You can create custom attributes in the vSphere Client and associate the attribute with an object, such as a host, virtual machine, cluster, or network. You can also edit custom attributes.

After you create the attributes, set an appropriate value for the attribute on each virtual machine. This value is stored with vCenter Server and not with the virtual machine. Use the new attribute to filter your virtual machines. If you no longer need the custom attribute, remove it. A custom attribute is always a string.

For example, suppose that you have a set of products and you want to sort them by sales representative.
  1. Create a Name custom attribute for the sales person's name.
  2. Add the Name custom attribute column to one of the list views and add a name to each product entry.
  3. You can now click the Name column to sort alphabetically by sales person.
Note: Tags and tag categories support a finer-grained mechanism for tagging your object. Consider using tags and tag categories instead of custom attributes.

Prerequisites

Required privileges: Global.Manage custom attributes,Global.Set custom attribute.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client Home menu, select Tags and Custom Attributes.
  2. Click Custom Attributes.
    All currently defined custom attributes for vCenter Server are displayed.
  3. Click New.
  4. Enter the values for the custom attribute.
    1. Type the name of the attributes in the Attribute text box.
    2. Select the attribute type from the Type drop-down menu.
    3. Click OK.
    After you have defined an attribute on an object, it is available to all objects of that type in the inventory. However, the value you specify is applied only to the currently selected object.
  5. You can later edit a custom attribute.
    1. Select the attribute and click Edit.
    2. Change the Name.
    3. Change the type if it's available.
    4. Click OK.