vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide - Documentation - VMware

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Web Services for Management Perl
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Library
Web Services for Management (WS‐Management) provides a common way for systems to access and exchange
management information across the IT infrastructure.
ESX/ESX version 3.5 and later supports WS‐Management by implementing over a dozen CIM (Common
Information Model) profiles. CIM profiles are a set of object‐oriented schemas defined by the DTMF
(Distributed Management Task Force). CIM defines how managed elements in a networked environment are
represented as a common set of objects and relationships that users can view, share, and control. For example,
system management client applications might be able to check the status of server components such as CPU,
fans, power supplies, and so on.
The WS‐Management Perl library allows you to write scripts that retrieve CIM data from the ESX/ESXi host
using CIMOM, a service that provides standard CIM management functions over a WBEM (Web‐Based
Enterprise Management). WBEM is a standard protocol for passing CIM‐XML messages over HTTP.
Although you can use the WS‐Management library with other available WS‐Management‐enabled CIMOMs,
this appendix limits discussion to using the library with the CIMOM available on ESX/ESXi version 3.5 and
later and VirtualCenter 2.5 and later.
This appendix includes these topics:
“Web Services for Management Overview” on page 51
“Required Perl Modules” on page 52
“Sample Scripts” on page 53
“SOAP Message Construction with WSMan::WSBasic” on page 53
“Generic CIM Operations with WSMan::GenericOps” on page 57
Web Services for Management Overview
The SMASH (Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware) initiative is one of several related
standards initiatives of the DMTF. The SMASH profiles build on other DMTF standards, including the
Common Information Model (CIM), an object‐oriented approach to modeling managed resources throughout
the distributed computing environment. CIM Schemas define classes and associations among the classes in
several key areas. CIM Schemas build around a core schema, including devices, applications, network, and the
system itself. A CIM object manager brokers requests for data from any of the managed elements.
Clients can use the CIM‐XML protocol for CIMOM access. Clients can also use Web Services for Management
(WS‐Management), a SOAP‐based protocol for accessing CIM data. The Perl library discussed in this appendix
is an implementation of WS‐Management client artifacts (stubs, bindings) for connecting to a
WS‐Management server and obtaining CIM data.
For information about CIM, SMASH, and WS‐Management, visit the dmtf.org Web site. See the CIM
SMASH/Server Management API Programming Guide for information on CIM/SMASH and ESX/ESXi.
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