To access services and resources in the virtual environment, client applications that use the vSphere Automation API must know the endpoints of vSphere Automation and vSphere services. Client applications retrieve service endpoints from the Lookup Service that runs on vCenter Server.

The Lookup Service provides service registration and discovery by using the vSphere Web Services API. By using the Lookup Service, you can retrieve endpoints of services on vCenter Server. The following endpoints are available from the Lookup Service.

  • The vCenter Single Sign-On endpoint on vCenter Server. You can use the vCenter Single Sign-On service to get a SAML token and establish an authenticated session with a vSphere Automation API endpoint or a vCenter Server endpoint.
  • The vSphere Automation API endpoint on vCenter Server. Through the vSphere Automation endpoint, you can make requests to vSphere Automation API services such as virtual machine management, Content Library, and Tagging.
  • The vCenter Server endpoint. In case you want to retrieve service endpoints on a vCenter Server instance that is part of a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode group, use the vCenter Server endpoint to get the node IDs of all linked instances. You can use the node ID of the specific vCenter Server instance to retrieve service endpoints on that instance.
  • The vSphere Web Services API endpoint and endpoints of other vSphere Web services that run on vCenter Server.

Workflow for Retrieving Service Endpoints

The workflow that you use to retrieve service endpoints from the Lookup Service might vary depending on the endpoints that you need and their number. Follow this general workflow for retrieving service endpoints.

  1. Connect to the Lookup Service on vCenter Server and service registration object so that you can query for registered services.
  2. Create a service registration filter for the endpoints that you want to retrieve.
  3. Use the filter to retrieve the registration information for services from the Lookup Service.
  4. Extract one or more endpoint URLs from the array of registration information that you receive from the Lookup Service.