The vCenter Update Manager workflow category contains a set of standard workflows that cover the most common tasks that you can perform with vSphere Update Manager. You can use the workflows as building blocks for creating complex custom workflows. By combining standard workflows, you can automate multi-step processes in your vSphere environment.
You can manage baselines, patches, and inventory objects by running the default workflows provided with the plug-in.
To access these workflows in the Automation Orchestrator Client, navigate to , and enter the vcenter_update_manager tag in the workflow search box.
Baseline Workflows
| Workflow | Description |
|---|---|
| Attach a baseline | Attaches baselines to a selected vSphere object. The object can be a template, virtual machine, vApp, ESX/ESXi host, folder, cluster, or a data center. Attaching a baseline to a container object, such as a folder or data center, transitively attaches the baseline to all objects in the container. |
| Create a patch baseline | Creates a new patch baseline. You can apply patch baselines to hosts or virtual machines. Depending on the patch criteria that you select, patch baselines can be dynamic or static (fixed). You can explicitly select the patches to include in the baseline by using the includePatch parameter. You can also use the searchSpec attribute to filter the patches that you want to include. You can filter by product, vendor, severity, and release date. Patches that have been excluded by using the excludePatch parameter will not be included in the baseline, even if they correspond to the filter criteria defined by the searchSpec attribute. |
| Detach a baseline | Detaches baselines from the selected vSphere inventory objects. To detach inherited baselines, you must detach them from the parent object. |
| Export baselines | Detaches baselines from the selected vSphere inventory objects. To detach inherited baselines, you must detach them from the parent object. |
| Filter baselines Filter baselines with no user interaction |
Filters baselines depending on the provided filter parameters. You can manually select a baseline from the filtered list to include it as a workflow result. |
| Get attached entities | Selects entities attached to baselines or baseline groups. |
| Import baselines | Imports baselines from the .xml file that the Export baselines workflow generates. |
| Update a patch baseline | Modifies the properties of an existing patch baseline. |
| Remove baselines | Deletes the baselines you select. Before deletion, the baselines are detached from all vSphere objects that they are attached to. |
Patch Workflows
| Workflow | Description |
|---|---|
| Download all patches Download all patches asynchronously |
Check for new patches and updates and depending on the availability, download the new patches to the plug-in repository. |
| Filter patches Filter patches without user interaction |
Filter patches and allow you to select a subset of the filtered patch for further processing. |
| Stage Stage asynchronously |
Stage patches to hosts. Staging allows you to download patches and extensions from the vSphere Update Manager/vSphere Lifecycle Manager repository to ESX/ESXi hosts, without applying the patches and extensions immediately. You can stage patches to hosts or container objects such as clusters or data centers. This way, the remediation process is faster because the patches and extensions are already available locally on the hosts. The Stage asynchronously workflow returns an array with task keys for all of the started vCenter tasks. |
Compliance and Inventory Workflows
| Workflow | Description |
|---|---|
| Export compliance report | Exports the compliance report to an external file format (CSV, PDF, or HTML). Run this workflow with a selected entity, baseline and compliance status to verify that the upgraded host is compliant against the baseline. Alternatively, you can run this workflow before you create a new patch baseline to discover which hosts are not compliant and need an upgrade. To run the workflow, you select relevant vSphere objects, a set of baselines that you want to check compliance against, a file location, and a file format. After you run the workflow, you can find the report at /data/vco/var/run/vco/. |
| Get compliance | Retrieves compliance data for the specified object. The object can be a template, virtual machine, vApp, host, cluster, folder or datacenter. The workflow returns information about the compliance state of the vSphere object against the baselines that are attached to it. If the vSphere object is a container, you receive compliance data for all objects in the container. |
| Remediate Remediate asynchronously |
Remediates an inventory object against the specified baselines. You can remediate vSphere objects such as templates, virtual machines, vApps, hosts, folders, clusters, and data centers. The Remediate asynchronously workflow returns an array of vCenter task keys. |
| Scan inventory asynchronously | Scans vSphere objects for applicable patches and updates that are included in the attached baselines. You can scan vSphere objects such as templates, virtual machines, vApps, hosts, folders, clusters, and data centers. If the objects are different types, the workflow starts a separate vCenter task for each object type. |
| Set a default vCenter with Update Manager | Set a default vCenter to use with vSphere Update Manager. The default vCenter instance is pre-selected for all vSphere Update Manager plug-in workflows that you run. If you have a single vCenter instance it will automatically be set as default. |
