LittleCMDB (An Orchestrator and WaveMaker project) – Part 7

By
Christian Strijbos
– August 21, 2012Posted in: Call Workflows from outside, Database, Get Started!, Integrate vCO, vCO Use-Cases, Wavemaker

Table of Content

In Part1 we start with the SQL DB Plugin and create the required database for our need.

In Part2 we start with the development of our Workflow. We will start with a few elements.

In Part3 we  finish the  collection of the VM information.

In Part4 we insert our data into the database and test our created workflow

In Part5 we create our webview to get a look on our Data in the SQL Database

In Part6 we will make our Workflow smarter to update the DB with actual VM information

In Part7 problems with vAPP located virtual machines are fixed

Part7

Today we will make some more error corrections for our LittleCMDB. Has anyone build the LittleCMDB yet? Do you use vAPPS in your environment? Than you have a problem with the LittleCMDB. The Workflow will stop on the “Extract virtual machine information” workflow.

Why that?  To answer this Question we must take a look at the Workflow and the API. Let’s start with the Workflow. The Workflow exist out of different elements. The first element “Get Folder” grabs the Folder for the virtual machine.

For a “normal” virtual machine this works perfectly. The element uses the VM name and the “parent” object in the API to get the needed information.

Now let’s have a look on a virtual machine which is located under a vAPP.

Did you see the difference? For a virtual machine the parameter “parent” is used and the parameter “parentVApp” is Unset. For a virtual machine under a vApp that’s changed. So, when the Workflow hits a virtual machine located under a vApp the Workflow will fail.

How can we fix this problem? Don’t worry, that easy 😉

First, we have  to copy the Workflow “Extract virtual machine information”. We do so by going to:

Library –> vCenter –> Virtual Machine management –> Others There we can find our Workflow.

Just “right click”  on the Workflow and choose in the menu “Duplicate Workflow”.

Give the Workflow a name, I take the name “Extract virtual machine information_WithChanges” and choose a location for the Workflow. I would recommend  to keep all your customized workflows together. I will insert the Workflow into my vcoportal.de folder and there in a subfolder “Helper” (for me that is better to export my project 😉 ). Copy the version history.

After we have duplicated the Workflow, we go to the chosen Folder and edit it.

First I change the Version history and insert a comment.

Then we go to the Schema Tab and there to the “Get Folder” Element. Here we change the Scripting to:


if (vm.parent != null){
folder = vm.parent;} else
{
folder = vm.parentVApp;}

folderName = folder.name;
folderId = folder.sdkId;

The scripting here is simple. We just look if the parent value is unset, then we use parentVApp. After we are finished validate and save the workflow.

At last, we go to our “GetVMConfig” Workflow. There we delte the “Extract virtual machine information” Workflow and insert our “Extract virtual machine information_WithChanges” workflow.

After that, insert the connections and the vm parameter (VMtoGet). Normally it should be insert automatically. Validate our Workflow and enjoy.

That’s all for Part7.

De Vcoportal Part7
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