vSphere Web Client Extension Points

The Sdk left column shows the version where each extension point was introduced.

Extensions to vSphere objects' views

Replace ${objectType} by one of the following values to extend existing vSphere objects' views:
cluster, datacenter, dscluster, dvs, dvPortgroup, folder, host, network, resourcePool, datastore, vApp, vm.

Sdk Extension point name Extension object class Description
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.summarySectionViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a portlet in the Summary tab view.
See samples: views-properties-ui
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.monitorViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a sub-tab under the Monitor tab view.
See samples: views-properties-ui, vsphere-wssdk-ui, custom-properties-ui
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.monitor.performanceViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Monitor > Performance sub-tab view
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.manageViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a sub-tab under the Manage tab view
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.manage.settingsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Settings sub-tab view
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.manage.alarmDefinitionsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Alarm Definitions sub-tab view
5.1 vsphere.core.${objectType}.list.columns com.vmware.ui.lists.ColumnSetContainer Add a new column in a list of vSphere objects
See samples: chassis-ui

General UI extensions

The following extensions can be used for any objects or are global to the plugin.

Sdk Extension point name Extension object class Description
5.1 vise.actions.sets com.vmware.actionsfw.ActionSpec Add a set of actions which will appear in default menus
See samples: vmaction-ui, chassis-ui
5.5 vsphere.core.menus.solutionMenus com.vmware.actionsfw.ActionMenuItemSpec Define a custom menu containing actions, submenus and separators.
See samples: vmaction-ui
5.5 vsphere.core.objectTypes com.vmware.core.specs.ObjectTypeSpec Declare some UI info (icon, names) associated with a custom object type defined by the plugin.
See samples: chassis-app
5.5 vmware.prioritization.actions com.vmware.actionsfw.model.ActionPriorityGroup Promote actions in object menus and display them in the object list's toolbar.
See samples: chassis-app
5.5 vmware.prioritization.listActions com.vmware.actionsfw.model.ActionPriorityGroup Define "global" actions added to a list toolbar's left-hand side (i.e. actions that don't need any object context)
See samples: chassis-app
5.1 vise.global.views com.vmware.vsphere.client.views.GlobalViewSpec Add a standalone view in the main area (i.e. not related to objects)
See samples: helloworld-ui, globalview-ui
5.1 vise.home.shortcuts com.vmware.vsphere.client.views.ShortcutSpec Add a shortcut to the Home Screen, pointing to any other extension
See samples: helloworld-ui, globalview-ui
5.1 vise.inventory.representationspecs com.vmware.ui.objectrepresentation.model.ObjectRepresentationSpec Define one or more new icon and label sets for an object collection node in the Object Navigator, along with the conditions under which the icon and label sets appear.
See samples: chassisRackVSphere-ui
5.1 vise.navigator.nodespecs com.vmware.ui.objectnavigator.model.ObjectNavigatorNodeSpec Add a category, or pointer node extension to the left-hand side navigator
See samples: globalview-ui, chassis-ui
5.1 vise.relateditems.specs com.vmware.ui.relateditems.model.ObjectRelationSetSpec Create a new relation between objects
See samples: chassisRackVSphere-ui
5.5 vise.dispose.namespace.inclusions Define a list of namespaces to include with the Dispose Manager, i.e. all types starting with those namespaces will be garbage-collected.
See samples: chassis-ui

Extension templates

Extension templates allow to make the UI consistent with the rest of vSphere Client when adding custom objects. Instantiating a template creates a set of standard extension points at runtime, so that you don't have to add them manually to your plugin.xml. Templates use a namespace variable, like com.vmware.samples.chassis to represent a custom chassis objects; in the lists below replace ${namespace} with the namespace of your choice.

Sdk Extension templateId Extension points created Description
5.1 vsphere.core.inventory.objectViewTemplate See below Creates the object workspace (right hand side) for custom objects
See samples: chassis-ui and other chassis-app versions.
5.1 vsphere.core.inventory.summaryViewTemplate
deprecated since Sdk 5.5
${namespace}.summarySectionViews Creates a standard Summary tab containing an optional header on top, and a main area with the summary section views.
See samples: chassis-ui and other chassis-app versions.
5.1 vsphere.core.inventorylist.objectCollectionTemplate ${namespace}.views Creates the objects collection node in the inventory
See samples: chassis-ui and other chassis-app versions.

Extension points created by objectViewTemplate

Note: the following extension points are created at runtime for a particular namespace, but the views and tabs won't be visible unless you use these extension points explicitly!

Sdk Extension point name Extension object class Description
5.1 ${namespace}.gettingStartedViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Getting Started tab
5.1 ${namespace}.summaryViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Summary tab view (used by the summaryViewTemplate)
5.1 ${namespace}.monitorViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Monitor tab
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.issuesViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view to list issues under Monitor > Issues
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.performanceViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Monitor > Performance sub-tab
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.performance.overviewViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view under Monitor > Performance > Overview
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.performance.advancedViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view under Monitor > Performance > Advanced
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.taskViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Monitor > Tasks sub-tab
5.1 ${namespace}.monitor.eventsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Monitor > Events sub-tab
5.1 ${namespace}.manageViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add views under the Manage tab view
5.1 ${namespace}.manage.settingsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Settings sub-tab view
5.1 ${namespace}.manage.alarmDefinitionsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Alarm Definitions sub-tab view
5.1 ${namespace}.manage.tagsViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Tags sub-tab view
5.1 ${namespace}.manage.permissionViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a view in the Manage > Permissions sub-tab view
5.1 ${namespace}.list.columns com.vmware.ui.lists.ColumnSetContainer
deprecated since Sdk 5.5
Add a new column in a list of objects
5.1 ${namespace}.relatedViews com.vmware.ui.views.ViewSpec Add a Related Objects view

See also: SDK Tutorial - SDK samples - Flex API docs - Java API docs