community.vmware.vmware_export_ovf – Exports a VMware virtual machine to an OVF file, device files and a manifest file

Note

This plugin is part of the community.vmware collection (version 1.15.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.vmware.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.vmware.vmware_export_ovf.

Synopsis
Requirements
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values

Synopsis

This module can be used to export a VMware virtual machine to OVF template from vCenter server or ESXi host.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

python >= 2.6
PyVmomi

Parameters

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
datacenter string	Default: "ha-datacenter"	Datacenter name of the virtual machine to export. This parameter is case sensitive.
download_timeout integer	Default: 30	The user defined timeout in second of exporting file. If the vmdk file is too large, you can increase the value.
export_dir path / required		Absolute path to place the exported files on the server running this task, must have write permission. If folder not exist will create it, also create a folder under this path named with VM name.
export_with_images boolean	Choices: no ← yes	Export an ISO image of the media mounted on the CD/DVD Drive within the virtual machine.
folder string		Destination folder, absolute path to find the specified guest. The folder should include the datacenter. ESX datacenter is ha-datacenter. This parameter is case sensitive. If multiple machines are found with same name, this parameter is used to identify Examples: folder: /ha-datacenter/vm folder: ha-datacenter/vm folder: /datacenter1/vm folder: datacenter1/vm folder: /datacenter1/vm/folder1 folder: datacenter1/vm/folder1 folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm folder: folder1/datacenter1/vm folder: /folder1/datacenter1/vm/folder2
hostname string		The hostname or IP address of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_HOST` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
moid string		Managed Object ID of the instance to manage if known, this is a unique identifier only within a single vCenter instance. This is required if `name` or `uuid` is not supplied.
name string		Name of the virtual machine to export. This is a required parameter, if parameter `uuid` or `moid` is not supplied.
password string		The password of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PASSWORD` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. aliases: pass, pwd
port integer	Default: 443	The port number of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PORT` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6.
proxy_host string		Address of a proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. The format is a hostname or a IP. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_HOST` will be used instead. This feature depends on a version of pyvmomi greater than v6.7.1.2018.12
proxy_port integer		Port of the HTTP proxy that will receive all HTTPS requests and relay them. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_PROXY_PORT` will be used instead.
username string		The username of the vSphere vCenter or ESXi server. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_USER` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. aliases: admin, user
uuid string		Uuid of the virtual machine to export. This is a required parameter, if parameter `name` or `moid` is not supplied.
validate_certs boolean	Choices: no yes ←	Allows connection when SSL certificates are not valid. Set to `false` when certificates are not trusted. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable `VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS` will be used instead. Environment variable support added in Ansible 2.6. If set to `true`, please make sure Python >= 2.7.9 is installed on the given machine.

Notes

Note

All modules requires API write access and hence is not supported on a free ESXi license.

Examples

- community.vmware.vmware_export_ovf:
    hostname: '{{ vcenter_hostname }}'
    username: '{{ vcenter_username }}'
    password: '{{ vcenter_password }}'
    name: '{{ vm_name }}'
    export_with_images: true
    export_dir: /path/to/ovf_template/
  delegate_to: localhost

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Returned	Description
instance dictionary	always	list of the exported files, if exported from vCenter server, device file is not named with vm name Sample: None

Authors

Diane Wang (@Tomorrow9) <dianew@vmware.com>

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2021 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/collections/community/vmware/vmware_export_ovf_module.html