# Managed Object - EnvironmentBrowser(vim.EnvironmentBrowser)

Property of
  ComputeResource, VirtualMachine
See also
  ConfigTarget, EnvironmentBrowserConfigOptionQuerySpec, HostCapability, HostDatastoreBrowser, HostSystem, VirtualMachineConfigOption, VirtualMachineConfigOptionDescriptor
Since
  2.0

## Managed Object Description

This managed object type provides access to the environment that a ComputeResource presents for creating and configuring a virtual machine.

The environment consists of three main components:

- The virtual machine configuration options. Each vim.vm.ConfigOption describes the execution environment for a virtual machine, the particular set of virtual hardware that is supported. A ComputeResource might support multiple sets. Access is provided through the configOptionDescriptor property and the QueryConfigOption operation.
- The supported device targets. Each virtual device specified in the virtual machine needs to be hooked up to a "physical" counterpart. For networks, this means choosing a network name; for a virtual CD-rom this might be an ISO image, etc. The environment browser provides access to the device targets through the QueryConfigTarget operation.
- Storage locations and files. A selection of locations where the virtual machine files can be stored, and the possibility to browse for existing virtual disks and ISO images. The datastore browser, provided by the datastoreBrowser property, provides access to the contents of one or more datastores. The items in a datastore are files that contain configuration, virtual disk, and the other data associated with a virtual machine.
- The capabilities supported by the ComputeResource to which the virtual machine belongs.

Properties

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
datastoreBrowser* P | ManagedObjectReference to a HostDatastoreBrowser | DatastoreBrowser to browse datastores that are available on this entity.

*May not be presentP Required privilege: System.View

Methods

Methods defined in this Managed Object
QueryConfigOption, QueryConfigOptionDescriptor, QueryConfigOptionEx, QueryConfigTarget, QueryTargetCapabilities

# QueryConfigOption(queryConfigOption)

Query for a specific virtual machine configuration option (the ConfigOption).

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, the key or host, or both arguments can be used to return the required config options. If a key is specified, then the ConfigOption corresponding to that key value is returned. If a host is specified, then the default ConfigOption for that host is returned. If key and host both are specified, the ConfigOption corresponding to the given key for that host is returned. If neither is specified, then the default ConfigOption for this environment browser is returned. Typically, the default contains the options for the most recent virtual hardware supported.

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a VirtualMachine neither a host nor a key should be specified.

Required Privileges
  System.View

Parameters

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the EnvironmentBrowser used to make the method call.
key* P | xsd:string | The key found in the VirtualMachineConfigOptionDescriptor, obtained by invoking the QueryConfigOptionDescriptor operation. Since 2.0
host* P | ManagedObjectReference to a HostSystem | The host whose ConfigOption is requested. Since 2.0

*Need not be set PRequired privilege - see tooltip for details

Return Value

Type | Description
--- | ---
VirtualMachineConfigOption | Returns the ConfigOption object. If invoked on a cluster with no hosts, or if the ConfigOption with given key is not found for the given host, null is returned.

Faults

Type | Description
--- | ---
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition
<element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOption" type="vslm:QueryConfigOptionRequestType"/> <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOptionResponse"> <complexType> <sequence> <element name="returnval" type="vslm:VirtualMachineConfigOption" minOccurs="0"/> </sequence> </complexType> </element>

# QueryConfigOptionDescriptor(queryConfigOptionDescriptor)

The list of ConfigOption keys available on this entity.

Required Privileges
  System.View

Parameters

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the EnvironmentBrowser used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type | Description
--- | ---
VirtualMachineConfigOptionDescriptor[] |

Faults

Type | Description
--- | ---
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition
<element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOptionDescriptor" type="vslm:QueryConfigOptionDescriptorRequestType"/> <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOptionDescriptorResponse"> <complexType> <sequence> <element name="returnval" type="vslm:VirtualMachineConfigOptionDescriptor" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/> </sequence> </complexType> </element>

# QueryConfigOptionEx(queryConfigOptionEx)

Query for a virtual machine configuration option matching the key or host or both given in the EnvironmentBrowserConfigOptionQuerySpec. For more details see QueryConfigOption

If the Environment Browser belongs to a virtual machine and the spec argument is omitted, the method returns the ConfigOption object corresponding to the vmx version of the virutal machine and the guestOSDescriptor list contains only the guestId of the virutal machine.

Required Privileges
  System.View
Since
  vSphere API 6.0

Parameters

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the EnvironmentBrowser used to make the method call.
spec* P | EnvironmentBrowserConfigOptionQuerySpec | Search criteria and filters to control the result. If a key or host (or both) are specified, they will be used to search for a config option. If guestId is nonempty, the guestOSDescriptor array of the config option is filtered to match against the guest IDs in the spec. If there is no match, the whole list is returned. If the spec argument is omitted, the default VirtualMachineConfigOption for this environment browser is returned. Since vSphere API 6.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: spec

Return Value

Type | Description
--- | ---
VirtualMachineConfigOption | Returns the VirtualMachineConfigOption object. If invoked on a cluster with no hosts, or if the VirtualMachineConfigOption with given key is not found for the given host, null is returned.

Faults

Type | Description
--- | ---
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition
<element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOptionEx" type="vslm:QueryConfigOptionExRequestType"/> <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigOptionExResponse"> <complexType> <sequence> <element name="returnval" type="vslm:VirtualMachineConfigOption" minOccurs="0"/> </sequence> </complexType> </element>

# QueryConfigTarget(queryConfigTarget)

Queries for information about a specific target, a "physical" device that can be used to back virtual devices. The ConfigTarget that is returned specifies the set of values that can be used in the device backings to connect the virtual machine to physical (or logical) host devices.

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, the host argument can be used to return the ConfigTarget provided by a particular host in the compute resource or cluster. If host is not specified and the EnvironmentBrowser is from a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, then the union of all the devices is returned and the vim.vm.TargetInfo.configurationTag field indicates how widely the device is available across the compute resource or cluster.

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a VirtualMachine a host should not be specified.

Required Privileges
  System.View

Parameters

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the EnvironmentBrowser used to make the method call.
host* P | ManagedObjectReference to a HostSystem | If specified, the host whose default BackingInfo is requested. Since 2.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: host

Return Value

Type | Description
--- | ---
ConfigTarget | Returns the ConfigTarget object. If invoked on a cluster with no hosts, null is returned.

Faults

Type | Description
--- | ---
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition
<element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigTarget" type="vslm:QueryConfigTargetRequestType"/> <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryConfigTargetResponse"> <complexType> <sequence> <element name="returnval" type="vslm:ConfigTarget" minOccurs="0"/> </sequence> </complexType> </element>

# QueryTargetCapabilities(queryTargetCapabilities)

Queries for information on the capabilities supported by the ComputeResource associated with the EnvironmentBrowser.

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, the host argument can be used to return the capabilities associated with a specific host in the compute resource or cluster. If the host argument is not specified and the EnvironmentBrowser is from a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, then the intersection of the capabilities supported by all the hosts in the cluster is returned. If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a VirtualMachine, the compute resource associated with the virtual machine will be queried for its capabilities.

If the EnvironmentBrowser is from a VirtualMachine a host should not be specified.

Required Privileges
  System.View
Since
  vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the EnvironmentBrowser used to make the method call.
host* P | ManagedObjectReference to a HostSystem | If specified, the host whose capabilities are requested. Since vSphere API 4.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: host

Return Value

Type | Description
--- | ---
HostCapability | Returns the set of capabilities supported by the ComputeResource associated with the EnvironmentBrowser. If invoked on a cluster with no hosts, null is returned.

Faults

Type | Description
--- | ---
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition
<element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryTargetCapabilities" type="vslm:QueryTargetCapabilitiesRequestType"/> <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vslm="urn:vslm" name="QueryTargetCapabilitiesResponse"> <complexType> <sequence> <element name="returnval" type="vslm:HostCapability" minOccurs="0"/> </sequence> </complexType> </element>