
blueprints.

The vRealize Automation Designer Console
The vRealize Automation Designer console provides a visual workflow editor for customizing IaaS
workflows.
You must have local administrator rights on the vRealize Automation Designer host (typically a
development machine) in order to launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

The Toolbox pane on the left provides access to the vRealize Automation workflow activity library. You
can drag activities from the toolbox onto the Designer pane to add them to a workflow. The Properties
pane displays the configurable properties of the currently selected activity on the Designer pane. This
interface is very similar to the workflow designer in Visual Studio.
The detail tabs at the bottom of the Designer pane enable you to display and edit variables within the
scope of the selected activity or arguments to the selected activity.
Note Variables and arguments are both specified as Visual Basic expressions. However, variable names
are not case sensitive while argument names are case sensitive. For information about valid arguments
for the IaaS workflow activities, see Chapter 8 vRealize Automation Workflow Activity Reference.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

The Imports tab displays imported namespaces from which you can select entity types to add to the
workflow.
The collapsible Information pane at the bottom of the console displays any errors in configuring activities
and provides access to the XAML representation of the workflow.

IaaS Workflow Types
You can customize two types of workflows by using vRealize Automation Designer: state change
workflows and menu operation workflows.
n

A state change workflow is executed when the master workflow transitions between states, for
example at a particular stage during the process of provisioning a new machine.

A menu operation workflow is executed when a user selects an option from the Action menu in the
service catalog or from the machine menu in the Infrastructure tab.

State Change Workflows
Creating a state change workflow enables you to trigger the execution of a workflow before the IaaS
master workflow enters a specific state.
For example, you can create custom workflows to integrate with an external database and record
information at different stages of the machine life cycle:
n

Create a custom workflow that runs before the master workflow enters the MachineProvisioned state
to record such information as machine owner, approvers and so on.

The following illustrations show the main states of the master workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

vRealize Automation Designer provides a customizable workflow for each of these states.
Table 5‑2. Customizable State Change Workflows
Master Workflow State

Customizable Workflow Name

BuildingMachine

WFStubBuildingMachine

Disposing

WFStubMachineDisposing

Expired

WFStubMachineExpired

MachineProvisioned

WFStubMachineProvisioned

RegisterMachine

WFStubMachineRegistered

UnprovisionMachine

WFStubUnprovisionMachine

Configuring a State Change Workflow Overview
You can customize a state change workflow by using vRealize Automation Designer. A blueprint author
can then enable it for specific blueprints.
The following is a high-level overview of the steps required to enable state change workflows:
1

A workflow developer customizes one of the state change workflow templates by using vRealize
Automation Designer. See Customize an IaaS Workflow.
Any IaaS workflow can call a vRealize Orchestrator workflow. For more information, see Using
vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Activities.

A tenant administrator or business group manager configures a blueprint to call the customized
workflow for machines provisioned from that blueprint. See Configure a Blueprint to Call a State
Change Workflow.

Menu Operation Workflows
A menu operation workflow is executed when a user selects an option from the Actions menu in the
service catalog or the machine menu in the Infrastructure tab.
For example, you can create a custom workflow that enables a user to create a support ticket related to a
machine by selecting Raise Support Issue from the machine menu.
vRealize Automation Designer provides templates for customizing menu operation workflows.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

In addition to the workflow definition, a menu operation workflow depends on an operation configuration
file, which defines the aspects of the custom menu option such as the display text, which roles have
access to it, and the machine states for which the operation is available.
Note An XaaS architect can define custom actions for any catalog item by using the XaaS. Creating
custom actions for IaaS machines other than those provisioned by using vSphere or vCloud Director
requires vRealize Automation 6.1 or later.

Configuring a Menu Operation Workflow Overview
You can customize a menu operation workflow by using vRealize Automation Designer and the CloudUtil
command-line utility. A blueprint author can then enable it for specific blueprints.
The following is a high-level overview of the steps required to enable menu operation workflows:
1

A workflow developer customizes one of the menu operation workflow templates by using vRealize
Automation Designer. See Customize an IaaS Workflow.
Any IaaS workflow can call a vRealize Orchestrator workflow. For more information, see Using
vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Activities.

A workflow developer configures the menu operation in the Model Manager. See Configure a Menu
Operation.

A workflow developer registers the new menu operation with the service catalog. See Register New
Menu Operations with the Service Catalog.

A tenant administrator or business group manager configures a blueprint to enable the menu
operation for machines provisioned from that blueprint. See Configure a Blueprint to Enable a Menu
Operation Workflow.

If the menu operation is intended to be used in the service catalog, it must also be entitled to users. For
more information, see Tenant Administration.

Customize an IaaS Workflow
vRealize Automation Designer enables you to edit the customizable workflows and update workflows in
the Model Manager.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer.
Procedure

Click Load.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Select the workflow that you want to customize.
Option

Description

WFMachineMenuN

Customizable menu operation workflow

WFStubBuildingMachine

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
BuildingMachine state

WFStubMachineDisposing

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
Disposing state

WFStubMachineExpired

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
Expired state

WFStubMachineProvisioned

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
MachineProvisioned state

WFStubMachineRegistered

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
RegisterMachine state

WFStubUnprovisionMachine

Customizable state change workflow that executes before a machine enters the
UnprovisionMachine state

Click OK.
The workflow displays in the Designer pane.

Customize the workflow by dragging activities from the Toolbox to the Designer pane and configuring
their arguments.

When you are finished editing the workflow, update the workflow in the Model Manager by clicking
Send.
The workflow is saved and appears as a new revision in the list the next time you load a workflow.
You can access an earlier version of a workflow at any time. See Revert to a Previous Revision of a
Workflow.

Using vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Activities
You can use vRealize Automation Designer activities to call vRealize Orchestrator workflows either
synchronously or asynchronously.
A vRealize Orchestrator endpoint is specified in one of the following ways:
n

VirtualMachineId is the name of the variable representing the virtual machine ID. A virtual machine
with this ID is selected and the value that is retrieved from the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName custom property for a virtual machine is used as the
vRealize Orchestrator endpoint name.

GetVcoEndpointByManagementEndpoint returns the value of a custom property on a specified
ManagementEndpoint object. If the CustomPropertyName is not specified, the value of the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName property is used.

GetVcoEndpointByHost returns the value of a custom property on a specified host. If the
CustomPropertyName is not specified, the value of the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName property is used.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Synchronous Execution
The InvokeVcoWorkflow activity calls a vRealize Orchestrator workflow and blocks further execution of
its parent IaaS workflow until the vRealize Orchestrator workflow completes. The activity returns the
output parameters for the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.
In addition, the synchronous execution supports the following property:
n

WorkflowTimeout is a timeout value in seconds. If the vRealize Orchestrator workflow does not
finish in the specified time, an exception is generated rather than blocking the workflow until a
response is returned. If no value is defined or a value of zero is supplied, the timeout is not activated.
The workflow status is checked every 10 seconds during that period unless the polling time is
modified for the endpoint by specifying a value in the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.PollingInterval custom property.

Asynchronous Execution
The InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity is a “fire and forget” activity that calls a vRealize Orchestrator
workflow and continues to execute activities in the IaaS workflow without waiting for the
vRealize Orchestrator workflow to complete.
The activity returns either a unique workflow execution token that can be used to monitor the workflow or
an error if the REST API call to the vRealize Orchestrator server failed (for example, if the server could
not be reached).
Two additional activities are available for use with this activity:
n

GetVcoWorkflowExecutionStatus enables you to poll the vRealize Orchestrator workflow for its
status.

WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion enables you to block further execution of the IaaS workflow until
the vRealize Orchestrator workflow has completed or timed out. You can use this activity to retrieve
the results of a vRealize Orchestrator workflow that you execute asynchronously.

Call a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow
You can use either the InvokeVcoWorkflow or the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity to call a
vRealize Orchestrator workflow from an IaaS workflow.
Some vRealize Orchestrator workflows require user interaction during execution. For these workflows, the
user prompt appears in the vRealize Orchestrator client rather than in the vRealize Automation console,
so it is not apparent to the end user in vRealize Automation that a workflow is waiting for input.
To avoid workflows that block on user input, do not call vRealize Orchestrator workflows that require user
interaction from IaaS workflows.
Procedure

In vRealize Automation Designer, open a workflow and navigate to the context where you want to call
a vRealize Orchestrator workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Drag the InvokeVcoWorkflow or the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity into the Designer pane.

Select the vCenter Orchestrator workflow to execute.
a

Under General, click the ellipsis next to Workflow.

In the Browse for vCO workflow dialog box, select a workflow.

Click OK.

The Inputs and Outputs sections display the input and output parameters of the selected workflow.
4

In the Properties pane, specify one of the following target parameters.
n

VirtualMachineId is the name of the variable representing the virtual machine ID. A virtual
machine with this ID is selected and the value that is retrieved from the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.EndpointName custom property for a virtual machine is used as
the vRealize Orchestrator endpoint name.

VcoEndpointName is the endpoint name that is used to run the workflow. If specified, this value
overrides the VirtualMachineId value when selecting the vRealize Orchestrator endpoint.

WorkflowTimeout is a timeout value in seconds. If the vRealize Orchestrator workflow does not
finish in the specified time, an exception is generated rather than blocking the workflow until a
response is returned. If no value is defined or a value of zero is supplied, the timeout is not
activated. The workflow status is checked every 10 seconds during that period unless the polling
time is modified for the endpoint by specifying a value in the
VMware.VCenterOrchestrator.PollingInterval custom property.

Specify the parameters for the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.
n

Enter the values in the activity in the Designer pane.

In the Properties pane, click the ellipsis next to InputParameters or OutputParameters to open
the Parameters dialog box. This dialog box displays the IaaS type of each parameter. If the
parameter type appears in bold, the parameter is required.

Point to the text box for any parameter to view a tooltip indicating the vRealize Orchestrator type.
If you are using the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity, the output parameters of the
vRealize Orchestrator workflow are displayed with their corresponding types for informational
purposes, but you cannot specify an expression for the parameter in this activity.
What to do next

To retrieve the results of a workflow that you execute asynchronously, use the
WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity.

Get the Status of a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow
You can check the status of a vRealize Orchestrator workflow that was called with the
InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity using the GetVcoWorkflowExecutionStatus activity.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Prerequisites

Call a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow using the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.
Procedure

In vRealize Automation Designer, open a workflow where you have used the
InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.

Navigate to the context where you want to check the status of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.

Drag the GetVcoWorkflowExecutionStatus activity into the Designer pane.

In the Properties pane, specify the name of the variable representing the virtual machine ID in
VirtualMachineId.
The customizable workflows contain a variable by default named virtualMachineId that is set
during initialization.

Create a variable of type DynamicOps.VcoModel.Common.VcoWorkflowExecutionToken.

Specify the name of the token variable as the executionToken output parameter on the
InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.

Specify the same variable name as the WorkflowExecutionToken property of the
GetVcoWorkflowExecutionStatus activity.

Create a variable of type string.

Specify the name of the string variable as the VcoWorkflowExecutionStatus property of the
GetVcoWorkflowExecutionStatus activity.

When the workflow runs, the value of the VcoWorkflowExecutionStatus variable is set to the status of
the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.

Get the Results of a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow
If you want to call a vRealize Orchestrator workflow asynchronously and then retrieve the results of the
completed workflow at a later point, you can use the WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity.
The WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity blocks execution of the IaaS workflow until the
vRealize Orchestrator workflow has completed or a timeout is reached. The activity returns the results of
the vRealize Orchestrator workflow if it completes successfully, an error if the workflow fails, or null if the
workflow times out.
Prerequisites

Call a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow using the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.
Procedure

In vRealize Automation Designer, open a workflow where you have used the
InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.

Navigate to the context where you want to retrieve the results of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Drag the WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity into the Designer pane.

Create a variable of type DynamicOps.VcoModel.Common.VcoWorkflowExecutionToken.

Specify the name of the token variable as the executionToken output parameter on the
InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity.

Specify the same variable name as the WorkflowExecutionToken property of the
WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity.

Retrieve the output of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow.
a
b

Create a variable of type DynamicOps.VcoModel.Common.VcoWorkflowExecutionResult.
Specify the name of the results variable as the WorkflowOutput property of the
WaitForVcoWorkflowCompletion activity.
When the workflow runs, the value of the variable is set to the results of the vRealize Orchestrator
workflow, if any.

vRealize Orchestrator and IaaS Object Types
When you use either the InvokeVcoWorkflow or the InvokeVcoWorkflowAsync activity in vRealize
Automation Designer, input and output properties for the activity are automatically populated based on
the parameters of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow that you select.
vRealize Orchestrator primitive types are converted into the following IaaS types:
Table 5‑3. vRealize Orchestrator and IaaS Object Types
vRealize Orchestrator Type

IaaS Type

string

boolean

bool

number

decimal

SecureString

string

Text

string

Array/T

Array

Properties

Dictionary

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 5‑3. vRealize Orchestrator and IaaS Object Types (Continued)
vRealize Orchestrator Type

IaaS Type

Date

DateTime

VC:VirtualMachine

VirtualMachine

Note If you are using vRealize Orchestrator 5.1, you must have installed the vRealize Automation
integration package to enable the conversion of VC:VirtualMachine object types to VirtualMachine.
All other vRealize Orchestrator types are converted to the IaaS type VcoSdkObject.

Configure a Blueprint to Call a State Change Workflow
After you create a custom state change workflow, a tenant administrator or business group manager must
enable it for specific blueprints by adding a custom property.
Each state change workflow is associated with a specific custom property. When a machine is entering a
state with a corresponding state change workflow, IaaS checks to see if the machine has the
corresponding custom property; if so, the associated workflow is executed. For example, if a machine has
the custom property ExternalWFStubs.MachineProvisioned, the WFStubMachineProvisioned
workflow is executed before the master workflow enters the MachineProvisioned state.
While custom properties can be applied to a machine from a number of sources, typically the property for
a state change workflow is specified in a blueprint, enabling the workflow for all machines provisioned
from that blueprint.
Prerequisites

Select Design > Blueprints.

Point to the name of a blueprint and click Edit.

Click the Properties tab.

Click New Property.

Type the name of the custom property associated with the workflow you want to enable in the Name
text box.
Customizable Workflow Name

Associated Property Name

WFStubMachineProvisioned

ExternalWFStubs.MachineProvisioned

WFStubBuildingMachine

ExternalWFStubs.BuildingMachine

WFStubMachineDisposing

ExternalWFStubs.MachineDisposing

WFStubUnprovisionMachine

ExternalWFStubs.UnprovisionMachine

WFStubMachineRegistered

ExternalWFStubs.MachineRegistered

WFStubMachineExpired

ExternalWFStubs.MachineExpired

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Leave the Value text box blank.
The workflow depends on the presence of the property, not on any particular value.

Click the Save icon (

Click OK.

The workflow is now enabled for new machines that are provisioned from this blueprint.

Configuring a Menu Operation Workflow
After you customize a menu operation workflow, additional configuration is required before it is available
to users in the vRealize Automation console.

Configure a Menu Operation
To configure a menu operation, you create an operation configuration file and install it in the Model
Manager.
Procedure
1

Create an Operation Configuration File
The operation configuration file is required for menu operation workflows. It specifies the aspects of
the custom menu option in the vRealize Automation console such as the display text, which roles
have access to the option, and the machine states for which the option is available.

Install an Operation in the Model Manager
You install an operation in the Model Manager by using the CloudUtil command-line utility.

What to do next

If the menu operation is intended to be used in the service catalog, it must be registered with the service
catalog so that it can be entitled to users. Register New Menu Operations with the Service Catalog.
Create an Operation Configuration File
The operation configuration file is required for menu operation workflows. It specifies the aspects of the
custom menu option in the vRealize Automation console such as the display text, which roles have
access to the option, and the machine states for which the option is available.
Procedure

Create a new XML file.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Create the root element customOperations.

The element must specify the XML namespace
http://www.dynamicops.com/schemas/2009/OperationConfig/.
3

For each operation you want to define, add an operation element within customOperations.

The operation element takes the following attributes:

Attribute

Description

name

The name of the workflow that this operation executes.

displayName

A descriptive label for the option in the machine menu.

Specify the roles to grant access to the menu operation.
a

Add the authorizedTasks element.

For each role that you want to grant access to the operation, add a task element, for example:

VRM User Custom Event
VRM Support Custom Event
Group Administrator Custom Event
Enterprise Administrator Custom Event
VRM Administrator Custom Event

The valid contents of the task element are as follows:
Element content

Description

VRM User Custom Event

Grants access to the operation for all users.

VRM Support Custom Event

Grants access to the operation for support users.

Group Administrator Custom Event

Grants access to the operation for business group managers.

Enterprise Administrator Custom
Event

Grants access to the operation for fabric administrators.

VRM Administrator Custom Event

Grants access to the operation for IaaS administrators only.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

(Optional) Specify the machine states for which the operation is available.
a

Add the machineStates element.

For each state in which the operation should be available, add a state element.

On
Off

The value may be any of the possible machine states. For a full list of machine states, see IaaS
Configuration for Virtual Platforms, IaaS Configuration for Physical Machines, or IaaS
Configuration for Cloud Platforms.
If the element is omitted, the operation is available for all machine states.
The following is an example of a complete operation configuration file:

VRM User Custom Event
VRM Support Custom Event
Group Administrator Custom Event
Enterprise Administrator Custom Event
VRM Administrator Custom Event

On
Off

Install an Operation in the Model Manager
You install an operation in the Model Manager by using the CloudUtil command-line utility.
Prerequisites

Create an Operation Configuration File.
Procedure

Open an elevated command prompt.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Run the CloudUtil.exe command with the following arguments.
n

CloudUtil.exe Operation-Create -c

Optionally, you can specify a Model Manager host and request a stack trace in case of error.
CloudUtil.exe Operation-Create -c
--repository -v

What to do next

Register New Menu Operations with the Service Catalog
After installing new menu operations, the workflow developer must register them with the service catalog
so they can be entitled to users.
Prerequisites
n

Configure a Menu Operation.

Procedure

Open an elevated command prompt.

Navigate to the IaaS root installation directory.
In a typical installation, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\vCAC.

Navigate to Server\Model Manager Data\Cafe.

Execute the following command:
Vcac-Config.exe RegisterCatalogTypes -v

What to do next

A tenant administrator or business group manager must entitle the new action before it is available to
users in the service catalog. For more information, see Tenant Administration.

Configure a Blueprint to Enable a Menu Operation Workflow
You enable a menu operation workflow for machines provisioned from a specific blueprint by updating the
security configuration for the blueprint.
Prerequisites

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Procedure

Select Design > Blueprints.

Point to the name of a blueprint and click Edit.

Click the Actions tab.

Select the checkbox that corresponds to the operation that you want to enable.

Click OK.

The menu operation is now enabled for machines provisioned from this blueprint and available to all user
roles specified in the operation configuration file.
What to do next

If the menu operation is intended to be used in the service catalog, it must also be entitled to users. For
more information, see Tenant Administration.

Revert to a Previous Revision of a Workflow
The Load Workflow dialog displays all revisions of a workflow in the Model Manager so that you have
access to the full version history of the workflows.
Each time you send a workflow to the Model Manager, the Revision and Time Stamp are updated.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.
Procedure

Click Load.

Select the revision of the workflow that you want to revert to.
The original workflows provided by VMware are revision 0 (zero).

Click OK.

Update the workflow in the Model Manager by clicking Send.

The earlier revision becomes the latest revision in the Model Manager. For example, if you have created
revisions 1 and 2 of a workflow, then load and save revision 0, revisions 0 and 3 are now identical and
you have returned the workflow to the version provided by VMware.

VMware, Inc.

Workflows and Distributed
Execution Management

You can use skills to restrict execution of workflows to specific Distributed Execution Managers.
A skill is similar to a tag that you can apply to both workflows and DEM Worker instances. If a workflow is
not associated with any skills, any DEM Worker can execute it. If a workflow is associated with one or
more skills, then only DEM Workers that are associated with all of the same skills can execute it.
Skills are useful when a particular workflow requires a DEM installed on a host with specific prerequisites.
For example, you may want to restrict cloud provisioning workflows to a specific DEM running on a host
with the required network access to Amazon URLs.
Skills can also be used to associate workflows with a particular data center location. For example, you
might install one DEM in your Boston data center and another in your London data center, and use skills
to direct certain operations to one data center or the other.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

Associate Workflows and DEM Workers by Using Skills

Remove Associations between Skills and DEM Workers

Remove Associations between Skills and Workflows

Remove a Skill

Associate Workflows and DEM Workers by Using Skills
You associate workflows with a specific DEM Worker or set of Worker instances by adding a skill to the
Model Manager and then associating the skill with one or more workflows and DEM Workers.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.
Procedure

On the ribbon, click Manage Skills.

In the text field at the upper left of the Manage Skills dialog, type the name of a new skill and click
the Add button.
The skill name must be unique. If the name of the new skill matches the name of an existing skill, the
Add button is unavailable.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Select the name of the skill in the list on the left.

Associate the skill with one or more DEM Workers.

Click the Add icon (

In the Select DEMs dialog, select one or more DEM Worker instances.

Click OK.

) next to Distributed Execution Managers.

Associate the skill with one or more Workflows.
a

Click the Add icon (

In the Select Workflows dialog, select one or more workflows.

Click OK.

) next to Workflows.

The workflows associated with this skill can only be executed by the DEM Workers that are
associated with this skill.
6

When you are done adding skills and associating them with DEM workers and workflows, click OK to
close the Manage Skills dialog and save your changes to the Model Manager.

Remove Associations between Skills and DEM Workers
When you remove the association between a skill and a DEM Worker, that Worker instance can no longer
execute the workflows associated with the skill.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.
Procedure

On the ribbon, click Manage Skills.

In the Manage Skills dialog, select the name of the skill in the list on the left.

Select the name of one or more DEM Worker instances from the Distributed Execution Managers list
and click the Remove icon (

Click OK to close the Manage Skills dialog and save your changes to the Model Manager.

Remove Associations between Skills and Workflows
When you remove the association between a skill and a workflow, that workflow is no longer restricted to
the DEM Workers that are associated with the same skill.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.
Procedure

On the ribbon, click Manage Skills.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

In the Manage Skills dialog, select the name of the skill in the list on the left.

Select the name of one or more workflows from the Workflows list and click the Remove icon (

Click OK to close the Manage Skills dialog and save your changes to the Model Manager.

Remove a Skill
Removing a skill also removes its associations to any DEM Workers and workflows.
Prerequisites

Launch the vRealize Automation Designer console.
Procedure

On the ribbon, click Manage Skills.

In the Manage Skills dialog, select the name of the skill in the list on the left.

Click the Remove icon (

) at the top of the list of skills.

After you confirm that you want to delete the skill, its name appears dimmed to indicate that it is
marked for deletion.
4

Click OK to close the Manage Skills dialog and save your changes to the Model Manager or Cancel
if you do not want to delete the skill and its associations with DEMs and workflows.

VMware, Inc.

CloudUtil Command Reference

This section provides a reference to the commands in the CloudUtil command line interface.
CloudUtil is the command line interface for the vRealize Automation Designer. You run the commands on
the Windows machine on which you are running the designer. The default installation location on the
Windows machine is C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\vCAC\Design Center.
Note In the CloudUtil commands, the Model Manager is referred to as the repository and a Distributed
Execution Manager (DEM) is referred to as an agent.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

DEM Commands

File Commands

Operation Commands

Skill Commands

Workflow Commands

Import Commands

DEM Commands
The DEM commands enable you to view a list of Distributed Execution Managers registered with the
Model Manager and add or remove associations between skills and DEMs.

DEM-Add-Skills
Associates skills with a registered Distributed Execution Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe DEM-Add-Skills -n|--name -s|--skills [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

DEM-Add-Skills Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name of a registered Distributed Execution Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-s | - -skills

Comma-delimited list of skills to associate with this Distributed Execution Manager.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Note The skills must already exist in the Model Manager. See Skill-Install.

DEM-List
Lists all Distributed Execution Managers registered with the Model Manager and their associated skills.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe DEM-List [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

DEM-List Arguments
Argument

Description

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

DEM-Remove-Skills
Removes association between skills and a Distributed Execution Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe DEM-Remove-Skills -n|--name -s|--skills [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

DEM-Remove-Skills Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name of a registered Distributed Execution Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Argument

Description

-s | - -skills

Comma-delimited list of skills to remove from this Distributed Execution Manager.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

File Commands
The File commands enable you to store and manage files (typically scripts) in the Model Manager.

File-Export
Exports a file from the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-Export -n|--name -o|--output [-i|--iteration ] [-repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-Export Arguments
Argument

Description

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

-n | - -name

Friendly name of the file in the Model Manager.

-o | - -output

Path for file output.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

File-Import
Imports a file into the Model Manager.

File-Import Arguments
Argument

Description

-d | - -description

(Optional) Description of the file.

-f | - -filename

Path to a file to import into the Model Manager.

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Friendly name to assign to the file in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

File-List
Lists all files imported into the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-List [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-List Arguments
Argument

Description

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

File-Remove-All
Removes all revisions for a given version of a file from the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-Remove-All -n|--name [-i|--iteration ]
[--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-Remove-All Arguments
Table 7‑1.
Argument

Description

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

-n | - -name

Friendly name of the file in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

File-Remove-Rev
Removes a specific revision of a file from the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-Remove-Rev -n|--name -r|--revision [-i|--iteration ]
[--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-Export Arguments
Argument

Description

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

-n | - -name

Friendly name of the file in the Model Manager.

-r | - -revision

Revision of the file to remove.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

File-Rollback
Reverts a file in the Model Manager to a specified revision.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-Rollback -n|--name -r|--revision [-i|--iteration ] [-repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-Rollback Arguments
Table 7‑2.
Argument

Description

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

-n | - -name

Friendly name of the file in the Model Manager.

-r | - -revision

Revision of the file to revert to.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

File-Update
Updates a previously imported file in the Model Manager with a new revision.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe File-Update -n|--name -f|--filename [-i|--iteration ] [-repository ] [-v|--verbose]

File-Update Arguments
Argument

Description

-f | - -filename

Path to the updated file.

-i | - -iteration

(Optional) Version string of the file in the Model Manager. Default is 0.0.

-n | - -name

Friendly name of the file in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Operation Commands
The Operation commands enable you to manage custom operations in the Model Manager.

Operation-Create
Creates a custom operation or set of operations that can be performed on a machine based on an
operation definition file.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Operation-Create -c|--operationConfig [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Operation-Create Arguments
Argument

Description

-c | - -operationConfig

Path to an operation definition file (XML).

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Operation-Delete
Deletes a custom operation from the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Operation-Delete -n|--name [--force] [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Operation-Delete Arguments
Argument

Description

- -force

(Optional) Force deletion of the operation.

-n | - -name

Name of the custom operation in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Operation-List
Lists all custom operations in the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Operation-List [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Operation-List Arguments
Argument

Description

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Skill Commands
The Skill commands enable you to manage the skills associated with Distributed Execution Managers
and workflows.

Skill-Install
Installs a skill in the Model Manager.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Skill-Install -n|--name [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Skill-Install Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name for the skill in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Skill-List
List all skills installed in the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Skill-List [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Skill-List Arguments
Argument

Description

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Skill-Uninstall
Uninstall a skill from the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Skill-Uninstall -n|--name [--repository ]
[-v|--verbose]

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Skill-Uninstall Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name of the skill to uninstall from the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Note A skill cannot be uninstalled if it is associated with either a Distributed Execution Manager or a
workflow. See DEM-Remove-Skills or Workflow-Remove-Skills.

Workflow Commands
The Workflow commands enable you to manage customizable IaaS workflows in the Model Manager, as
well as the skills associated with any workflows.

Workflow-Add-Skills
Associate skills with a workflow in the Model Manager.
CloudUtil.exe Workflow-Add-Skills -n|--name -s|--skills [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Table 7‑3. Workflow-Add-Skills Arguments
Argument

Description

Name

Name of a workflow in the Model Manager.

Skills

Comma-delimited list of skills to associate with this workflow.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Note The skills must already exist in the Model Manager. See Skill-Install.

Workflow-List
List all workflows installed in the Model Manager and their associated skills.
CloudUtil.exe Workflow-List [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 7‑4. Workflow-List Arguments
Argument

Description

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Workflow-Remove-Skills
Removes association between skills and a workflow in the Model Manager.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Workflow-Remove-Skills -n|--name -s|--skills [--repository
] [-v|--verbose]

Workflow-Remove-Skills Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name of a workflow in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-s | - -skills

Comma-delimited list of skills to remove from this workflow.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Workflow-Rollback
Reverts a workflow to a given revision.

Synopsis
CloudUtil.exe Workflow-Rollback -n|--name -r|--revision [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Workflow-Rollback Arguments
Argument

Description

-n | - -name

Name of the workflow in the Model Manager.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Argument

Description

-r | - -revision

Revision of the workflow to revert to.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Workflow-Update
Update a customizable workflow with a new revision.
CloudUtil.exe Workflow-Update -f|--filename -n|--name [-d|--description
] [--repository ] [-v|--verbose]

Table 7‑5. Workflow-Update Arguments
Argument

Description

File Name

Path to a file (XAML) containing the updated workflow.

Name

Name of the workflow to update.

Description

(Optional) Description of workflow.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example, http://hostname/repository. Default is
specified in the CloudUtil config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just the exception message.

Import Commands
The import commands enable you to import one or more virtual machines into a vRealize Automation
deployment.

Machine-BulkRegisterExport
Creates a CSV data file that is used to import virtual machines to a vRealize Automation deployment.

Machine-BulkRegisterExport Arguments
Table 7‑6.
Argument

Description

-b | - -blueprint

(Optional) Include blueprint name.

-e | - -exportNames

(Optional) Export names instead of GUIDs.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 7‑6. (Continued)
Argument

Description

-f | - -filename

Specify the name of the CSV data file containing a list of
machine names, for example, filename.csv. File is saved in
the current path by default. You can also specify the complete
path to a preferred directory.

-g | - -group

(Optional) Specify business group name, for example,
Engineering.

-i | - -ignore

(Optional) Ignore invalid arguments.

-m | - -managed

(Optional) Export managed virtual machines. The default is
export unmanaged virtual machines.

-n | - -resourceName

(Optional) To filter by resource name, specify the name of the
Compute Resource or Endpoint.

-o | - -owner

(Optional) Specify owner of imported virtual machine, for
example, jsmith.

-p | - -properties

(Optional) Export properties for managed virtual machines.

-r | - -resourceType

(Optional) To filter by resource type, specify 1 for Compute
Resource or 2 for Endpoint .

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example,
http://hostname/repository. Default is specified in the CloudUtil
config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-sn | - -sourcename

(Optional) Specify the name of the cluster or endpoint.

-st | - -sourcetype

(Optional) Specify the source type as Cluster or Endpoint.

-t | - -machinetype

(Optional) Specify machine type to be exported, for example,
Virtual, Physical, Cloud, AppService, vApp.

-u | - -user

Specify the Fabric Administrator who performs the bulk
registration.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just
the exception message.

Machine-BulkRegisterImport
Imports one or more virtual machines to a target vRealize Automation deployment.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Machine-BulkRegisterImport Arguments
Table 7‑7.
Argument

Description

-b | - -batch

(Optional) Batch size.

-d | - -delay

(Optional) Specify processing delay time in this format:
hh:mm:ss, for example, 02:20:10.

-f | - -filename

Specify the CSV data file name containing the list of machine
names. For example, filename.csv.

-h | --humanreadable

(Optional) Input file contains the virtual machine names and not
the GUIDs.

-i | - -ignore

(Optional) Ignore registered or managed virtual machines.

-n | - -name

Specify the name of the work queue to perform the import to the
target vRealize Automation.

- -repository

(Optional) The root URI of the Model Manager, for example,
http://hostname/repository. Default is specified in the CloudUtil
config file in the repositoryAddress key under the
section.

-s | - -skipUser

(Optional) Sets a machine's owner to the value listed in the
Owner column of the CSV data file without verifying that the
user exists. Selecting this option can decrease the time required
for import.

-t | - -time

Specify the workflow start time in the format MM/DD/YYYY
hh:mm GMT, for example, 04/18/2014 10:01 GMT. The specified
start time is assumed to be the server's local time and not the
local time of the user's workstation.

-u | - -user

Specify the Fabric Administrator who performs the bulk
registration.

-v | - -verbose

(Optional) If an error occurs, outputs a stack trace instead of just
the exception message.

whatif

(Optional) Set to validate the CSV file but do not import any
virtual machines.

VMware, Inc.

vRealize Automation Workflow
Activity Reference

VMware provides a library of workflow activities with vRealize Automation Designer for use in customizing
workflows.
Note The CDK is deprecated beginning with vRealize Automation 7.0. You can use the
vRealize Orchestrator workflows to address use cases that you previously addressed with CDK.
Five categories of Windows Workflow Foundation activities are also included in vRealize Automation
Designer, including Control Flow, Flowchart, Primitives, Collection and Error Handling.
This section provides a reference to the IaaS workflow activities included with vRealize Automation
Designer in the DynamicOps.Repository.Activities and DynamicOps.Cdk.Activities
namespaces. Activities related to calling vRealize Orchestrator workflows are described in Using vRealize
Orchestrator Workflow Activities.
Note In the IaaS activity library, the Model Manager is referred to as the repository.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n

DynamicOps.Repository.Activities

DynamicOps.Cdk.Activities

DynamicOps.Repository.Activities
The DynamicOps.Repository.Activities namespace contains basic workflow activities for IaaS
workflows.
Note The CDK is deprecated beginning with vRealize Automation 7.0. You can use the
vRealize Orchestrator workflows to address use cases that you previously addressed with CDK.

AddLink
Adds the specified link to the set of objects the DataServiceContext is tracking.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 8‑1. AddLink Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext to which to add the link.

Source

Object

The source object for the new link.

SourceProperty

String

The name of the navigation property on the source object that
returns the related object.

Target

Object

The object related to the source object by the new link.

AddObject
Adds the specified object to the set of objects the DataServiceContext is tracking.
Table 8‑2. AddObject Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext to which to add the object.

Instance

Object

The object to be tracked by the DataServiceContext.

AttachTo
Notifies the DataServiceContext to start tracking the specified resource.
Table 8‑3. AttachTo Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext that should track the resource.

Instance

Object

The resource to be tracked by the DataServiceContext. The
resource is attached in the Unchanged state.

CreateRepositoryServiceContext
Creates a context for a model loaded into the Model Manager.
When you add this activity to a workflow in vRealize Automation Designer, you must select a class that
inherits from the RepositoryServiceContext class.
Table 8‑4. CreateRepositoryServiceContext Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Uri

URI

(Optional) Root URI to use in connecting to the model.

Username

String

(Optional) Username to use in connecting to the context.

Table 8‑5. CreateRepositoryServiceContext Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Result

RepositoryServiceContext

The specific type returned is an instance of the class selected
when the activity was added to the workflow.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

DeleteLink
Changes the state of the link to deleted in the list of links being tracked by the DataServiceContext.
Table 8‑6. DeleteLink Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext from which to delete the link.

Source

Object

The source object in the link to be marked for deletion.

SourceProperty

String

The name of the navigation property on the source object that is
used to access the target object.

Target

Object

The target object involved in the link that is bound to the source
object. The target object must be of the type identified by the
source property or a subtype.

DeleteObject
Changes the state of the specified object to be deleted in the DataServiceContext.
Table 8‑7. DeleteObject Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext from which to delete the resource.

Instance

Object

The tracked entity to be changed to the deleted state.

InvokeRepositoryWorkflow
Executes a workflow installed in the Model Manager.
Table 8‑8. InvokeRepositoryWorkflow Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

WorkflowType

WorkflowDefinition entity

The workflow to execute.

WorkflowInputs

Dictionary

(Optional) Inputs to the workflow.

CallingInstance

WorkflowInstance entity

(Optional) The workflow that calls the executed workflow and to
which it will return.

LoadProperty
Loads deferred content for a specified property from the data service.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 8‑9. LoadProperty Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext from which to load the property.

Instance

Object

The entity that contains the property to load.

InstanceProperty

String

The name of the property of the specified entity to load.

SaveChanges
Saves the changes that the DataServiceContext is tracking to storage.
Table 8‑10. SaveChanges Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext that is tracking the changes to save.

SetLink
Notifies the DataServiceContext that a new link exists between the objects specified and that the link is
represented by the property specified in the SourceProperty argument.
Table 8‑11. SetLink Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext to notify of the link.

Source

Object

The source object for the new link.

SourceProperty

String

The property on the source object that identifies the target object
of the new link.

Target

Object

The child object involved in the new link to initialize by calling
this method. The target object must be a subtype of the type
identified by SourceProperty. If Target is set to null, the call
represents a delete link operation.

UpdateObject
Changes the state of the specified object in the DataServiceContext to Modified.
Table 8‑12. UpdateObject Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

DataServiceContext

RepositoryServiceContext

The DataServiceContext tracking the entity to update.

Instance

Object

The tracked entity to be assigned to the Modified state.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

DynamicOps.Cdk.Activities
The DynamicOps.Cdk.Activities namespace contains advanced activities for IaaS workflows.
Note The CDK is deprecated beginning with vRealize Automation 7.0. You can use the
vRealize Orchestrator workflows to address use cases that you previously addressed with CDK.

ExecutePowerShellScript
Executes a PowerShell script stored in the Model Manager under the specified name.
Before you use the ExecutePowerShellScript activity, you must first load the script that you want to
execute into the Model Manager using the CloudUtil File-Import command.
Table 8‑13. ExecutePowerShellScript Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

ScriptName

String

Name in the Model Manager of the script to execute.

ScriptVersion

Object

(Optional) Version in the Model Manager of the script to execute.
Default is 0.0.

MachineId

Guid

(Optional) If specified, the machine is loaded and all its
properties are passed to the script.

Arguments

Dictionary

Additional arguments to pass to the script. If MachineId is
specified and there is a machine property with the same name
as an argument (case-insensitive), the value of the machine
property overrides the value of the argument.

PSModules

IEnumerable

(Optional) Modules loaded into the PowerShell runtime during
command execution.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Table 8‑14. ExecutePowerShellScript Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Output

Collection

Output of script if any. Throws exception on error.

If you receive the error message Type PSObject is not defined in the vRealize Automation Designer
console when you are dealing with the output of ExecutePowerShellScript, perform the following
steps:
1

Click Imports in the lower left corner of the Designer pane.

Select the System.Management.Automation assembly.

ExecuteSshScript
Executes an SSH script stored in the model manager under the specified name.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

Before you use the ExecuteSshScript activity, you must first load the script that you want to execute
into the Model Manager using the CloudUtil File-Import command.
Table 8‑15. ExecuteSshScript Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

ScriptName

String

Name in the Model Manager of the script to execute.

Host

String

Server name against which to execute the script.

Username

String

Username to use in connecting to the host.

Password

String

Password to use in connecting to the host.

ScriptVersion

Object

(Optional) Version in the Model Manager of the script to execute.
Default is 0.0.

Timeout

TimeSpan

(Optional) Period of time after which execution of the script times
out. Default is 30 minutes.

Table 8‑16. ExecuteSshScript Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

EnvironmentVariables

Dictionary

Script execution result if any.

GetMachineName
Gets a machine’s name.
Table 8‑17. GetMachineName Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

The machine whose name to retrieve.

Table 8‑18. GetMachineName Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineName

String

Name of the machine identifed by MachineId.

GetMachineOwner
Gets the username of a machine’s owner.
Table 8‑19. GetMachineOwner Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

The machine whose owner to retrieve.

Table 8‑20. GetMachineOwner Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Owner

String

Description
Owner of the machine identified by MachineId, or null if there is
no owner.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

GetMachineProperties
Gets the list of custom properties associated with a machine.
Table 8‑21. GetMachineProperties Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

The machine whose properties to retrieve.

Table 8‑22. GetMachineProperties Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Properties

Dictionary

List of the machine’s properties. Values are returned decrypted if
they were stored encrypted.

GetMachineProperty
Gets the value of the specified property for a machine.
Table 8‑23. GetMachineProperty Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

The machine from which to retrieve a property.

PropertyName

String

Name of the property whose value to return.

IsRequired

bool

If the property is required and is not found the activity throws an
exception, otherwise returns null.

Table 8‑24. GetMachineProperty Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

PropertyValue

String

Value of the property specified by PropertyName. The value is
returned decrypted if it was stored encrypted.

GetScriptFromName
Gets the contents of the script stored in the Model Manager under the specified name.
Table 8‑25. GetScriptFromName Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

ScriptName

String

Name in the Model Manager of the script to retrieve.

ScriptVersion

Object

(Optional) Version in the Model Manager of the script to retrieve.
Default is 0.0.

Table 8‑26. GetScriptFromName Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

ScriptContent

String

Contents of the script identified by ScriptName.

VMware, Inc.

Life Cycle Extensibility

InvokePowerShell
Executes a PowerShell command.
Table 8‑27. InvokePowerShell Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

CommandText

String

Command to execute.

Arguments

IEnumerable

(Optional) Arguments to the command.

Input

IEnumerable

(Optional) The input pipeline.

IsScript

bool

(Optional) Indicates whether CommandText is a script. Default is
False.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Parameters

Collection

(Optional) Collection of name-value pairs passed as parameters
to the PowerShell script.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

PowerShellVariables

Collection

(Optional) Variables copied into the PowerShell runtime.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

PSModules

IEnumerable

(Optional) Modules loaded into the PowerShell runtime during
command execution.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Runspace

(Optional) Creating a PowerShell runspace and supplying it to
this argument enables you to reuse the same runspace in
multiple PowerShell invocations, which may result in
performance improvements.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Table 8‑28. InvokePowerShell Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Output

Collection

Output of command if any. Throws exception on error.

Errors

Collection

Errors resulting from execution if any.

Click Imports in the lower left corner of the Designer pane.

Select the System.Management.Automation assembly.

VMware, Inc.

100

Life Cycle Extensibility

InvokeSshCommand
Executes an SSH command.
Table 8‑29. InvokeSshCommand Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

CommandText

String

Command to execute.

Host

String

Server name against which to execute the command.

Username

String

Username to use in connecting to the host.

Password

String

Password to use in connecting to the host.

Timeout

TimeSpan

(Optional) Period of time after which execution of the command
times out. Default is 30 minutes.

Table 8‑30. InvokeSshCommand Activity Output Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

EnvironmentVariables

Dictionary

Output of command if any. Throws exception on error.

LogMachineEvent
Logs a machine event to the user log that is visible to the machine owner.
Table 8‑31. LogMachineEvent Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

Machine generating the event to log.

Message

String

Message to write to the user log.

Type

String

Select a message type from the drop-down list (Info, Warn,
Error)

LogMessage
Logs to the Distributed Execution Manager log.
Table 8‑32. LogMessage Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Message

String

Message to write to the DEM log.

MessageCategory

String

Select a category from the drop-down menu (Debug, Error,
Info, Trace) or enter a custom category.

MessageSeverity

String

Select a severity from the drop-down menu; bound to the list of
Severities supplied in System.Diagnostics.TraceEventType.

VMware, Inc.

101

Life Cycle Extensibility

RunProcess
Executes a process on the same machine as the DEM that executes this activity.
Note vRealize Automation cannot present the UI from processes launched by the RunProcess activity to
the user, therefore these process must be non-interactive. In order to avoid leaving orphaned processes
on the DEM machine, the processes must also be self-terminating.
Table 8‑33. RunProcess Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

Command

String

Path to the executable to run on the DEM machine.

WorkingDirectory

String

(Optional) The working directory under which the process should
run.

Arguments

String

(Optional) The list of command-line arguments to pass to the
command.

WaitForExit

bool

(Optional) If true, the workflow waits for the process to complete
before continuing with the workflow. Default is false.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

SendEmail
Sends an email to the given set of addresses.
Table 8‑34. SendEmail Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

IEnumerable

The list of addresses to which to send the email.

From

String

The address with which to populate the “From” field of the email.

Subject

String

The subject line for the email.

Body

String

The body text of the email.

Host

String

The host name or IP address of the outgoing SMTP server.

Port

Integer

The SMTP port on the server specified in Host.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

IEnumerable

(Optional) The address or list of addresses to copy on the email.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Bcc

IEnumerable

(Optional) The address or list of addresses to blind copy on the
email.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

VMware, Inc.

102

Life Cycle Extensibility

Table 8‑34. SendEmail Activity Input Parameters (Continued)
Argument

Type

Description

EnableSsl

bool

(Optional) Indicates whether to use SSL.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

UserName

String

The user name with which to authenticate with the SMTP server
specified in Host .
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

Password

String

The password of the user specified in UserName.
This option is only available in the Properties pane and not in
the Designer pane.

SetMachineProperty
Creates or updates a custom property on a machine.
Table 8‑35. SetMachineProperty Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

MachineId

Guid

Machine on which to create or update the custom property.

PropertyName

String

Name of property to create or update.

PropertyValue

String

Value with which to create or update the property.

IsEncrypted

bool

(Optional) Indicates whether the value of the property is
encrypted.

IsHidden

bool

(Optional) Indicates whether the property is a hidden property.

IsRuntime

bool

(Optional) Indicates whether the requesting user provides the
property value at request time (equivalent to being marked
Prompt User in the vRealize Automation console).

SetWorkflowResult
Sets an external workflow’s state to either Complete or Failed to be honored by ExternalWF.xml
settings.
Table 8‑36. SetWorkflowResult Activity Input Parameters
Argument

Type

Description

WorkflowId

Guid

The workflow for which to set the state.

Next State

WorkflowState

Select Complete or Failed from the drop-down menu.

VMware, Inc.

103

Source Exif Data:

File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.5
Linearized                      : No
Author                          : VMware, Inc.
Create Date                     : 2018:02:09 13:29:40-08:00
Modify Date                     : 2018:02:09 13:29:40-08:00
Creator                         : AH XSL Formatter V6.3 MR1 for Windows (x64) : 6.3.2.23978 (2016/03/18 11:26JST)
Producer                        : Antenna House PDF Output Library 6.3.762 (Windows (x64))
Title                           : Life Cycle Extensibility - vRealize Automation 7.2
Trapped                         : False
Page Count                      : 103
Page Mode                       : UseOutlines
Page Layout                     : SinglePage
Language                        : EN

EXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools

Life Cycle Extensibility VRealize Automation 7.2 V Realize 72

Navigation menu

Versions of this User Manual:

Views

Navigation