Plug-ins allow you to use Orchestrator to access and control external technologies and applications. Exposing an external technology in an Orchestrator plug-in allows you to incorporate objects and functions in workflows that access the objects and functions of that external technology.

The external technologies that you can access by using plug-ins can include virtualization management tools, email systems, databases, directory services, and remote control interfaces.

Orchestrator provides a set of standard plug-ins to allow you to incorporate such technologies as the VMware vCenter Server API and email capabilities into workflows. In addition, the Orchestrator open plug-in architecture allows you to develop plug-ins to access other applications. Orchestrator implements open standards, to simplify integration with external systems. For information about developing custom content, see Developing with VMware vCenter Orchestrator.

All default plug-ins are installed together with the Orchestrator server. Before you use some of the plug-ins, for example the vCenter Server plug-in, you should configure them.

Plug-ins extend the Orchestrator scripting engine with new object types and methods, and plug-ins publish notification events from the external system that trigger events in Orchestrator and in the plugged-in technology. Plug-ins provide an inventory of JavaScript objects that you can access on the Orchestrator Inventory tab. Each plug-in can provide one or more packages of workflows and actions that you can run on the objects in the inventory to automate the typical use cases of the integrated product.