Properly authorized users can specify custom properties for blueprints, endpoints, business groups, and reservations. When the same property exists in more than one source, vRealize Automation follows a specific order of precedence when applying properties to the machine.

You can add custom properties that apply to provisioned machines to the following elements:

  • A reservation, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from that reservation.

  • A business group, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned by business group members.

  • A blueprint, to apply the custom properties to all machines provisioned from the blueprint.

  • Property groups, which can be included in a blueprint, to apply all the custom properties in the group to all machines provisioned from the blueprint.

    A blueprint can contain one or more property groups.

  • A machine request to apply the custom properties to the machine being provisioned.

  • An approval policy, if advanced approval support is enabled, to require approvers to provide values for the machine being approved.

The following list shows the order of precedence for custom properties. Property value specified in a source that appears later in the list override values for the same property specified in sources that appear earlier in the list.

Note:

If a conflict exists between a vRealize Automation-supplied custom property name and a user-defined property name, the vRealize Automation-supplied custom property name takes precedence.

  1. Property group

  2. Blueprint

  3. Business group

  4. Compute resource

  5. Reservations

  6. Endpoint

  7. Runtime

Property group, blueprint, and business group custom properties are assigned at request time, while other compute resource, reservation, and endpoint properties are assigned during provisioning.

This order is further clarified as follows:

  1. Custom properties and groups at the overall blueprint level

  2. Custom properties and groups at the component level

  3. Custom properties for the business group

  4. Custom properties for the compute resource

  5. Custom properties for the reservation

  6. Custom properties for the endpoint

  7. Custom properties at the nested blueprint request level

  8. Custom properties at the component request level

In most situations, a runtime property takes precedence over other properties. A runtime property meets the following conditions:

  • The property option to prompt the user is selected, which specifies that the user must supply a value for the property when they request machine provisioning.

  • A business group manager is requesting machine provisioning and the property appears in the custom properties list on the machine request confirmation page.

There are exceptions to the precedence rules. For example, you add the VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder custom property to a business group, provide a property value, and do not select the option to show the property in the request. You add the same custom property in a blueprint and specify that the property be shown in the request. When your designated users request provisioning from the catalog, the property does not appear in the catalog request form because the property applies to reservation information that is only available after provisioning begins, and not when you request provisioning.