Caution: Articles written for technical not grammatical accuracy, If poor grammar offends you proceed with caution ;-)
To create a custom drop down menu that can be presented to users at request time we will be leveraging the Property Dictionary. The Property Dictionary gives us the ability to enhance and further customize the request experience. The Property Dictionary allows us to:
- Create Basic Drop Down Menu’s
- Create Context Sensative Drop Down Menu’s
- Create Drop Down Lists
- Create Checkboxes
- Create Date/Time inputs
- Create Noteboxes, TextBoxes, Integer inputs, links, password inputs and more.
Property Dictionary
In this example we are going to create a basic drop down menu that allows a user to select the folder their machine should be placed in inside vCenter from a list of available locations.
1. Go to “Enterprise Administrator“, then “Property Dictionary“, and select “Add Property Definition” in the upper right corner.
2. In the “Name” field enter the name of the custom property you will be using. In this example it is “VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder” which is a reserved property. You can create your own non-reserved properties for use with the property dictionary as well if you have a need, but in this example we will not be covering that. Enter a “Display Name” that the requester will see on the “Request Machine” page. and then select the “Control Type” of “DropDown” and click the “Green Check Mark“.
3. Next to the “Property Definition” you just created select “Edit”
4. Select “Add Property Attribute” in the upper right corner.
5. In the “Type” field select “ValueList“, assign it a “Name” and then input your value for the list separated by a comma like “IT Admins\Production\, IT Admins\Test\, IT Admins\Staging\” and then click the “Green Check Mark” to save your changes.
Add Property to Blueprint
6. Go to “Enterprise Administrator“, then “Global Blueprints“, and select the “Blueprint” you would like to add the drop down box to. Once the blueprint opens select the “Properties” tab then select “New Property” and add the property name “VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder” to the “Name” filed. Make sure to select “Prompt User“. If you want to populate the property with a default value you can add the selection to the value field.
Make a Request
7. Go to “Self-Service“, “Request Machine” and select the “Blueprint” you added your property to. One the request page you will now see a drop down box with your selections. Make your selection and submit your request.
8. Once your machine is provisioned you can verify the property assignment and if you look in vCenter see that it is in the folder you selected.
