A customer who was also a former colleague of mines reached out to me a few days ago asking about a feature request that he would like to see in the new vSphere Web Client, which is the ability to view the recent history of inventory objects that he had navigated through. He explained that using the Inventory Navigator on the left pane of the vSphere Web Client, you can only go back to the previous inventory object.
The feature he was looking for is similar to the history feature of a web browser where you can view your recently visited websites. I know for new users of the vSphere Web Client, this is a must have feature as you are getting familiar with the new Web Client and the Inventory Navigator. This feature was actually something I and others within VMware pushed hard for while vSphere 5.1 was still in development and I knew that this feature (also known as breadcrumb) was available.
However, it might not have been obvious on where to access the recent history feature. At the very top of the Inventory Navigator, there is a tiny drop down arrow next to the selected inventory object. If you click on that, you will get a list of your recently visited inventory objects.
Once I provided the screenshot, it was exactly what he was looking for. This really comes in handy when you are jumping around and with a single click, you can easily navigate back to a previous object.
Anonymous says
This got me thinking. I always like the keyboard shortcuts with the thick client. For example to quickly just to Data Stores - Ctrl+Shft+D.
Is there anything like that with the Web Client?
William Lam says
I'm not aware of any shortcuts, let me check with our UE folks. Do you use those frequently?
William Lam says
Did some research and here are the list of keyboard shortcuts for the vSphere Web Client http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/07/handy-keyboard-shortcuts-for-vsphere.html