Getting started writing vmware apps from VMUG

1. Virtualize Planet
Getting Started, writing VMware APPs
for novice programmers
Sponsored by
www.virtualizeplanet.com Author: Ricky El-Qasem: 2011

2. Breaking the magicians code
11/23/2012 2

3. No Programmers Allowed
 I’m not a programmer
 I do not speak in
Fortran or C++
 The point of this
session is that its for
novices like me
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4. A word from the sponsors
All apps mentioned in this presentation are not the
products of Canopy Cloud. Ricky developed these
apps before joining Canopy.
Canopy Private Cloud
Solutions Catalogue: Vertical &
Horizontal Workloads
Management & Orchestration
vCloud Director - vSphere
Canopy
Appstore
Canopy Cloud Infrastructure
Vblock - Best-of-Breed
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5. My Apps
 VPsnapper = where it all started
 Resource Pool Scheduler
 vDisk Waste Finder
 vSphere Plug-in Wizard = Best Free Tools VMworld
2011
 vDisk Informer
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6. Different APIs
 COM API
 Web server API = SDK
 PowerCLI
 Etc etc
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7. What you need before you begin
 .Net IDE = Visual Studio .Net
or
 Java IDE = Netbeans
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8. So how did I do it?
 VPsnapper
I needed a way to revert the default snapshots on all my VMs with one click
+ COM API Document
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9. VPSnapper
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10. The SDK is the future
 Resource Pool Scheduler
•Student gave me an idea. I needed to be able to shift resource allocation from pool
to pool
• Once again I used the book and the SDK programmers guide but failed at stage 1
• Stage 1 was to list all VMs running
• I posted my failure on VMTN = VMware Communities
• Few days later VMware sent me a fixed version of my test app.
• This was a huge springboard
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11. Another Useful Book
 Samples are in JAVA
 However I found I could
easily copy from JAVA
to C# .NET
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12. The SDK Tree
ExtensibleManagedObject
ManagedEntity
ResourcePool ComputeResource Hostsystem Datacenter Folder VirtualMachine
ClusterComputeResource
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13. MOB = Managed Object Browser
 https://yourserver/mob
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14. How to work with the SDK
 Make a connection
 Filter only what you need – Proprerty Spec
 Which hierarchy objects to search - Traversal Spec
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15. VIMAPI in .net
 2 x Dlls – import in to your code
 Using Statement:
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16. MOREF Managed Object Reference
 You do not manipulate the VMware objects like
VMs, Folders, Hosts and Datastores directly
 You work with a representation of those objects
known as a Managed Object Reference aka MOREF
 Its all about the MOREF!
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17. Data model
 Managed Object Types = objects that have
properties and methods
 MOREF = local representation
 Data Object = just pure data and no actions
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18. vSphere Plug-in Wizard
 Finalist in Best Free
vSphere Tools VMworld
2011
 Plugs in Website of
your choice into
vSphere Client
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19. vSphere Plug-in Wizard
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20. vDisk Informer
 Helps you find wasted
vDisk space
 Helps you find
misaligned vDisks
 Use Gparted to fix
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21. vDisk Waste Finder
 Previous version of
vDisk Informer
 VMUG can have copy
of code.
 Demo
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22. Extreme GUI Makeover
 Before  After
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23. Tips on creating a sexy GUI
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24. Tips on creating a sexy GUI
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25. Tips on creating a sexy GUI
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26. www.virtualizeplanet.com 11/23/2012 26

27. Writing Config
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28. Performing an action
ManagedObjectReference moref_task = _service.PowerOffVM
(moref_VM, moref_Host);
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29. My best tip as a novice
 Take an existing example and hack it to death with
trial and error until you get it working for your
needs
 If something doesn’t work post it on VMware's
Community forum
 After today code for vDisk Waste Finder will be
available from my blog www.virtualizeplanet.com
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30. Disclaimer:
Virtualize Planet will not be held liable for any actions you perform in
your environment. Anything you learn from this material should be used
at your own discretion and be warned actions you perform can be
damaging. Always consult a professional.
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