Creating a Remote Plug-in for the vSphere Client

This chapter outlines how to create your own remote plug-in for the vSphere Client. The goal is to illustrate the entire process using simple components. Other chapters deal with some of the steps in more detail.

To create a remote plug-in, you need both front-end components and back-end components. The front-end components constitute a user interface based on HTML 5. The back-end components include a web server and business logic in support of the front end.

For the front end of your plug-in, you can choose any JavaScript-compatible language. The Remote Plug-in Sample in the vSphere Client SDK uses Angular and Clarity. A best practice is to use Clarity elements to harmonize with the look and feel of the vSphere Client.

For the back end, you can choose any language and any web server. The SDK samples are written in Java and built with Maven, but there is no restriction on the language or tools that you use for back-end development. The SDK samples use Tomcat as a web server because it is bundled with Spring.