A blueprint is a complete specification for a service. A blueprint determines the components of a service, which are the input parameters, submission and read-only forms, sequence of actions, and provisioning.

You can create service blueprints to provision custom resources that you previously created. When consumers request these catalog items, the provisioned items are stored on the Items tab and you can define post-provisioning operations for this type of provisioned resources.

If you create a service blueprint for provisioning without specifying the output parameter, when the consumers request this catalog item, the blueprint does the provisioning but the provisioned items are not added on the Items tab. You cannot perform post-provisioning operations on this type of provisioned resource.

You can also create service blueprints for requesting that do not have output parameters and do not result in provisioning. For example, you can create a service blueprint for sending notifications.

By creating a service blueprint, you publish a vCenter Orchestrator workflow as a catalog item. During this process you can edit the default generated forms. See Designing a Service Blueprint Form.

Prerequisites
■

Log in to the vCloud Automation Center console as a service architect.

■

For items provisioning, create a custom resource corresponding to the output parameter of the service blueprint.

Procedure
1

Select Advanced Services > Service Blueprints.

2

Click Add (Add a service blueprint).

3

Navigate through the vCenter Orchestrator workflow library and select a workflow.

You can see the name and description of the selected workflow, and the input and output parameters as they are defined in vCenter Orchestrator.

4

Click Next.

5

Enter a name and, optionally, a description.

The Name and Description text boxes are prepopulated with the name and description of the workflow as they are defined in vCenter Orchestrator.

6

(Optional) If you do not want to prompt consumers to enter a description and reason for requesting this resource action, select the Hide catalog request information page check box.

7

Click Next.

8

(Optional) Edit the form of the service blueprint on the Blueprint Form page.

By default, the service blueprint form is mapped to the vCenter Orchestrator workflow presentation. You can edit the blueprint form by deleting, editing, and rearranging the elements in the form. You can also add a new form and form pages and drag elements to the new form and form page.

Option

Action

Add a form

Click the New Form icon (Add a new element) next to the form name, provide the required information, and click Submit.

Edit a form

Click the Edit icon (Edit a field or a text box in a form page) next to the form name, make the necessary changes, and click Submit.

Regenerate the workflow presentation

Click the Rebuild icon (Regenerate a workflow) next to the form name and click OK.

Delete a form

Click the Delete icon (Delete a field or a text box from the form page) next to the form name, and in the confirmation dialog box click OK.

Add a form page

Click the New Page icon (Add a new element) next to the form page name, provide the required information, and click Submit.

Edit a form page

Click the Edit icon (Edit a field or a text box in a form page) next to the form page name, make the necessary changes, and click Submit.

Delete a form page

Click the Delete icon (Delete a field or a text box from the form page) next to the form name, and in the confirmation dialog box click OK.

Add an element to the form page

Drag an element from the New Fields pane on the left to the pane on the right. You can then provide the required information and click Submit.

Edit an element

Click the Edit icon (Edit a field or a text box in a form page) next to the element to edit, make the necessary changes, and click Submit.

Delete an element

Click the Delete icon (Delete a field or a text box from the form page) next to the element to delete, and in the confirmation dialog box click OK.

9

Click Next.

10

Select an output parameter from the drop-down menu.

Option

Description

A custom resource that you previously created

When users request this catalog item, the provisioned items are stored on the Items tab.

No provisioning

The service blueprint does not add new items on the Items tab.
11

Click Add.

You created a service blueprint and you can see it on the Service blueprints page.

What to do next

Publish the blueprint as a catalog item. See Publish a Service Blueprint as a Catalog Item.