Editing virtual machine and host custom attributes, notes and annotations.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
This article highlights the permissions required and steps to edit the custom attributes and notes of a virtual machine or host 

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.x
VMware vSphere 7.x
VMware vSphere 8.x

 

Cause

If you need to create a minimum permission user to edit notes/custom attributes.

Resolution

You can use custom attributes/notes  to associate your own information with the resources in vCenter. After you create the attributes, set their values on each virtual machine or managed host, as appropriate. The values are stored with vCenter. You can then use the new attributes to filter information about your virtual machines and managed hosts. 

User permission required for Custom attributes/Notes:

• Minimum required privileges:
  • Custom Attributes
    • Global > Manage Custom Attributes
    • Global > Set Custom Attributes
  • VM Notes:
    • Virtual Machine > Configuration > Set Annotation​​​​​

To edit custom attributes and annotations for a virtual machine or host:

1. Select the virtual machine or host in the inventory.
2. Click the Summary tab for the virtual machine or host.
3. For VM In the Notes box, click the Edit/ADD link.
   • Enter the required notes and select OK.
4. For Host, Add and Edit Custom Attributes