Virtual Way

Following are the virtual disk types that are relevant to ESX/ESXi:

1. thin
2. pre-allocated (should be used instead of “thick” which we do not recommend any more)
3. eagerZeroedThick
4. rdm
5. rdmp

For the first 3 types of virtual disks, one should use the VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo as the backing for your VirtualDisk in the the VirtualMachineConfigSpec when creating/reconfiguring the VM.

* If the thinProvisioned property is set, it is a thin disk
* If thinProvisioned is false (or not set) AND eagerlyScrub is false (or not set), it is a preallocated disk
* If eagerlyScrub is true AND thinProvisioned is false, it is an eagerZeroedThick disk

For the last 2 types of virtual disks, one should use the
VirtualDiskRawDiskMappingVer1BackingInfo as part of the
VirtualMachineConfigSpec when creating/reconfiguring the VM.

* If the compatibilityMode property is set to virtualMode, the disk is of type rdm
* If it is set to physicalMode, the disk is of type rdmp

The display behavior of the URL mentioned in script based plug-ins, varies with different values of the “Display” attribute specified while registering the plug-in. You can register the plug-in with different extension points for example menu, tab etc., but display behavior of the URL is only applicable in context to Menu extensions. In case you register your plug-in with Tab extension, then URL will be launched in the tab only for all display modes.

For context Menu extensions:

a. If Display attribute is not specified.

For example:

<url >http://maps.google.com</url>

Then URL, i.e., web page maps.google.com opens in the new browser window.

b. If Display attribute "window" is specified.

For example:

<url display="window">http://maps.google.com</url>

Then, a non-modal window (c# form) is opened and the url is launched within the client.

c. If Display attribute "modalwindow" is specified.

For example:

<url display="modalwindow">http://maps.google.com</url>

Then, a modal window is opened and the url is launched within the client.

d. If Display attribute "none" is specified.

For example:

<url display="none">http://maps.google.com</url>

In case you want to run any script without launching any UI on the click of menu item, then you can specify display attribute value as “none”.