vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide - Documentation - VMware

Contents
About This Book 7
Revision History 7
Intended Audience 7
1 Getting Started with vSphere SDK for Perl 9
vSphere SDK for Perl Architecture 9
Using vSphere SDK for Perl 10
Getting Started 10
Common vSphere SDK for Perl Tasks 11
vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Conventions 12
vSphere SDK for Perl Common Options 12
Specifying Options 13
Using a Session File 13
Passing Parameters at the Command Line 14
Setting Environment Variables 14
Using a Configuration File 14
Using Microsoft Windows Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) 15
Common Options Reference 15
Hello Host: Running Your First Script 17
2 Writing vSphere SDK for Perl Scripts 19
Basic vSphere SDK for Perl Script 19
Step 1: Import the vSphere SDK for Perl Modules 20
Step 2: (Optional) Define Script‐Specific Command‐Line Options 20
Step 3: Connect to the Server 22
Step 4: Obtain View Objects of Server‐Side Managed Objects 22
Step 5: Process Views and Report Results 22
Step 6: Close the Server Connection 23
Understanding Server‐Side Objects 24
Use the Managed Object Browser to Explore Server‐Side Objects 24
Types of Managed Objects and the Managed Object Hierarchy 25
Managed Object Hierarchy 26
Managed Entities in the Inventory 26
Accessing Server‐Side Inventory Objects 27
Understanding Perl View Objects 28
Working with View Object Property Values 29
Accessing Property Values 29
Accessing Simple Property Values 29
Accessing Enumeration Property Values 29
Modifying Property Values 29
Creating Data Objects with Properties 30
Understanding Operations and Methods 30
Non‐Blocking and Blocking Methods 31
Examples of Operations 31
Calling Methods 31
Omitting Optional Arguments in Method Calls 32
Updating View Objects 32
VMware, Inc. 3