To retrieve information from an inventory object, you start with ServiceInstance, the root object of the inventory. You access an object using a TraversalSpec in conjunction with a property collector, using the properties that identify an object’s position in the hierarchy.

  • Every managed entity has a parent property that identifies its relative position in the inventory hierarchy.
  • The Folder managed object has a childEntity property that identifies objects in a folder instance.

Instance Diagram of Root Folders in an Inventory shows the childEntity and folder properties that define the default objects in the inventory of a standalone ESXi system. The inventory begins with the ServiceContent.rootFolder property. The rootFolder has a childEntity that consists of a managed object reference to a Datacenter managed object.

Figure 1. Instance Diagram of Root Folders in an Inventory
Shows service instance and content with child entities going to folders for datastore, host, network, and VM.