how is this key set ?

[tdubb123]

any idea how this key is configured or set for each vm?

(get-vm xxx | get-view).CustomValue.Key

[LucD]

These are the keys assigned by the CustomFieldsManager to the Custom Attributes in your environment.

On the VM under CustomValue, the system stores the Key and the Value, if there is one, of all Custom Attributes for that specific type of object (VirtualMachine in this case).

With the Get-CustomAttribute cmdlet, you can retrieve the Key of each Custom Attribute

Some sample code

$vmName = 'MyVM'

$vm = Get-VM -Name $vmName

Get-Annotation -Entity $vm |
ForEach-Object -Process {
    $ca = Get-CustomAttribute -Name $_.Name
    New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property ([ordered]@{
        VM = $vm.Name
        CA = $ca.Name
        CAKey = $ca.Key
        Value = $_.Value
    })
}

[tdubb123]

Thanks Luc. But under custom attributes of the Vm, I do not see they Key.

I only see Attriute, Value and Type

[tdubb123]

from powercli, I go

Get-CustomAttribute -TargetType VirtualMachine | ft -auto

Key Name TargetType
--- ---- ----------

Then I see the key, name and Target type. Would these be set globally

[LucD]

Yes, they are done on the level of the VCSA.

See the CustomFieldManager for some more info.