Using the vCenter Plug-In

You can use the vCenter plug-in to manage multiple vCenter instances. You can create workflows that use the vCenter plug-in API to automate tasks in your vCenter environment.

The vCenter plug-in maps the vCenter API to the JavaScript that you can use in workflows. The plug-in also provides actions that perform individual vCenter tasks that you can include in workflows.

The vCenter plug-in provides a library of standard workflows that automate vCenter operations. For example, you can run workflows that create, clone, migrate, or delete virtual machines.

Note: Most vCenter plug-in workflows communicate only with the vCenter. However, some guest operations workflows require communication with the ESXi host managed by vCenter. Before you run these workflows, you must import the ESXi host certificate through the vRealize Orchestrator Control Center. For more information, see Manage vRealize Orchestrator Certificates in Installing and Configuring VMware vRealize Orchestrator.

The vCenter plug-in includes the Policy-Based Management (PBM) and the Storage Monitoring Service (SMS) APIs as scripting objects in the vRealize Orchestrator scripting API. The Storage Policy-Based Management policies and components appear in the Inventory page of the vRealize Orchestrator Client.