<simpleSteps> Element

The <simpleSteps> element is an optional child of the <executionPlan> element and the <inlineSubplan> step. For information about the latter element, see <inlineSubplan> Step. The <simpleSteps> element contains one or more “shared” or “simple plan only” steps. The presence of a <simpleSteps> element indicates that the plan is a simple, not composite, plan. If specified, this element can only appear one time.

When run, the steps within this element are sequentially executed on a set of logical target hosts that are chosen by the caller. These hosts are called the initial target hosts. While this plan executes, its steps can be redirected to execute on a host other than the initial host. The host on which the plan actually executes is known as the current target host. If a step is not redirected, the current host and the initial host are the same. The initial host can be either virtual or physical, as can the current host. The physical host is the root parent host of the current host, which is the same as the current host if the current host is physical.

The <simpleSteps> element children consist of one or more “shared” or “simple plan only” steps. These steps can include references to plan parameters and variables. See Plan-Only Steps for Simple Plans.

Attributes for the <simpleSteps> Element

The <simpleSteps> element has the following attributes:

• executionMode – An optional attribute that indicates whether the contained steps should be executed in a series or in parallel over the target hosts. The legal values are as follows:

  • PARALLEL

  • SERIES

  If this attribute is omitted, the value is PARALLEL.

• limitToHostSet – An optional attribute that specifies the name of the host set that contains the hosts that are considered to be valid targets for this plan.

  If this attribute is omitted, all hosts are considered to be valid targets. Otherwise, the targets that you specify must be a subset of the hosts that are contained in the named host set. If the targets include a host that is not contained in the named host set, the plan issues a runtime error. The plan also issues a runtime error if you specify a name that does not correspond to an existing, supported host set. If the specified host set is defined by a plug-in, pluginName must be prefixed to the host set name, such as pluginName#hostSetName. These plan runtime errors are reported during validation before the preflight starts.