What To Do First

Generate a Plug-in Server Certificate

Generate an SSL certificate and a JKS key store for the remote plug-in server using Java's

keytool

certificate management utility.

PowerShell example:

PS C:\> keytool -genkeypair -alias plugin-server -keyalg RSA -keysize 4096 `
-storetype JKS -keystore keystore.jks -storepass "remote.plugin" -keypass "remote.plugin" `
-dname "CN=mydevbox"

MacOS example:

Downloads % keytool -genkeypair -alias plugin-server -keyalg RSA -keysize 4096 \
-storetype JKS -keystore keystore.jks -storepass "remote.plugin" -keypass "remote.plugin" \
-dname "CN=mydevbox"

Do not change the values of arguments to the

keytool

utility, except the value

mydevbox

in the

-dname

"CN=mydevbox" argument. The value

mydevbox

must be replaced by the IP address or the DNS name of the machine on which the remote plug-in server will run. The value is significant because vCenter Server will check whether the Common Name (CN) field value of the remote plug-in server certificate matches the host through which remote plug-in resources are served.

Replace the default

keystore

in the Remote Plug-in Sample Starter code with the newly generated one:

PowerShell example:

PS C:\> Move-Item -Path "keystore.jks" -Destination `
 "html-client-sdk\samples\remote-plugin-sample-starter\src\main\resources\keystore.jks" `
 -Force

MacOS example:

Downloads % mv -f keystore.jks \
 ~/html-client-sdk/samples/remote-plugin-sample-starter/src/main/resources/keystore.jks

Build the Remote Plug-in Sample Starter

Navigate to the sample starter directory:

PowerShell example:

PS C:\> cd html-client-sdk/samples/remote-plugin-sample-starter

MacOS example:

Downloads % cd ~/html-client-sdk/samples/remote-plugin-sample-starter

Issue the Maven build command:

PowerShell example:

PS C:\html-client-sdk\samples\remote-plugin-sample-starter> mvn clean install

MacOS example:

remote-plugin-sample-starter % mvn clean install

Start the Remote Plug-in Sample Starter

Navigate to the
target
directory:
PowerShell example:
PS C:\html-client-sdk\samples\remote-plugin-sample-starter> cd target
MacOS example:
remote-plugin-sample-starter % cd target
Issue the Java command to run the plug-in server:
PowerShell example:
PS C:\html-client-sdk\samples\remote-plugin-sample-starter\target> `
java -jar (Get-ChildItem remote-plugin*.jar -Name | Select-Object -first 1)
MacOS example:
target % java -jar remote-plugin-sample-starter-*.jar
Use a browser to verify that the remote plug-in server can supply its manifest. Enter the following URL:
https://localhost:8443/sample-ui/plugin.json
Leave the browser window open for the next step.

Save the Certificate or Fingerprint of the Plug-in Server

Find the security certificate and/or fingerprint of the plug-in server.
In Chrome browser for example, click the padlock icon next to the URL at the top of the browser window. Then click
Connection is secure
>
Certificate is valid
. You can copy the SHA-256 Fingerprint or Thumbprint (depending on the browser) from there. For the certificate, click
Details
>
Export
.
Paste the SHA-256 fingerprint into a file, or save the certificate as a PEM file with
.cer
suffix.
vCenter Server expects the fingerprint (thumbprint) to contain colon-separated character pairs. As of vSphere 8.0 U3, the registration script changes unseparated or space-separated character pairs into the expected format.
For PEM, select base64-encoded ASCII, single certificate. In the plug-in server certificate, check that the server host name is specified according to subjectAltName extension (RFC 2818, Section 3.1 Server Identity).

Register the Remote Plug-in Sample Starter

Navigate to the directory containing the registration script:

PowerShell example:

PS C:\html-client-sdk\samples\remote-plugin-sample-starter\target> `
cd 'C:\html-client-sdk\tools\vCenter plugin registration\prebuilt'

MacOS example:

target % cd ~/html-client-sdk/tools/vCenter\ plugin\ registration/prebuilt

Run the registration script for the plug-in. Use the name of your vCenter Server instance in the URL and use valid credentials to authenticate. Enter the password for

administrator@vsphere.local

when prompted.

PowerShell example:

PS C:\html-client-sdk\tools\vCenter plugin registration\prebuilt> `
 .\extension-registration.bat `
 -action registerPlugin -remote `
 -url https://myvcenter.example.com/sdk `
 -username administrator@vsphere.local `
 -key com.vmware.sample.remote.starter -version 1.0.0 `
 -pluginUrl https://mydevbox:8443/sample-ui/plugin.json `
 -serverThumbprint 19:FD:2B:0E:62:5E:0E:10:FF:24:34:7A:81:F1:D5:33:`
19:A7:22:A0:DA:33:27:07:90:0F:8E:8D:72:F1:BD:F1 `
 -serverCertificateFile C:\plugin-server.cer `
 -c 'Example, Inc.' -n 'Remote Plug-in' -s 'This is a sample plug-in'

MacOS example:

prebuilt % ./extension-registration.sh \
 -action registerPlugin -remote \
 -url https://myvcenter.example.com/sdk \
 -username administrator@vsphere.local \
 -key com.vmware.sample.remote.starter -version 1.0.0 \
 -pluginUrl https://mydevbox:8443/sample-ui/plugin.json \
 -serverThumbprint 19:FD:2B:0E:62:5E:0E:10:FF:24:34:7A:81:F1:D5:33:\
19:A7:22:A0:DA:33:27:07:90:0F:8E:8D:72:F1:BD:F1 \
 -serverCertificateFile /tmp/plugin-server.cer \
 -c 'Example, Inc.' -n 'Remote Plug-in' -s 'This is a sample plug-in' -insecure

View the Plug-in User Interface

Connect a web browser to the vCenter Server instance and log in to the vSphere Client. Example URL:
https://myvcenter.example.com/ui/
Navigate to the Home screen (for example, use
ctrl-alt-home
) or the Shortcut screen.
In the object navigator pane on the left of the home screen, click on the remote plug-in sample starter.
The vSphere Client displays a plug-in welcome screen.