A user interface plug-in module is a standard Web Application ARchive (WAR) bundle. The WAR bundle contains all of the resources and classes required for each GUI element the module adds to the vSphere Web Client interface. In a user interface plug-in module, the GUI elements you add to the interface are called extensions.

In the SWF file that contains the Flex classes that make up the UI components of the plug-in module extensions, the main class must be an MXML class that extends the mx.modules.Module class.

In the root folder of the WAR bundle, you must create a manifest file called plugin.xml. The plugin.xml manifest file uses metadata to define the plug-in module’s extensions and resources.

Creating the Plug-In Module Manifest File

The plug-in module manifest file, plugin.xml, is a metadata file that the vSphere Web Client container application uses to integrate the extensions in the plug-in module with the rest of the interface. The plugin.xml file fulfills the following functions.

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The manifest defines each individual extension in the user interface plug-in module.

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The manifest specifies the SWF file containing the Flex or ActionScript classes you have created for the module extensions.

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If the user interface plug-in module contains an interface element defined in HTML, the manifest specifies the HTML file.

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The manifest specifies the location of any included runtime resources in the module, such as localization data.

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If the user interface plug-in module hosts any extension points, the manifest declares those extension points.

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