To traverse inventory objects, you define
one or more
TraversalSpec
objects. In each
TraversalSpec
object, you specify a property of one
managed object that holds a reference to another managed object. The
TraversalSpec
defines a path that the PropertyCollector
can follow between objects.
To define inventory traversal, use the following
steps.
Procedure
-
Create a
ContainerView for virtual
machines.
-
Create an
ObjectSpec that uses the
container view as the collection starting point.
-
Create a
TraversalSpec to be applied
to the
ContainerView to select
VirtualMachine objects.
-
Create additional
TraversalSpec objects to
select additional objects.
The
SelectSet list for the
container view
TraversalSpec has two
TraversalSpec objects.
Both specify a
VirtualMachine object
context. One object uses the
network property to extend
traversal to the
Network managed object.
The other uses the
resourcePool property to
extend traversal to the
ResourcePool managed
object.
-
Create
PropertySpec objects to
retrieve
VirtualMachine,
Network, and
ResourcePool properties.
To retrieve properties that are embedded in
data objects, the
PropertySpec.PathSet
property uses dot notation to specify the property paths.