The VMShutdownManager is a modular software solution for infrastructure automation allowing individual modules to provide necessary features and functions. A host can be assigned one or more host types based on the installed modules. These host types offer various host-specific functions that can be accessed within an execution plan. For instance, the CommonTasks module provides a BasicIpHost, which equips the host with various general IP functions, such as waiting for a ping response or the availability of a specific service based on its TCP/UDP port.

If a host is assigned the ESX-Host configuration via the VMware module, this allows VMware-specific tasks to be configured for the host within the execution plans. Additionally, this enables actions such as reading VMs from the corresponding host and adding them to the VMShutdownManager configuration as VMs.