Web Services for
Management Perl Library
Web Services for Management (WS-Management)
provides a common way for systems to access and exchange management information
across the IT infrastructure.
ESX/ version
3.5 and later supports WS-Management by implementing over a dozen CIM (Common
Information Model) profiles. CIM profiles are a set of object-oriented schemas
defined by the DTMF (Distributed Management Task Force). CIM defines how
managed elements in a networked environment are represented as a common set of
objects and relationships that users can view, share, and control. For example,
system management client applications might be able to check the status of
server components such as CPU, fans, power supplies, and so on.
The WS-Management Perl library allows you to write
scripts that retrieve CIM data from the ESX/ host using
CIMOM, a service that provides standard CIM management functions over a WBEM
(Web-Based Enterprise Management). WBEM is a standard protocol for passing
CIM-XML messages over HTTP.
Although you can use the WS-Management library
with other available WS-Management-enabled CIMOMs, this appendix limits
discussion to using the library with the CIMOM available on ESX/ESXi version
3.5 and later and VirtualCenter 2.5 and later.