The vSphere Web Client displays the home screen, solutions and applications, and information about the virtual infrastructure in the main workspace.

The main workspace is the center of the vSphere Web Client graphical user interface and contains data views, navigation elements such as tabs and toolbars or context menus for user actions.

Home Screen

The home screen is the initial view shown in the main workspace when you log into the vSphere Web Client. The home screen contains icon shortcuts to different solutions and inventories in the virtual infrastructure. You can extend the home screen by adding additional shortcuts.

Browsing the Virtual Infrastructure

When you browse the virtual infrastructure by using the object navigator, the main workspace displays an object workspace. An object workspace presents information about the selected vSphere object in a hierarchy of nested Flex data views, which are displayed as top-level tabbed screens. Any given vSphere object has associated Getting Started, Summary, Monitor, Configure, Permissions, and categorized relations top-level tab screens. Some of these tabs contain table of contents elements and views within these elements.

The main workspace for a host

Some of the nested data views are contextual. For example, the Monitor tab always contains a second-level Issues tab, and contain also a second-level Events tab if any events are present for the selected object.

You can extend the object workspace for any given vSphere object type by adding second-level tabs or views to the existing hierarchy. The object workspace for each vSphere object contains the following top-level tabs.

Top-Level Tabs for vSphere Objects

Tab

Description

Getting Started

The Getting Started tab shows a basic description of the vSphere object and some contextual information on how the object operates within the vSphere environment. The Getting Started tab might also provide links to common tasks for that object.

The Getting Started tab might not appear or might be disabled for a vSphere object.

Summary

The Summary tab shows basic, high-level information about the selected object. The Summary tab might also show portlets with additional specific information about the object features. You can use the Summary tab to view information about the specific object so that you can understand the role of the object in the virtual infrastructure.

Monitor

The Monitor tab shows current and historical information about how the selected object is performing. The Monitor tab shows alerts, issues, and other signals from the vSphere environment to which you might respond. The Monitor tab contains data views that show information about the health status, performance statistics, event logs, issues, and alarms that are related to the object.

Configure

The Configure tab displays settings and configurations that determine how the selected object behaves. Using the Configure tab, you can perform operations on a vSphere object, such as provisioning or maintenance. You can also change object settings and issue management commands from the Configure tab.

Permissions

The Permissions tab displays the permissions that are assigned to the logged-in user.

Categorized Tabs for Object Relations

Each categorized tab shows the vSphere objects related to the currently selected object. For example, if you select a cluster from the object navigator, the categorized tabs that you see are Hosts, VMs, Datastores, and Networks. Users can select a related object directly from the first-level tabs, and view the workspace for that related object.

Relations to custom vSphere objects are displayed as second-level tabs under the More Objects first-level tab.

Global Views

The main workspace can display global views. A global view is a data view that is not a part of an object workspace for any vSphere object type. A global view is a free-form data view and need not follow a tab hierarchy as an object workspace does.

You can extend the vSphere Web Client with your own global views. Your global views can collect or summarize information from many different sources in the vSphere environment to create a dashboard or quick access screen, or to display information from outside the vSphere environment.

Workspace for Custom Objects

If you add a custom object type to the vSphere environment, you can extend the main workspace to display an object workspace for that custom object. The vSphere Web Client SDK contains templates to help you create the standard object workspace tabs, such as Getting Started, Summary, Monitor, Configure, Permissions, and the categorized tabs for object relations.