Understanding Server-Side Objects

When you run a vSphere SDK for Perl script, your goal is to access and potentially analyze or modify server-side objects.

You need the name of the vSphere API objects and often their properties and method names. For example, if you want to power off a virtual machine, you must know how to find the corresponding object, what the name of the power off method is, and how to run that method.

The vSphere API Reference Guide gives reference documentation for all vSphere API objects. Some users might also find the vSphere Web Services SDK Programmer’s Guide helpful for understanding how the vSphere API objects interact. The guides are available from the VMware APIs and SDKs Documentation page.

This section first introduces the Managed Object Browser (MOB), which allows you to browse all objects on a remote host. The rest of the section discusses how to work with these server-side objects. You learn how to find the objects, access and modify properties, and how to run a method on the server.