Custom Properties for Clone Blueprints

vRealize Automation includes custom properties that you can use to provide additional controls for clone blueprints.

Table 1. Custom Properties for Clone Blueprints
Custom Property	Description
VirtualMachine.DiskN.StorageReservationPolicy	Specifies the storage reservation policy to use to find storage for disk `N`. Also assigns the named storage reservation policy to a volume. To use this property, substitute the volume number for `N` in the property name and specify a storage reservation policy name as the value. This property is equivalent to the storage reservation policy name specified on the blueprint. Disk numbering must be sequential. This property is valid for all Virtual and vCloud reservations. This property is not valid for Physical, Amazon, or OpenStack reservations.
VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName	Specifies the name of a network profile from which to assign a static IP address to network device `N` or from which to obtain the range of static IP addresses that can be assigned to network device `N` of a cloned machine, where `N`=0 for the first device, 1 for the second, and so on. When you use the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.ProfileName property, the network profile it points to is used to allocate an IP address. However, the provisioned machine is attached to any network that is selected in the reservation using a round-robin fashion model. Changing this property value after the network is assigned has no effect on the expected IP address values for the designated machines. With WIM-based provisioning for virtual machines, you can use this property to specify a network profile and network interface or you can use the Network section of the Virtual Reservation page. You can also assign the network interface to a virtual network using the VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Name custom property. The following attributes of the network profile are available to enable static IP assignment in a cloning blueprint: VirtualMachine.NetworkN.SubnetMask VirtualMachine.NetworkN.Gateway VirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryDns VirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryDns VirtualMachine.NetworkN.PrimaryWins VirtualMachine.NetworkN.SecondaryWins VirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSuffix VirtualMachine.NetworkN.DnsSearchSuffixes VirtualMachine.Network`N` custom properties are specific to individual blueprints and machines. When a machine is requested, network and IP address allocation is performed before the machine is assigned to a reservation. Because blueprints are not guaranteed to be allocated to a specific reservation, do not use this property on a reservation.
Linux.ExternalScript.Name	Specifies the name of an optional customization script, for example config.sh, that the Linux guest agent runs after the operating system is installed. This property is available for Linux machines cloned from templates on which the Linux agent is installed. If you specify an external script, you must also define its location by using the Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType and Linux.ExternalScript.Path properties.
Linux.ExternalScript.LocationType	Specifies the location type of the customization script named in the Linux.ExternalScript.Name property. This can be either local or nfs. You must also specify the script location using the Linux.ExternalScript.Path property. If the location type is nfs, also use the Linux.ExternalScript.Server property.
Linux.ExternalScript.Server	Specifies the name of the NFS server, for example lab-ad.lab.local, on which the Linux external customization script named in Linux.ExternalScript.Name is located.
Linux.ExternalScript.Path	Specifies the local path to the Linux customization script or the export path to the Linux customization on the NFS server. The value must begin with a forward slash and not include the file name, for example /scripts/linux/config.sh.

If your administrators installed the guest agent to run scripts that accept custom properties and customize provisioned machines, you can use custom properties to further customize cloned machines that use the guest agent.

Table 2. Custom Properties for Customizing Cloned Machines with a Guest Agent
Custom Property	Description
VirtualMachine.Admin.AllowLogin	Set to True (default) to add the machine owner to the local remote desktop users group, as specified by the VirtualMachine.Admin.Owner property.
VirtualMachine.Admin.UseGuestAgent	If the guest agent is installed as a service on a template for cloning, set to True on the machine blueprint to enable the guest agent service on machines cloned from that template. When the machine is started, the guest agent service is started. Set to False to disable the guest agent. If set to False, the enhanced clone workfow will not use the guest agent for guest operating system tasks, reducing its functionality to VMwareCloneWorkflow. If not specified or set to anything other than False, the enhanced clone workflow sends work items to the guest agent.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Active	Set to True (default) to specify that the machine's disk `N` is active. Set to False to specify that the machine's disk `N` is not active.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Size	Defines the size in GB of disk `N`. For example, to give a size of 150 GB to a disk G, define the custom property VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size and enter a value of 150. Disk numbering must be sequential. By default a machine has one disk referred to by VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size, where size is specified by the storage value on the blueprint from which the machine is provisioned. The storage value on the blueprint user interface overwrites the value in the VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property. The VirtualMachine.Disk0.Size property is not available as a custom property because of its relationship with the storage option on the blueprint. More disks can be added by specifying VirtualMachine.Disk1.Size, VirtualMachine.Disk2.Size and so on. VirtualMachine.Admin.TotalDiskUsage always represents the total of the .DiskN.Size properties plus the VMware.Memory.Reservation size allocation.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Label	Specifies the label for a machine’s disk `N`. The disk label maximum is 32 characters. Disk numbering must be sequential. When used with a guest agent, specifies the label of a machine's disk `N` inside the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.DiskN.Letter	Specifies the drive letter or mount point of a machine’s disk N. The default is C. For example, to specify the letter D for Disk 1, define the custom property as VirtualMachine.Disk1.Letter and enter the value D. Disk numbering must be sequential. When used in conjunction with a guest agent, this value specifies the drive letter or mount point under which an additional disk `N` is mounted by the guest agent in the guest operating system.
VirtualMachine.Admin.CustomizeGuestOSDelay	Specifies the time to wait after customization is complete and before starting the guest operating system customization. The value must be in HH:MM:SS format. If the value is not set, the default value is one minute (00:01:00). If you choose not to include this custom property, provisioning can fail if the virtual machine reboots before guest agent work items are completed, causing provisioning to fail.
VirtualMachine.Customize.WaitComplete	Set to True to prevent the provisioning workflow from sending work items to the guest agent until all customizations are complete.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.Name	Specifies the descriptive name of a software application `N` or script to install or run during provisioning. This is an optional and information-only property. It serves no real function for the enhanced clone workflow or the guest agent but it is useful for a custom software selection in a user interface or for software use reporting.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ScriptPath	Specifies the full path to an application's install script. The path must be a valid absolute path as seen by the guest operating system and must include the name of the script filename. You can pass custom property values as parameters to the script by inserting {`CustomPropertyName`} in the path string. For example, if you have a custom property named ActivationKey whose value is 1234, the script path is D:\InstallApp.bat –key {ActivationKey}. The guest agent runs the command D:\InstallApp.bat –key 1234. Your script file can then be programmed to accept and use this value.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOName	Specifies the path and filename of the ISO file relative to the datastore root. The format is `/folder_name/subfolder_name/file_name`.iso. If a value is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.
VirtualMachine.SoftwareN.ISOLocation	Specifies the storage path that contains the ISO image file to be used by the application or script. Format the path as it appears on the host reservation, for example netapp-1:it_nfs_1. If a value is not specified, the ISO is not mounted.