Managed Object - SessionManager

Property of: ServiceContent
See also: SessionManagerGenericServiceTicket, SessionManagerLocalTicket, SessionManagerServiceRequestSpec, UserSession

Managed Object Description

This managed object type includes methods for logging on and logging off clients, determining which clients are currently logged on, and forcing clients to log off.

Properties

Name	Type	Description
currentSession* P	UserSession	This property contains information about the client's current session. If the client is not logged on, the value is null.
defaultLocale P	xsd:string	This is the default server locale.
message* P	xsd:string	The system global message from the server.
messageLocaleList* P	xsd:string[]	Provides the list of locales for which the server has localized messages.
sessionList* P	UserSession[]	The list of currently active sessions.
supportedLocaleList* P	xsd:string[]	Provides the list of locales that the server supports. Listing a locale ensures that some standardized information such as dates appear in the appropriate format. Other localized information, such as error messages, are displayed, if available. If localized information is not available, the message is returned using the system locale.

*May not be presentPRequired privilege - see tooltip for details

Methods

Methods defined in this Managed Object
AcquireCloneTicket, AcquireGenericServiceTicket, AcquireLocalTicket, CloneSession, ImpersonateUser, Login, LoginBySSPI, LoginByToken, LoginExtensionByCertificate, LoginExtensionBySubjectName, Logout, SessionIsActive, SetLocale, TerminateSession, UpdateServiceMessage

AcquireCloneTicket

Acquire a session-specific ticket string which can be used to clone the current session. The caller of this operation can pass the ticket value to another entity on the client. The recipient can then call CloneSession with the ticket string on an unauthenticated session and avoid having to re-enter credentials.

The ticket may only be used once and becomes invalid after use. The ticket is also invalidated when the corresponding session is closed or expires. The ticket is only valid on the server which issued it.

This sequence of operations is conceptually similar to the functionality provided by AcquireLocalTicket, however the methods can be used by remote clients and do not require a shared filesystem for transport.
See CloneSession

Required Privileges: System.View
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:string	one-time secret ticket string.

Faults

Type	Description
NotAuthenticated	Thrown if the current session is not authenticated See CloneSession
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireCloneTicket" type="vim25:AcquireCloneTicketRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireCloneTicketResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="xsd:string"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

AcquireGenericServiceTicket

Creates and returns a one-time credential that may be used to make the specified request.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: vSphere API 5.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
spec	SessionManagerServiceRequestSpec	specification for the service request which will be invoked with the ticket.

Return Value

Type	Description
SessionManagerGenericServiceTicket	A ticket that may be used to invoke the specified request.

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidArgument	Thrown if the spec is not supported or not valid.
NoPermission	Thrown if the client does not have enough privileges to be granted a ticket.
NotAuthenticated	Thrown if the current session is not authenticated for clone session request
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireGenericServiceTicket" type="vim25:AcquireGenericServiceTicketRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireGenericServiceTicketResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:SessionManagerGenericServiceTicket"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

AcquireLocalTicket

Acquires a one-time ticket for mutual authentication between a server and client.

The caller of this operation can use the user name and file content of the returned object as the userName and password arguments for login operation. The local ticket that is returned becomes invalid either after it is used or after a server-determined ticket expiration time passes. This operation can be used by servers and clients to avoid re-entering user credentials after authentication by the operating system has already happened.

For example, service console utilities that connect to a host agent should not require users to re-enter their passwords every time the utilities run. Since the one-time password file is readable only by the given user, the identity of the one-time password user is protected by the operating system file permission.

Only local clients are allowed to call this operation. Remote clients receive an InvalidRequest fault upon calling this operation.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
userName	xsd:string	User requesting one-time password.

Return Value

Type	Description
SessionManagerLocalTicket	LocalTicket object containing userName and path to file containing one-time password for use in login operation.

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the userName is invalid.
NoPermission	Thrown if the user and password are valid, but the user has no access granted.
NotSupported	Thrown if the server does not support this operation.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireLocalTicket" type="vim25:AcquireLocalTicketRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AcquireLocalTicketResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:SessionManagerLocalTicket"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

CloneSession

Clone the session specified by the clone ticket and associate it with the current connection. The current session will take on the identity and authorization level of the UserSession associated with the specified cloning ticket.
See AcquireCloneTicket
See AcquireGenericServiceTicket

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
cloneTicket	xsd:string	ticket string acquired via AcquireCloneTicket. See AcquireCloneTicket See AcquireGenericServiceTicket

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession	The new/cloned UserSession object.

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the specified ticket value is not valid. See AcquireCloneTicket See AcquireGenericServiceTicket
NotSupported	Thrown if the server does not support this operation. See AcquireCloneTicket See AcquireGenericServiceTicket
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CloneSession" type="vim25:CloneSessionRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CloneSessionResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

ImpersonateUser

Converts current session to impersonate the specified user. The current session will take on the identity and authorization level of the user. That user must have a currently-active session. If the given userName is an extension key and this key does not overlap with a user name of any currently-active session, it will take on the identity and authorization level of that extension provided the current session has the same authorization level of that extension.

Required Privileges: Sessions.ImpersonateUser
Since: VI API 2.5

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

userName

xsd:string

The user or extension key to impersonate.

locale*

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

Examples are "de", "fr_CA", "zh", "zh_CN", and "zh_TW". Note: The method uses the server default locale when a locale is not provided. This default can be configured in the server configuration file. If unspecified, it defaults to the locale of the server environment or English ("en") if unsupported.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale
InvalidLogin
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ImpersonateUser" type="vim25:ImpersonateUserRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ImpersonateUserResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

Login

Log on to the server. This method fails if the user name and password are incorrect, or if the user is valid but has no permissions granted.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
userName	xsd:string	The ID of the user who is logging on to the server.
password	xsd:string	The password of the user who is logging on to the server.
locale*	xsd:string	A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US"). Examples are "de", "fr_CA", "zh", "zh_CN", and "zh_TW". Note: The method uses the server default locale when a locale is not provided. This default can be configured in the server configuration file. If unspecified, it defaults to the locale of the server environment or English ("en") if unsupported.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession	The UserSession object. As of vSphere API 5.1 for VirtualCenter login use SSO style LoginByToken

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the locale is invalid or unknown to the server.
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the user and password combination is invalid.
NoPermission	Thrown if the user is valid, but has no access granted.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="Login" type="vim25:LoginRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

LoginBySSPI

Log on to the server using SSPI pass-through authentication.

This method provides support for passing credentials of the calling process to the server without using a password, by leveraging the Windows Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) library.

If the function is not supported, this throws a NotSupported fault.

The client first calls AcquireCredentialsHandle(). If Kerberos is used, this should include the desired credential to pass. The client then calls InitializeSecurityContext(). The resulting partially-formed context is passed in Base-64 encoded form to this method.

If the context has been successfully formed, the server proceeds with login and behaves like Login. If further negotiation is needed, the server throws an SSPIChallenge fault with a challenge token, which the client should again pass to InitializeSecurityContext(), followed by calling this method again.

For more information, see the MSDN documentation on SSPI.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: VI API 2.5

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

base64Token

xsd:string

The partially formed context returned from InitializeSecurityContext().

locale*

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession	The UserSession object. As of vSphere API 5.1 for VirtualCenter login use SSO style LoginByToken

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the locale is invalid or unknown to the server.
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the user context could not be passed successfully, or the context is not valid on the server.
NoPermission	Thrown if the user is valid, but has no access granted.
NotSupported	Thrown if the service does not support SSPI authentication.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
SSPIChallenge	Thrown if further negotiation is required.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginBySSPI" type="vim25:LoginBySSPIRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginBySSPIResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

LoginByToken

Log on to the server through token representing principal identity. The token is obtained from SSO (single sign-on) service. This method fails if the token is not valid, or the principal has no permissions granted. Two type of sso tokens are supported by this method: Bearer and Holder-of-Key (HoK). If the token type obliges the method caller to prove his rights to present this token (HoK), then a signature is supplied as well. The token and the security signature if available are provided in a transport specific way.

If the communication with the VirtualCenter is SOAP based read the WS-Security specification (SAML Token profile) to understand how to transport the SSO token and signature.

Usual login scenario:

Acquire HoK token from the SSO service. Different authentication mechanisms are available for acquiring token (user/password, certificate, SSPI and so on). For more details consult the SSO documentation. To find the location of your SSO service consult the Virtual Infrastructure documentation.
Once SSO token is acquired successfully LoginByToken could be invoked.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: vSphere API 5.1

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

locale*

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession	The UserSession object.

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the locale is invalid or unknown to the server.
InvalidLogin	Thrown if there is no token provided or the token could not be validated.
NoPermission	Thrown if the principal is valid, but has no access granted.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginByToken" type="vim25:LoginByTokenRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginByTokenResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

LoginExtensionByCertificate

Creates a special privileged session that includes the Sessions.ImpersonateUser privilege. Requires that the client connect over SSL and provide an X.509 certificate for which they hold the private key. The certificate must match the certificate used in an earlier call to SetExtensionCertificate.

NOTE: Verification of the received certificate (such as expiry, revocation, and trust chain) is not required for successful authentication using this method. If certificate verification is desired, use the LoginExtensionBySubjectName method instead.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

extensionKey

xsd:string

Key of extension that is logging in.

locale*

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the supplied locale is not valid
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the extension is not registered, or the certificate does not match the expected value.
NoClientCertificate	Thrown if no certificate was used by the client to connect
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginExtensionByCertificate" type="vim25:LoginExtensionByCertificateRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginExtensionByCertificateResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

LoginExtensionBySubjectName

Creates a special privileged session that includes the Sessions.ImpersonateUser privilege. Requires that the extension connected using SSL, with a certificate that has a subject name that matches the subject name registered for the extension.

As of vSphere API 4.0, the NotFound fault is no longer thrown. Instead, InvalidLogin is thrown if the specified extension is not registered.

Required Privileges: System.Anonymous
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

extensionKey

xsd:string

Key of extension that is logging in.

locale*

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
UserSession

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidClientCertificate	Thrown if the client cerificate fails the verification at the server
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the supplied locale is not valid
InvalidLogin	Thrown if the extension is not registered, or the subject name doesn't match the subject name of the extension.
NoClientCertificate	Thrown if no certificate was used by the client to connect
NoSubjectName	Thrown if the extension was registered without a subject name
NotFound	Thrown if no extension is associated with the given key
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginExtensionBySubjectName" type="vim25:LoginExtensionBySubjectNameRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LoginExtensionBySubjectNameResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserSession"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

Logout

Log out and terminate the current session.

Required Privileges: System.View

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="Logout" type="vim25:LogoutRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LogoutResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

SessionIsActive

Validates that a currently-active session exists with the specified sessionID and userName associated with it. Returns true if session exists.

Required Privileges: Sessions.ValidateSession
Since: VI API 2.5

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
sessionID	xsd:string	Session ID to validate.
userName	xsd:string	User name to validate.

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:boolean

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SessionIsActive" type="vim25:SessionIsActiveRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SessionIsActiveResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="xsd:boolean"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

SetLocale

Sets the session locale.

Required Privileges: System.View

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.

locale

xsd:string

A two-character ISO-639 language ID (like "en") optionally followed by an underscore and a two-character ISO 3166 country ID (like "US").

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidLocale	Thrown if the locale is invalid or unknown to the server.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SetLocale" type="vim25:SetLocaleRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SetLocaleResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

TerminateSession

Log off and terminate the provided list of sessions.

This method is only transactional for each session ID. The set of sessions are terminated sequentially, as specified in the list. If a failure occurs, for example, because of an unknown sessionID, the method aborts with an exception. When the method aborts, any sessions that have not yet been terminated are left in their unterminated state.

Required Privileges: Sessions.TerminateSession

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
sessionId	xsd:string[]	A list of sessions to terminate.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
InvalidArgument	Thrown if a sessionId matches the current session. Use the logout method to terminate the current session.
NotFound	Thrown if a sessionId could not be found as a valid logged-on session.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="TerminateSession" type="vim25:TerminateSessionRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="TerminateSessionResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

UpdateServiceMessage

Updates the system global message. If not blank, the message is immediately displayed to currently logged-on users. When set, the message is shown by new clients upon logging in.

Required Privileges: Sessions.GlobalMessage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the SessionManager used to make the method call.
message	xsd:string	The message to send. Newline characters may be included.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateServiceMessage" type="vim25:UpdateServiceMessageRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateServiceMessageResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>