| vSphere Client SDK 7.0 Update 3 | 5 October 2021 | Build 18573009 For vSphere 7.0 Update 3 | Last document update 07 October 2021 Check back for additions and updates to these release notes. |
Overview
The vSphere Client 7.0 U3 SDK enables development of vSphere Client plugins supported on both vSphere and VMware Cloud on AWS.
What's New
This release of the vSphere Client and the SDK contains the following improvements:
- SHA-1 deprecation
The SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been deprecated. vCenter Server 7 accepts plug-in registrations using SHA-1 thumbprints in this release, but support for SHA-1 will be discontinued in a future release. Plug-in developers should upgrade their plug-in registration utilities to migrate to SHA-256 as soon as practical.
SHA-256 registration records are supported on vCenter Server 7.0 and will be supported on vCenter Server 6.7 with a future patch. This enables a remote plugin to operate consistently in environments containing multiple vCenter Servers.
- Spring 5 upgrade
Considering the official end of support for Spring 4 at the end of 2020 and the common vulnerabilities and exposures associated with version 4, vSphere Client has been upgraded to use Spring 5.
This change should be transparent for most plugins but Spring 5 is not fully backward compatible which may lead to failure or malfunctioning of some vSphere Client plugins.
A fallback option for the user is to downgrade the vSphere Client to use Spring 4. Usage of this mechanism is explained in the extensibility evolution whitepaper. The option is not recommended by VMware and will be removed in the next major release.
- Third-party library isolation
Third-party libraries deployed and utilised by the vCenter Server appliance (VCSA) for its own needs that are currently exposed to partner local plugins will be restricted and no longer available, effectivel from the next major release of vSphere. Local plugins will be required to bring their own dependencies for all dependent libraries.
The library isolation of local plugins is released with vSphere 7.0 Update 3 but is turned off by default. Partners are requested to turn it on and address any needed changes following the Local Plugins: Third-party library isolation guide.
- Plugin support for VSAN Data Persistence Platform
Partners are now able to integrate full vSAN Data Persistence Platform (vDPP) Kubernetes-based services with the vSphere Client as plugins. This type of plugin can now define not only vCenter Server extensions but also plugins at the Supervisor Cluster level.
- Accessibility enhancements in the vSphere Client
This version of the vSphere Client SDK adds support for screens of various sizes and different zoom levels (1x, 2x & 4x). All menus, navigation, and screens are adapted to display consistently on all devices. The changes are transparent to plugins and require no action from plugin developers.
The 7.0 Update 3 release contains no changes to the vSphere Client API for plugins.
Resolved Issues
- Deployment fails for plugins with wrong localization.
If a plugin provides an incorrect localization bundle the "Deploy plug-in" task hangs forever. This is the case if the plugin manifest contains a key not present in the localization bundle.
This problem has been resolved. Error handling for incorrect localization bundles has been fixed and the "Deploy plug-in" task completes with a success or failure message.
- Custom Object menu actions wrapping fix
The vSphere Client 7.0 Update 3 (Patch 06) contains a fix for the misaligned menu actions on custom objects.
Known Issues
- Images can overlap and become illegible especially in dark mode.
In certain activities of vSphere Client, for example installing NSX, images can overlap, making text illegible and contents only partly visible. It seems worse in dark mode. Also, password validation can be missed. These issues were fixed in subsequent releases.
