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Service Catalog

The VMware vRA CLI provides powerful interactions with the Service Catalog, enabling management of catalog items and their deployments. This guide discusses all available operations and configurations.

Catalog Commands

List Catalog Items

List all available catalog items:

vra catalog list

You can filter by project:

vra catalog list --project development

Show Catalog Item Details

Show details of a specific catalog item:

vra catalog show 5C<catalog-item-id5C>

Request a Catalog Item

Request a new catalog item with inputs:

vra catalog request  5C<catalog-item-id5C> \
    --inputs '{"cpu": 2, "memory": "4G"}' \
    --project 5C<project-id5C>

Use a YAML/JSON file for complex parameters:

vra catalog request  5C<catalog-item-id5C> \
    --inputs-file inputs.yaml \
    --project 5C<project-id5C>

Advanced Catalog Operations

Catalog Item Schema

Show the request schema for a catalog item:

vra catalog schema 5C<catalog-item-id5C>

Deployment Management

List all deployments:

vra deployment list

Show details of a specific deployment:

vra deployment show 5C<deployment-id5C>

Delete a deployment:

vra deployment delete 5C<deployment-id5C> --confirm

View deployment resources:

vra deployment resources <deployment-id>

Export All Deployments

NEW in v0.9.0: Export all deployments grouped by catalog item:

vra deployment export-all

This powerful command exports all your deployments organized by catalog item to separate JSON files, making it perfect for: - Backup and recovery operations - Migration planning between environments - Audit and compliance reporting - Usage analytics and optimization

For comprehensive documentation, see the Deployment Export Guide.

Quick Examples:

# Basic export to ./exports directory
vra deployment export-all

# Export with detailed resource information
vra deployment export-all --include-resources

# Export specific project to custom directory
vra deployment export-all --project dev-project-123 --output-dir /backup/vra

# Export excluding unsynced deployments
vra deployment export-all --no-unsynced

Configuration and Best Practices

Inputs Configuration

Define input parameters for catalog requests in a YAML or JSON file for complex setups.

Example inputs.yaml

cpu: 2
memory: "4G"
disk: "100GB"
network: "corporate"
additionalDisks:
  - size: "500GB"

Profiles and Environments

Switch between different profiles for dev and prod environments to manage access separately.

# List profiles
vra profile list

# Use production profile
vra profile use production

Security Considerations

  • Use secure authentication with bearer tokens directly from the CLI.
  • Do not store sensitive inputs like passwords in files.
  • Validate SSL/TLS for all direct API communications.

Always ensure your security policies comply with organization requirements and follow VMware recommendations for vRA installations.