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VMware vSphere Client Plugins Documentation

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vSphere Client Plug-ins

VMware offers third-party developers and partners the ability to extend the vSphere Client with custom menu selections and toolbar icons that provide access to custom capabilities. To make your plug-in user interface look like other plug-ins provided by VMware and other vendors, use the Plug-In User Interface Guidelines

There are two methods of using the vSphere Plug-in architecture.

Method Usage Documentation
Script-based When you use the script-based method, you supply the following plug-in components:
  • A configuration file that describes GUI elements that extend the vSphere Client user interface.
  • A script or application that extends the vCenter Server with capabilities that support the vSphere Client GUI extensions.
  • Extension registration
C# API

When you use the vSphere Plug-in C# API, you write C# code that executes within the vSphere client process. The C# API provides classes and methods that you use to extend the vSphere Client user interface. You must provide code that supports the custom GUI extensions, including any access to the vCenter Server.

Note: This plug-in style is deprecated. In the future, the C# API will not be used by VMware products. If you plan to build a vSphere Client plug-in, please see our community for information on which style of plug-in is right for you.

C# API documentation (HTML; Zip file)
C# sample application (Zip file)

VI Client Plug-in (VI SDK 2.5)

The current platform also supports the VI SDK 2.5 architecture for client plug-ins. See the following documentation and schema file for information about using the 2.5 interface.