System Center Virtual Machine Manager Objects

Applies To: Opalis 6.3

Objects

This integration pack adds the System Center Virtual Machine Manager category to the Object pane in the Opalis Integration Server Client. The category contains the following objects:

Create Checkpoint

Create Disk From VHD

Create Network Adapter

Create New Disk

Create VM from Template

Create VM from VHD

Create VM from VM

Get Checkpoint

Get Disk

Get Network Adapter

Get VM

Manage Checkpoint

Move VM

Remove VM

Repair VM

Resume VM

Shut Down VM

Start VM

Stop VM

Pause VM

Update Disk

Update Network Adapter

Update VM

Common Configuration Instructions for all Objects

The following configuration instructions apply to all of the objects in this integration. Links to this section are included in the configuration instructions for each object.

Object Properties

Each object has a set of required or optional properties that define the configuration of that object. This includes how it connects to other objects or how the object performs its actions. You can view or modify object properties when the object is placed in the Policy window.

To configure the properties for an object

  1. Double-click the object. Alternatively, you can right-click the object and select Properties.

  2. To save your configuration entries, click Finish.

In the object properties dialog there are several tabs along the left side. These tabs provide access to general and specific settings for the object. Although the number of available tabs for object properties differs from object to object, all objects will have a General tab, a Details tab, and a Run Behavior tab. Some objects may have additional tabs.

General Tab

This tab contains the Name and Description properties for the object. By default, the Name of the object is the same as its object type, and the Description is blank. You can modify these properties to create more descriptive names or provide detailed descriptions of the actions of the object.

Properties Tab

This tab contains properties that are specific to the object. All objects in this integration pack have the Configuration Name property at the top of the Properties tab. This property is used to specify the connection to the Virtual Machine Manager server.

To configure the Configuration Name property

Run Behavior Tab

This tab contains the properties that determine how the object handles multi-value published data and what notifications will be sent if the object fails to run or runs for an excessive period of time.

Multi-Value Published Data Behavior

The Get objects retrieve information from another object or outside source, and can return one or more values in the published data. For example, when you use the Get Collection Member object, the data output from that object might be a list of computers that belong to the specified collection.

By default, the data from the Get object will be passed on as multiple individual outputs. These trigger the next object as many times as there are items in the output. Alternatively, you can provide a single output for the object by enabling the Flatten option and choosing a formatting option:

  • Separate with line breaks. Each item is on a new line. This format is useful for creating human-readable text files for the output.

  • Separate with _ . Each item is separated by one or more characters of your choice.

  • Use CSV format. All items are in CSV (comma-separated value) format. This format is useful for importing data into spreadsheets or other applications.

The object will produce a new set of data every time it runs. The Flatten feature does not flatten data across multiple executions of the same object.

Event Notifications

Some objects are expected to take a limited time to complete. If they do not complete within that time period they may be stalled or there may another issue preventing them from completing. You can define the number of seconds to wait for completion of the action. After this time a platform event will be sent reporting the issue. You can also decide whether to generate a platform event if the object returns a failure.

To be notified when the object takes longer than a specified time to run or fails to run

  1. In the Event Notifications box, enter the number of seconds of run time prior to generating a notification.

  2. Select Report if object fails to run to generate run failure notifications.

For more information aboutOpalis events, see the "Event Notifications" chapter of the Opalis Integration Server Administrator Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=205302).

Published Data

Published data is the foundation of a working policy. It is the data produced as a result of the actions of an object. This data is published to an internal data bus which is unique for each policy. Subsequent objects in the workflow can subscribe to this published data and use it in their configuration. Link conditions also use this information to add decision-making capabilities to Policies.

An object can only subscribe to published data from the objects that are linked before it in the Policy. You can use published data to automatically populate the property values needed by objects.

To use published data

  1. Right-click the property value box, click Subscribe, and then click Published Data.

  2. Click the Object drop-down box and select the object from which you want to obtain the data.

    To view additional data elements common to all policies, select Show Common Published Data.

  3. Click the published data element you want to use, and then click OK.

For a list of the data elements published by each object, see the Published Data tables in the object topic. For information about Common Published Data elements, see the "Policy Workflow Rules" chapter of the Opalis Integration Server Client User Guide.