Searches the inventory tree for a managed entity that matches the specified entity type. The search begins with the root folder unless the begin_entity parameter is specified.

In most cases, you specify a filter or property when using this command to avoid performance problems. See Creating and Using Filters and Filtering Views Selectively Using Properties.

Parameters

Parameter Description
view_type Managed entity type specified as one of these strings.
  • "ClusterComputeResource"
  • "ComputeResource"
  • "Datacenter"
  • "Datastore"
  • "DistributedVirtualSwitch"
  • "Folder"
  • "HostSystem"
  • "Network"
  • "ResourcePool"
  • "VirtualApp"
  • "VirtualMachine"
begin_entity (optional) Managed object reference that specifies the starting point for the search in the inventory. This parameter helps you narrow the scope.
filter Hash of one or more name-value pairs. The name represents the property value to test and the value represents a pattern that the property must match. If more than one pair is specified, all the patterns must match.

Use filters to avoid performance problems. See Creating and Using Filters and Filtering Views Selectively Using Properties.

Returns

Reference to a view object containing the same properties as the managed entity. If more than one managed entity matches the specified entity type, the subroutine returns only the first managed entity found. If no matching managed entities are found, the subroutine returns undef.