Deploying a Plug-In Package

You deploy a plug-in package to the
vSphere Client
by registering the package as an extension on
vCenter Server
. When you register your plug-in as an extension on
vCenter Server
, your plug-in becomes available to any
vSphere Client
that connects to your
vCenter Server
.
You must register your plug-in on every
vCenter Server
where you need to use it. When a
vSphere Client
connects to a
vCenter Server
where your plug-in is not registered, the plug-in is not visible to the
vSphere Client
.
When a
vSphere Client
establishes a user session to a
vCenter Server
instance, the
vSphere Client
application server queries
vCenter Server
for a list of all available plug-in packages that are registered as
vCenter Server
extensions. Plug-in packages that are not present on the
vSphere Client
application server are downloaded and deployed.
The
vSphere Client
application server can run only one version of each plug-in package. If a plug-in package is present on the application server, but has an older version number than the registered
vCenter Server
extension, the registered
vCenter Server
extension replaces the older plug-in package with the newer version.
When
vCenter Server
instances operate in linked mode, a user login can cause the
vSphere Client
to upgrade to the latest version of a plug-in. The
vSphere Client
queries the
vCenter Server
instance for a list of registered plug-ins, and the
vCenter Server
in turn queries all other instances in the link group to compare versions of registered plug-ins. The
vCenter Server
instance then upgrades all its registered plug-ins to the highest version registered within the link group, and presents that version in the user interface. This assures a consistent behavior for plug-ins, regardless of which
vCenter Server
instance the browser connects to.
When a user views a managed object, the visibility of plug-in object extensions depends on whether the
vCenter Server
instance that owns the object has an applicable plug-in registered. If so, the
vSphere Client
always displays the latest version of the plug-in. If not, the
vSphere Client
does not display the plug-in at all.