vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide - Documentation - VMware

2
Writing vSphere SDK for Perl Scripts 2
This chapter uses a simple example script to illustrate how to write a vSphere SDK for Perl script. The chapter
also explores the basics of the vSphere API object model.
NOTE This chapter does not discuss Perl basics. You are expected to know Perl and to understand its
programming conventions. When you develop a vSphere SDK for Perl script, follow Perl standards for
filenames, imports, and general processing flow. Use the appropriate filename extension for the type of script
or application you are creating (.pl on Windows and .pl or no suffix on UNIX‐like systems).
The chapter includes these topics:
“Basic vSphere SDK for Perl Script” on page 19
“Understanding Server‐Side Objects” on page 24
“Understanding Perl View Objects” on page 28
“Working with View Object Property Values” on page 29
“Understanding Operations and Methods” on page 30
“Updating View Objects” on page 32
Basic vSphere SDK for Perl Script
vSphere SDK for Perl scripts retrieve objects, such as virtual machines, from the server and work with these
objects. vSphere SDK for Perl scripts follow the basic pattern shown in Table 2‐1.
IMPORTANT The sample script does not use filters or property filters for efficiency. See “Refining vSphere SDK
for Perl Scripts” on page 33 for information about those topics.
Table 2-1. Basic vSphere SDK for Perl Script (simpleclient.pl)
Code element Discussed in
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use VMware::VIRuntime;
“Step 1: Import the vSphere SDK for Perl
Modules” on page 20.
VMware, Inc. 19