Dev'ing for Ops - How to create System Center Extensions with Visual Studio

TechNet Articles - System Center - Visual Studio Authoring Extensions

The Visual Studio Authoring Extensions (VSAE) are an add-on for Visual Studio that provide additional functionality to aid with management pack development for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, System Center 2012 - Operations Manager, and System Center 2012 - Service Manager.

The latest version of VSAE is available for download here, http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30169.

This article is for sharing useful information on how to use VSAE, how to get the most out of VSAE, and anything else VSAE related.

Table of Contents

• Go To Definition
• Management Pack Template Groups
• Switch MP Project between 2007 & 2012
• Referencing MPBs and other 2012 MPs
• Include File Content

...

4. 14 Templates Available

There are 14 templates available which will cover the majority of your authoring needs! They are:

• Agent Task (Custom)
• Agent Task (PowerShell Script)
• Agent Task (Windows Script)
• Assembly Resource
• Discovery
• Monitor (Aggregate)
• Monitor (Dependency)
• Monitor (Unit)
• Rule (Alert)
• Rule (Custom)
• Rule (Event Collection)
• Rule (Performance Collection)
• Snippet
• View (Custom)

...

Microsoft Downloads - System Center 2012 Visual Studio Authoring Extensions

The System Center 2012 Visual Studio Authoring Extensions—VSAE—is an add-in for Visual Studio 2010 Professional provides Lifecycle Management Tools to support Management Pack Authoring.

Feature Summary

• VS Projects for Monitoring MPs, System Center 2012 MPs including Operations Manager and Service Manager.
• MP Item Templates for quick creation of MP Items.
  • XML MP Item Templates (generates MP XML for editing).
  • Template Group Item Templates (Abstract your intent from MP XML).
  • Snippet Templates (generates MP XML from CSV)
• IntelliSense for MP XML for the following versions:
  • System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
  • System Center 2012 Operations Manager
  • System Center 2012 Service Manager
• Integrates into Visual Studio Project System with *.mpproj.
  • Enables building within VS & MSBuild.
  • Supports custom build tasks (simply edit *.mpproj or *.sln)
  • Build multiple MPs (multiple *.mpproj) in a solution.
  • Integrates into any VS supported Source Control systems.
• MP Navigation Features
  • Management Pack Browser for browsing MP Items.
  • Go to Definition
  • Find All References
• ResKit Tools integrated
  • Workflow Simulator
  • Generate Visio Diagram
  • MP Best Practice Analyzer
  • MP Spell Checker
• MP Cookdown Analyzer

I love the idea of DevOps, especially when it means I can dev something for my Ops team... :)